NYC councilman wants to shift control of Hart Island

At a time when erosion has exposed human remains on Hart Island, a City Councilman plans to reintroduce legislation this week that would take control of the 101-acre piece of land in the Long Island Sound away from the Department of Corrections, officials said.

The plan by Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan) to transfer jurisdiction of the island to the Department of Parks and Recreation is expected to be announced at a news conference at City Hall Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman for Rodriquez’s office.

The island serves as the city’s Potter’s Field for about one million dead. It was severely battered by superstorm Sandy in 2012 and is in need of significant repairs to its crumbling sea wall in order to stop erosion and the unearthing of scores of human remains.

Photographs taken in early April by Oyster Bay pediatrician Greg Gulbransen from a boat documented how bones were disinterred to the very edge of Long Island and reignited discussion about the island’s future. After inquiries by Newsday about the exposed remains, the corrections department dispatched a team of experts, who collected more than 170 bones, and announced moves to expedite repairs to the island, which were not originally scheduled to begin until 2020.

The department has had some form of oversight for Hart Island for decades and uses Rikers Island inmates to bury unclaimed and unidentified dead in trenches.

Some critics have said it was not appropriate for a penal institution to handle burials and control access to Hart Island, and that another agency should implement a plan to eventually allow greater public access to the largest public cemetery in the United States.

“150 years of penal control is enough,” said Melinda Hunt, who runs the nonprofit The Hart Island Project. “Hopefully, Hart Island will be managed by an appropriate city agency.”

But corrections department spokesman Jason Kersten said, “The DOC has managed Hart Island for over 100 years and will continue to do so.”

Efforts to shift control of Hart Island to the Parks and Recreation department began in 2012 but foundered because of a lack of interest from City Hall and the City Council, Hunt said.

A 2016 city council report said the corrections department’s need for security on the island might negatively impact the experience of families who visit the site. Corrections department personnel accompany family members to the burial ground over concern that contraband might be left for prisoners, the report stated.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.