No, NYC won’t be burying bodies in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Councilmember Mark Levine ignited a media frenzy by tweeting that the city could begin burying bodies at New York City park. Photo by William Alatriste for the New York City Council

By David Brand

A Manhattan councilmember ignited an online firestorm Monday when he seemingly divulged a grim contingency plan for dealing with a surging death toll during COVID-19 outbreak: The city would bury the bodies in a public park. 

The morbid news from Health Committee Chairperson Mark Levine was technically true, but there are no plans for mass graves at Flushing Meadows Corona or Kissena Park. Instead the city would use Hart Island if the need for more burial space arises, said City Hall spokesperson Freddi Goldstein. Hart Island was transferred to Parks Department last year.

“We are NOT currently planning to use local parks as burial grounds. We are exploring using Hart Island for temporary burials, if the need grows,” Goldstein tweeted Monday.

A Parks Department spokesperson referred questions from the Eagle to Goldstein’s clarifying tweet. 

Levine’s tweet thread inspired several news stories Monday morning, as well as a denunciation from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “I have heard a lot of wild rumors but I have not heard anything about the city burying people in parks,” Cuomo said at a press conference Monday.

Levine had indicated that “temporary interment” would “be done by using a NYC park for burials.”

He backtracked hours later after the tweet ignited an online firestorm. The parkland burial concept was a “contingency,” he clarified.