New York City official says dead may be buried in a park

A New York City councilmember says the city may begin burying bodies in a park, as morgues fail to handle the massive death toll wreaked by COVID-19.

Mark Levine, the head of the New York City Council health committee, says “temporary internment” will involve trenches being dug for 10 caskets in a line.

“It will be done in a dignified, orderly — and temporary — manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take,” he tweets.

“The goal is to avoid scenes like those in Italy, where the military was forced to collect bodies from churches and even off the streets,” he adds.

Levine adds that the idea is a contingency plan, and will not be needed if the death toll in the city drops to more manageable levels.

According to the New York Times, Levine refuses to say what park is being considered, other than that it would have to be large and out of the way.

According to the newspaper, another possible location is Hart Island in the Bronx, where the indigent are buried in potter’s field by inmates from Rikers Island State Penitentiary.

Over 3,000 people in the city have died of the virus thus far, according to officials.