Written April 13, 2020
Hart Island, NY or The Isle of Lost Souls is located at Long Island Sound, in the Bronx, NYC. As a writer, it would be amazing to give a voice to all those forgotten souls that remain in mass burial sites.
The Island is a resting place for the homeless, sick, or the poor who couldn’t afford a proper burial. It’s estimated around 1,000,000 souls are buried on the Island today, with about 21% of burials on the island being fetal remains.
I also discovered there’s restricted access to the Island. Restricted by New York’s Department of Corrections, who up until 2019 was in charge of Hart Island. It’s reported it’s much easier to visit Riker’s Island then Hart Island. Why so much secrecy?
Ferryboat service operates very infrequently and strict visitation quotas are imposed. The grave sites are marked by a pipe or stick. One pipe, or marker=150 adults, or 1000 babies.
It’s also the resting place of bodies after “benefiting science” at elite New York City Medical Schools.
Authorities have only allowed families as far as a wooden gazebo close to the shoreline. Prison rules apply. No phones, no cameras. Strict ID checks. Why wouldn’t family members be allowed access?
On April 9, 2020 drone footage of Hart Island began circulating in the MSM, as reports emerged that Corona Virus Victims would be temporarily be buried on the Island.
Reports stated NY City officials hired contract labourers to bury the dead in its potter’s field on Hart Island, as the city’s daily death rate from the coronavirus epidemic had reached new records.
Typically, on average some 25 bodies are interred each week by low-paid jail inmates from Riker’s Island. Department of Corrections spokesman Jason Kersten stated, “operations have increased from one day a week to five days a week, with around 24 burials each day”
City officials haven't explained whether the increase in burials is due to pressure on mortuaries to dispose of bodies more quickly. The virus has reportedly been killing hundreds of New York City residents each day.
DeBlasio told NY1 News that under such a contingency plan bodies of COVID-19 victims would be buried individually — not in mass graves so families could later reclaim them. If the drone footage is legitimate, that isn’t what we’re seeing.
Cheeseman, a Funeral Director in NYC reported, “Funeral directors, are overwhelmed. We're inundated. The crematory can't even take bodies for two weeks. The funeral homes don't have refrigerated trucks parked out front."
DeBlasio stated, “So because there's just been unfortunately more people passing away, including those who are not claimed by any family, that's what's been happening at Hart Island. But that's the only thing that's been happening at Hart Island."
So, this left me scratching my head. The only thing happening on Hart Island? Are there deceased CoronaVirus victims being buried there, or not? And what an odd statement, “But that's the only thing that's been happening at Hart Island."
What doesn’t Mayor DeBlasio want the public to know? It’s been so difficut in the past for family members to visit the Island. They were finally granted access-but not until legal action was threatened.
After a solid week of coverage about Corona Virus victims being buried at Hart Island, this was released yesterday.
Like so many other questionable events that have transpired the past few years, I believe a spotlight is being cast on Hart Island for a reason. All this makes no sense to me. So I dug a little further, and discovered "The Hart Island Project."
Described as a public charity founded by visual artist Melinda Hunt, “which has tried to improve access to the island and make burial records more easily available”
From 1991 to 1993, New York artist Melinda Hunt and photographer Joel Sternfeld were given permission to photograph Hart Island for their book, published in 1998.
Hunt subsequently founded the Hart Island Project to help the families and friends of those buried on Hart Island. She has created many stories about those buried on the Island to give a voice to those lost souls.
“Hunt is an artist, but the portrait of Hart Island she created over the past 19 years blurs the boundaries of that job description. She has become Hart Island’s detective and de facto archivist, its lead witness and chief scribe.”
Melinda obtained cemetery burial records with the assistance of 2 lawyers. The next step she took was to create a database of the records.
Registered visitors would now have the ability to search the database, submit their stories, images, and related links for the project. She created a traveling cloud museum, a searchable database, she likes to call “a sort of Facebook for the dead”.
This puzzled me. Hart Island is the largest tax-funded cemetery in the America, and the government of New York hadn’t created a reliable database for the deceased? A visual artist and Yale graduate has been tasked with this work? Does this sound logical?
“Hunt will join several City Council members to reintroduce legislation which would transfer the island from the Department of Correction to the Department of Parks and Recreation and establish regular ferry service to the island.”
December 4, 2019, Bill DeBlasio transferred Hart Island from the Department of Corrections, to Parks and Rec after pressure for more access. This also conflicts with current media reporting. It would seem this hasn’t happened yet.
So let’s follow the money. The Hart Island Project has been funded by several philanthropic organizations. Funding has come from the Canadian Council of the Arts, Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, the Puffin Foundation, and NY State Council on the Arts.
Canadian Council of the Arts has been the main funder since it’s inception. It’s a Canadian Government initiative with 3 divisions, with the main being the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.
This is the very same Art Council Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2016 budget promised 19 Billion dollars in funding over a 5 year period to, along with the Mockingbird Media CBC. Yep, that Council.
The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, is another Canadian Government Initiative started by the Carnegie Foundation in New York. It’s now affiliated with the University of Calgary. Who is the main contributor? The Canada Arts Council. See how this works?
What family has been a main Philanthropist for the Arts in Canada and New York? The Bronfman family. They even had an award created honoring Saidye Bronfman, wife of Samuel Bronfman-Edgar Bronfman’s parents.
Another funder is The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by NY State Senator MacNeil Mitchell with backing from Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The Rockefeller family.
The Puffin Foundation has been another major funder of the Hart Island Project over the years. This foundation was started by Philanthropist Perry Rosenstein, who made his fortune in the Allen screw business.
It was reported recently that Perry Rosenstein, the founder of the Puffin Foundation and Philanthropist died from Coronavirus.
One last thing I found interesting when looking into Hart Island...it’s proximity to notorious Plum Island-run by the Department of Homeland Security. There are many theory’s about what happens on Plum Island, including human and animal experimentation. Coincidence?
Hart Island sustained significant damage from Hurricane Sandy. FEMA gave the city $13.2 million in 2015 to use towards repairs. A design firm was hired in 2016 and bid for contractors are in progress. Work is expected to begin in 2020-8 years later.
“The cliffs of Hart Island are sort of exposed and bones are washing up on Long Island Sound – that hasn’t been repaired yet,” said Melinda Hunt, the founding director of the Hart Island Project.”
In the meantime, bones continue to wash up on shore.
Bodies have also washed up on the shores of Plum Island...prior to Hurricane Sandy.
Some with very strange attributes.
This mysterious “mutant” washed up on the shores of Montauk, New York, in July, 2008.
Plum Island has been the focus of many Conspiracy Theories over the years. Maybe this was a CIA created distraction-look here, not there.
Given what we know of the Eugenics Movement, and human experimentation taking place by Elite organizations like NXIVM, Jeffrey Epstein and many of the Elite Universities in New York, I suspect we may be about to find out “where the bodies are buried.” Sometimes, dead men CAN tell tales.
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