Hart Island

Off the coast of the Bronx in New York City, is a narrow, one-mile-long piece of land called Hart Island. This small area holds a lot of history; the island became a place to bury a majority of unclaimed bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before stopping at the sight of her late father, Denise, who has the word “love” tattooed on her left hand, was briefed by the Parks Enforcement officers that in each mass grave, between two grave markers, lay a row of fifty bodies in individual pine caskets. Each row of caskets is piled on top of three more layers of the same. This ordering of bodies is repeated a staggering two more times within the mass grave. Denise’s father is buried somewhere amongst the pile of four-hundred-and-fifty bodies. Though the Officers do not know the exact location of his body, they point her in the general direction of the plot where he may be for her visitation.

Off the coast of the Bronx in New York City, is a narrow, one-mile-long piece of land called Hart Island. This small area holds a lot of history; the island became a place to bury a majority of unclaimed bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic and at the height of the AIDs crisis in the 1980s. Currently, visitation to the island is prohibited except for those with close personal ties to a descendent, by appointment only. Despite its proximity to New York City and its designation as “public”, it has never been easy to access. After a few phone calls, invasive forms, and an interview process, I was granted access to visit the island. Under strict supervision, six of us signed a waiver and were escorted onto a shuttle by security, which then boarded a ferry, and sailed towards the island. While the rain fell hard overhead, we were briefed by Park Enforcement officers who reiterated the rules and guidelines we must maintain while on the premises. I stepped off the shuttle accompanied under the watchful eye of two Officers, the other six visitors were also closely surveilled and had less than ten minutes to pay their respects to loved ones. In its obscurity, Hart Island serves as a haunting reminder of the inequalities that define America, hidden away in plain sight where countless untold stories lay beneath its soil.