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BXR
NYC Parks unveils 4 alternative proposals
to improve access to Hart Island
BY JASON COHEN
NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
is exploring plans to improve transportation
access to Hart Island in the
Bronx – the largest public burial ground
in the United States.
The parks department held a virtual
meeting on March 30 where it unveiled
the Hart Island Transportation Study,
which included short-term and long-term
options to improve access to the Long
Island Sound, located in the northeast
Bronx. The goal of the study was to find
ways to increase the quantity and quality
of transportation alternatives, reduce
travel times for transit riders, improve
the travel experience for Hart Island visitors
and minimize the impact on traffic
and on-street parking conditions.
On Nov. 14, 2019, the New York City
Council passed legislation to create a
public park where citizens can freely
visit graves. Parks and Recreation assumed
jurisdiction on Dec 4, 2019, from
the city Department of Corrections, ending
150 years of penal control over city
burials. Parks took over fully managing
Hart Island on July 1, 2021.
The Island was first used as a public
cemetery by the city in 1869.
Hart Island served as a burial site
for victims during the AIDS crisis of the
1980s, whose bodies went unclaimed.
But the 131-acre island, which is the final
resting place for what is estimated
to be more than 1 million indigent or unclaimed
bodies, has a storied past in the
city’s history that reaches far beyond the
AIDS epidemic.
During the Civil War, it served as an
internment camp, then as a psychiatric
institution, and a Nike Missile launch
site, according to the mayor’s office. More
recently, Hart Island was used as a mass
grave for victims of the COVID-19 pandemic
whose bodies were not claimed by
family.
To currently access the 1-mile-long
Hart Island, visitors must take a ferry
from a dock in City Island located at the
east end of Fordham Street in the east
Bronx. However, there is no parking at
the dock and any nearby parking is extremely
limited. The only local public
transportation, the Bx29 bus stops at the
intersection of City Island Avenue and
Fordham Street, but it’s a 10-minute walk
to the dock.
A recent parks department survey
on access to the island showed that the
majority of gravesite visitors drive to
the Fordham Street Pier, and only 3% of
visitors utilized transit. The survey also
found that City Island residents have concerns
with existing traffic and parking
issues.
To address some of these issues in the
short-term, the parks department has
proposed a shuttle bus service to serve
Hart Island visitors. Potential longer
term solutions consist of new passenger
ferry services.
HERE ARE THE FOUR PROPOSALS:
Short-term alternative 1
This would implement a shuttle bus
service from the Orchard Beach parking
lot to the Fordham Street Pier coordinated
with existing Hart Island ferry service
for visitors arriving by car.
The alternative would also offer a dedicated
location for visitors to park and
reduce the parking demand for the ferry
at Fordham Street and traffic activity on
City Island. However, it would create longer
travel times for visitors driving and
there would be no improvements to incentivize
visitors to take transit.
Short-term alternative 2
This proposal features a shuttle bus
service from the Pelham Bay Park 6
Train Station to the Orchard Beach
Parking Lot, to the Fordham Street Pier.
This would provide a dedicated location
for visitors to park and reduce the parking
demand at the Fordham Street Pier,
traffic activity on City Island and transit
travel time. However, there would be
longer travel times for visitors driving by
car.
Long-term alternative 1
This option involves a new standalone
ferry service from Ferry Point
Park to Hart Island. Ferry Point Park is
the closest NYC Ferry terminal to Hart
Island. It would require a new NYC Ferry
compatible terminal located at Hart Island
and would be coordinated with the
NYC Ferry Soundview schedule.
This would increase transit alternatives,
reduce travel time to Hart Island,
parking and traffic demand for the ferry
on City Island. But, it would require a
transfer at Ferry Point Park and cause
longer travel times for visitors traveling
by automobile.
Long-term alternative 2
The NYC Ferry Soundview route
would be extended to Hart Island. This
would require a new NYC Ferry compatible
terminal located at Hart Island, but
would not preclude service from City Island
with the existing city Department of
Transportation vessel.
This would increase transit alternatives,
reduce travel time to Hart Island
for transit, reduce parking and traffic demand
on City Island — no transfer would
be required at Ferry Point Park to reach
Hart Island. However, the NYC Ferry
Soundview weekend schedule varies and
there would be longer travel times for
drivers.
Some residents also stressed the importance
of finding additional ways for
seniors and the disabled to access the island.
Elsie Soto, whose father Norberto
died of AIDS complications in 1993 when
she was just 8, said getting to Hart Island
is difficult due to a lack of public transportation.
She hopes now that the island
is under the jurisdiction of NYC Parks
things will change.
She said not everyone that has a family
member buried on the Hart Island
drives and people should not have to
transfer multiple times just to visit the
gravesite of a deceased loved one.
According to Soto, the parks department
proposals seem to be catering to
the small percentage of New Yorkers who
drive, not the millions who take public
transportation.
“This is a cemetery where mothers, fathers,
children and vets are buried, and
they all deserve dignity and respect, and
their family members deserve direct access,”
Soto said.
Melinda Hunt, president and founding
director of The Hart Island Project,
shared Soto’s concerns about the proposals
only benefitting drivers. The Hart Island
Project, a nonprofit founded in 1994,
assists families and individuals with limited
resources in accessing public burial
records and information concerning
burial procedures on Hart Island.
Hunt told the Bronx Times the option
that makes the most sense is to extend the
Soundview Ferry route to Hart Island.
She said if there is parking at Ferry Point
Park and a shuttle bus from the parking
lot to the ferry landing, then it is feasible
to add ferry service to Hart Island and bypass
City Island altogether.
“In terms of going to Orchard Beach
for parking, it seems good for people who
aren’t elderly, but we have a lot of people
who are elderly who visit Hart Island,”
Hunt said. “I think the short-term proposal
of adding a shuttle bus from the
6 Train Station at Pelham Bay Park to
Orchard Beach is unnecessary because
there is an MTA bus that connects the
end of the 6 line to City Island. It is a short
distance to walk east on Fordham Street
to catch the ferry to Hart Island.”
Hunt said people commuting to Hart
Island from outside of the Bronx is a challenge.
It is only open to visitors on weekends
when there tends to be service interruptions
on the subway making the trip
even longer. Hunt recounted a conversations
with Staten Islanders who visited
Hart Island, and had to leave home at 5:30
a.m. on a Sunday to get to City Island by
11:30 a.m. to catch a noon ferry.
Of the long-term alternatives, Hunt
said the Hart Island Project’s preference
would be Alternative 2 to have continuous
service from Wall Street to Hart Island.
“I think it would help people from
other boroughs get to Hart Island in
much less time and would not impact
parking on City Island,” she said.
This marked the second and final public
meeting for this study. A final report
will provide technical details on each of
the proposed alternatives so city agencies
can assess possible solutions in the
future. The parks department will decide
if any of the proposals are adopted, but it
is not required to move forward with any
of the options, and there is no timeline for
a decision.
NYC Parks recently held a virtual Hart Island Transportation Study, where options to improve access
to the island were discussed. Photo courtesy NYC Parks
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 22-28, 2022