www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY October 20, 2019 4
Hart Island’s mysterious past and unknown future
Man forged $40,000 in checks from woman
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MEMBER:
BY STEVEN GOODSTEIN
Hart Island, the location
of Potter’s Field, a city burial
site for unclaimed bodies of
deceased residents or visitors,
may be open to more
visitors if the NYC Council
passes several bills that are
targeting a reversal of the
site’s current regulations.
At Thursday, October 10’s
Community Board 10 Parks
and Recreation Committee
meeting at their offi ce, the
current status and future
plans for Hart Island were
reviewed.
The meeting was attended
by Councilman Mark Gjonaj,
members of the Hart Island
Project and representatives
from NYC Council speaker
Corey Johnson’s offi ce,
along with CB10 residents.
At the meeting, Johnson’s
representatives explained
that the plan to improve Hart
Island access would be contingent
on the passing of four
pieces of legislation.
One bill, Bill 906, would
transfer the jurisdiction of
Hart Island from the NYC
Department of Corrections
to the NYC Department of
Parks and Recreation. It
was explained at the meeting
that if jurisdiction was
transferred, Parks would not
be assigned to perform the
burials.
A revamped transportation
plan for Hart Island is
also under consideration.
Council Bill 909-b calls for
more frequent ferry service,
after appropriate traffi c
studies are conducted by the
NYC Department of Transportation.
This bill was not well received
by City Island residents
at the meeting. Citing
both traffi c and parking
concerns, the islanders appeared
opposed to initiating
more frequent travel to Hart
Island, which is reached by
ferry service from Fordham
Street.
Currently, the DOC only
offers gazebo visits on the
third Thursday of every
month and gravesite visits
twice a month on weekends
for close family members of
the deceased.
Before 2015, family members
of the departed required
an attorney to visit the Hart
Island gravesite, until a class
action lawsuit fi led by the
New York Civil Liberties
Union established rights for
families to visit their loved
ones who are buried there.
Council Bill 1559-a would
establish a manned contact
offi ce on the island that
would answer questions or
provide information about a
loved one, while Bill 1580-a
would lead to the creation of
public discourse for Hart Island.
These four bills were initially
presented by the Council
this past May.
CB 10 voted down a 2015
attempt to transfer Hart Island’s
jurisdiction from DOC
to Parks.
“My priority has always
been to preserve and protect
those who are buried on Hart
Island,” said Councilman
Gjonaj, who also expressed
his displeasure with the fact
that prisoners are paid less
than $5 a day to bury the
dead.
Visiting Hart Island, located
one third of a mile east
of City Island, does come
with rules and restrictions.
Visitors must provide photo
ID and surrender their cell
phones before boarding the
ferry.
“This is an important and
historic site that needs to be
preserved - and provide a decent
burial for unidentifi ed
individuals,” said Melinda
Hunt, president and founding
director of the Hart Island
Project, a non-profi t organization
that assists families
in fi nding loved ones, negotiating
grave site visits and
obtaining copies of public
burial records.
Hunt, a visual artist, began
the Hart Island Project
in 1991 along with photographer
Joel Sternfeld.
Hart Island’s history dates
back to 1654, when Thomas
Pell purchased the island
from the Siwanoy tribe. In
1865, the island hosted a temporary
prisoner-of-war camp
for over 3,000 Confederate
soldiers who were captured
during the Civil War. Public
burials of the unclaimed and
unidentifi ed began in 1869 - a
burial site that was called City
Cemetery and Potter’s Field.
In the 1980s, the eastern portion
of Hart Island was used
as a burial ground for AIDS
victims.
In the 150-year span, over a
million people have been buried
on Hart Island, making it
home to the largest municipal
cemetery in the United States.
During the cold war and
the war on drugs it also had
special signifi cance. The island
was once home to a Nike
Missile site and an Odessey
House drug rehab center.
View of Hart Island from City Island. Photo courtesy of Patrick Rocchio
District Attorney Darcel
D. Clark announced that a
man has been indicted for
possessing a forged a check
and stealing $40,000 from
an 85-year-old Bronx woman’s
bank account.
DA Clark said, “The
defendant allegedly stole
thousands of dollars from
the victim by using a bogus
check and possessing
the victim’s forged signature.
The elderly victim
had to go through a terrible
ordeal after realizing
she was missing $40,000
from her bank account. We
will prosecute anyone who
preys on our vulnerable,
elderly community members.”
She said the defendant,
Daniel Brown, 29, of St.
John’s Avenue, Hicksville,
N.Y., was arraigned Tuesday,
October 8 on third
and fourth-degree Grand
Larceny, Petit Larceny,
second-degree Criminal
Possession of a Forged Instrument,
and fi rst, second
and third-degree Identity
Theft, and third, fourth
and fi fth-degree Criminal
Possession of Stolen Property
before Bronx Supreme
Court Justice Margaret
Clancy. Brown is due back
on December 18, 2019.
According to the investigation,
the defendant
stole the money from the
elderly Bronx resident in
early February 2018. The
defendant allegedly stole
the funds by using the victim’s
JPMorgan Chase account
number, her name,
address and supposed signature
on a forged check.
Brown deposited the check
into his personal TD Bank
account. Between February
9 and 11, 2018, the defendant
went to a teller at
fi ve different bank locations
and allegedly withdrew
the funds. Brown also
created an online checking
account using the victim’s
information. The defendant
was arrested on April
25, 2019.
The case is being prosecuted
by Assistant District
Attorney Melanie Smith of
the Economic Crimes Bureau
under the supervision
of Richard Kearney, Deputy
Chief of the Economic
Crimes Bureau, and William
Zelenka, Chief of the
Economic Crimes Bureau,
and the overall supervision
of Tarek Rahman,
Deputy Chief of the Investigations
Division, and Jean
T. Walsh, Chief of the Investigations
Division.
DA Clark thanked
Bronx DA Detective Investigator
Louis Zanieri and
Assistant District Attorney
Jeannette Rucker, Chief of
Support Staff Training and
Professional Development,
for their assistance.
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