Barbadian Alva Stuart (standing) with husband Andrew T. Cleckley, coowners
of Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in Brooklyn.
Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services, Inc.
Caribbean Life, May 8-14, 2020 3
By Nelson A. King
Claiming that Brooklyn’s Brookdale
University Hospital and Medical Center
is the “the forgotten” hospital amid
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,
the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the
Grenadines Ex-Police Association, USA,
Inc. on Tuesday donated food and water
to frontline workers at the hospital.
Canarsie, Brooklyn resident Pamella
Ferrari-Easter, president of the group,
told Caribbean Life, in an exclusive
interview, that she and two executive
members – former president Arden Tannis,
currently a trustee, and treasurer
Charles Jordan – handed over 50 pizzas,
chicken salad, regular salad, buffalo
wings, and several cases of water, juices
and sodas to hospital staffers.
Ferrari-Easter said the pizza was
made by Original Pizza on Avenue L in
Canarsie.
“The present coronavirus pandemic
has caused such stress and devastation,
and the frontline workers, too, are also
facing their own fear,” said Ferrari-Easter,
adding that workers, at the hospital
in the epicenter of the Caribbean community
in Brooklyn, are overworked,
stressed out and are “also seeing their
colleagues dying.
“We, the members of the association,
have had our own problems, as this
virus has also affected us,” she added,
disclosing that members’ families have
been adversely impacted.
Ferrari-Easter said since Brookdale
Hospital is community-based and
“serves most of us, we wanted to give
back to them.
“A lot of Caribbean nationals and Vincentians
work at Brookdale,” she said.
“They (frontline workers) were so appreciative.
“I look at the whole situation, and it’s
so devastating,” Ferrari-Easter added.
“The needs are so great that regular people
cannot do it. I came up with the idea,
and I said this is something we can do.
By Nelson A. King
New York Attorney General Letitia
James says she has led a coalition of
attorneys general in three states and
New York City in filing a motion asking
a United States district court to
temporarily halt implementation of the
Trump Administration’s Public Charge
Rule that impacts Caribbean and other
immigrants in light of the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) public health crisis.
James and the attorneys general of
Connecticut and Vermont, as well as
corporation counsel for New York City,
Tuesday night filed a motion seeking a
new preliminary injunction with the US
District Court for the Southern District
of New York.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court,
the highest court in America, chose not
to act in the matter, but ruled that the
plaintiffs had the option to take their
argument back to the lower court for
a decision.
“Unlike the Public Charge Rule, this
disease does not discriminate — infecting
both citizens and non-citizens alike,”
said James in a statement. “As our state
and nation continue to suffer the devastating
effects of COVID-19, it has
become more and more clear that the
Trump Administration’s Public Charge
Rule will only further exacerbate the
problem and punish New York and other
immigrant-rich states by denying many
the ability to obtain health care.
“We’re asking the district court to
again take immediate action and suspend
this rule and the threat it places
on all of us,” she added. “It’s time to
end this national nightmare because
every person who doesn’t get the health
coverage they need today risks infecting
another person with the coronavirus
tomorrow.”
James said US federal law allows lawful
Caribbean and other immigrants to
apply for certain supplemental health
and nutritional public benefits if they
have been in the country for at least
five years.
But, last August, the US Department
of Homeland Security issued a Public
Charge Rule that changed the established
meaning of public charge, which
had long been that immigrants who use
basic, non-cash benefits are not considered
public charges, because they are
not primarily dependent on the government
for survival.
James said this “bait-and-switch”
consequently jeopardized immigrants’
chances of becoming legal permanent
residents or renewing their visas if they
used these supplemental benefits to
which they are legally entitled.
By Nelson A. King
New York State health officials have
suspended the license of a funeral home
in Brooklyn that is co-owned by a Barbadian
national after decomposing bodies
were found inside two U-Hall trucks
outside the home in the Flatlands section
of Brooklyn.
Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services,
Inc., on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, is coowned
by African American Andrew T.
Cleckley and his Barbadian-born wife,
Alva Stuart.
Authorities said about 100 decomposing
bodies were found inside the two
non-refrigerated U-Haul trucks and a
U-Haul van on Wednesday.
“Funeral homes have a responsibility
to manage their capacity appropriately
and provide services in a respectful
and competent manner,” said New York
State Health Commissioner Howard
Zucker in a statement, describing the
discovery of the decomposing bodies
as “appalling” and “disrespectful to
the families of the deceased,” while
announcing that his office will conduct
a probe into the matter.
Guyanese-born New York State Sen.
Roxanne Persaud has also called for a
full investigation.
“I am calling for a full investigation
of this funeral home and holding
the responsible persons accountable for
their actions,” said Persaud, who represents
the 19th Senatorial District that
encompasses Flatlands.
“Families have an expectation that
the remains of their loved ones are
handled in a respectful and dignified
manner,” she added.
Persaud said she was informed by
New York Police Department (NYPD)
63rd Precinct Sector D Non-Commissioned
Officers that “a horrendous situation
was occurring at an area funeral
home located at 2037A Utica Ave.
“There were bodies of deceased individuals
stored in two U-Haul trucks and
a car on the property,” she said. “Also, a
foul odor and fluids were coming from
vehicles onto the street and sidewalk.”
Persaud said she and her staff immediately
contacted the Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH),
the city’s Office of Emergency Management
(OEM) and the Mayor’s Office of
Intergovernmental Affairs about “this
dilemma.”
“They took action to rectify the situation,”
she said.
During a coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic briefing on Thursday, New
York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said
“funeral homes are private organizations,
private businesses,” and that
“they have an obligation to the people
they serve to treat them with dignity.
SVG Ex-Police Association, USA,
Inc. donates food and drinks to
frontline workers at Brookdale
Hospital Medical Center.
Arden Tannis
State suspends license of
Brooklyn funeral home
Attorneys general ask court to halt Trump’s Public Charge Rule
SVG ex-police
donates food
to Brookdale
Hospital