Martin A. Gleason Funeral Home, located at 36-46 Bell Boulevard in Bayside. Photo via Google Maps
‘WE DON’T HAVE THE CAPACITY’
Queens funeral home owner says they’ve had to turn families away as mortuary system remains ‘backed up’
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 15-MAY 21, 2020 3
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
John Golden, owner
and operator of Martin A.
Gleason Funeral Homes,
said their funeral homes in
northeast Queens never had
to turn families away — then
came COVID-19.
“We don’t have the capacity
to handle all the families
that are calling us,” Golden
told QNS. “We’ve served
double the normal amount of
families we serve in a month.
At one point, we had to turn
100 families away.”
But the Gleason Funeral
Homes — with locations in
Flushing, Bayside and Whitestone
— are far from the
only funeral homes in New
York City dealing with an influx
of families and their deceased
loved ones due to the
novel coronavirus.
Although COVID-19 is
believed to have reached its
peak, funeral homes, crematoriums
and cemeteries are
still dealing with great volumes
of families needing funeral
arrangements as New
York City’s death toll reaches
almost 13,724 confirmed
deaths to the coronavirus
and 5,383 probable deaths, as
of Tuesday, May 5, according
to the Department of Health.
The city and state implemented
some ways to help
the mortuary system — such
as setting up mobile morgues
and allowing crematoriums
to work around the clock
— but the industry is still
adjusting to the devastating
losses.
The Gleason Funeral
Homes funeral directors
go where the deceased are,
which can be in refrigerated
trailers outside of hospitals,
hospital morgues, houses
and nursing homes.
Golden said the medical
examiner has a new system
that lets them know where
the deceased are, but, he added,
“Everything has slowed
up and become more difficult.”
He said that their funeral
homes offer embalming,
which allows them to safely
hold deceased bodies until
burial in the absence of a refrigerator.
But Gleason Funeral
Homes, which has served
Queens for over 100 years,
have limited their number
of funerals, as they try to
keep from overwhelming and
overextending staff members.
Golden said that one
day, a secretary had to turn
away a family, and as soon
as she got off the phone, she
couldn’t help but cry.
“This has taken an emotional
toll on all our staff at
Gleason Funeral Homes, but
we’re still working to send
off the deceased and their
families as best we can,”
Golden said.
And for families, the
grieving process has become
even more of a challenge.
Right now, there are no
wakes at Gleason, and cemeteries
have limited visits to
10 people. Crematories currently
are not allowing visitations.
Some have allowed
grave site recordings to send
to families with their permission.
Golden said they were able
to record graveside prayers
for a nun who passed away to
send to her convent.
He mentioned there are
some Catholic churches in
the area conducting memorial
masses virtually, where
there’s no one in the church
except the priest so families
can access it online. In one
instance, St. Andrews in
Flushing had a priest go outside
of the church and bless
the casket from the car.
But Golden said it’s still
a very difficult situation for
families who weren’t able
to see their loved one in the
hospital, and can’t have a
ceremony.
Several weeks ago, the
city was only holding deceased
for 48 hours before
burying “unclaimed” bodies
on Hart Island, which Golden
said caused families to feel
“panic.”
“We were able to intercept
some, and now the medical
examiner has extended the
hold indefinitely,” he said.
But Golden said the system
as a whole is still “backed
up.”
Many of the cemeteries
they work with have limited
burial times and visitations.
For instance, the next
available date for a burial at
Mount St. Mary Cemetery in
Flushing is May 25.
St. Michael’s Cemetery
in East Elmhurst temporarily
closed visitation and is
restricting internments attendance
in order to protect
their staff.
Golden said they previously
wrote letters asking Gov.
Andrew Cuomo to let out-ofstate
funeral directors come
and help, which Cuomo did
in the first week of April.
That has helped, Golden
said, but now he thinks cemeteries
may need help getting
workers or independent contractors
to open grave sites.
Golden said he suggested
the city bring in military
embalmers with experience
handling deceased bodies
and set them up in Flushing
Meadows Corona Park, along
with the out-of-state funeral
directors. He believes more
help caring for those who
have died due to COVID-19
may lessen the burden.
Golden, who’s worked as
a funeral director for more
than three decades, said the
amount of death they’re experiencing
only compares to
9/11 — but it’s much harder
to navigate the current
health crisis.
“In normal times, the most
gratifying thing was shepherding
families through the
steps as they mourn — accompanying
them to crematories,
helping them grieve,” Golden
said. “And then COVID-19
arrived.”
/QNS.COM
