BRONX, N.Y. — It’s the largest public cemetery in the United States.
One million people are believed to be buried there.
Now, New York City is turning it into a park.
Newsday reports Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a city law turning Hart Island over to the Department of Parks and Recreation to create a place for families to enjoy.
The one-square mile island cemetery in the Bronx has a very long history. According the New York Daily News, there are Civil War veterans buried there – alongside unmarked mass graves filled with homeless and other ‘unidentified’ people.
The newspaper reports the city’s Department of Corrections took control of Hart Island in 1968 and made it more difficult for people to visit.
The law signed by the mayor requires the Department of Transportation to increase ferry service to the island park in the Long Island Sound to make it easy for people to get there.
New York city still has information on its website for families trying to find loved ones buried on Hart Island.
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