CemOps Newsworthy Items
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This page is dedicated to a cemetery full of desecration in the
New York City area.  To see the entire website dedicated to
this, click on the link below:

http://www.baysidecemeterylitigation.com

In this news item, there are photos you will find alarming.  
More egregious is this cemetery is owned and operated by a
religious organization.  You will see very disturbing images
that should cause concern for the health and safety of anyone
visiting these grounds, and for those who chose to vandalize
this property.  

Regardless, the simple fact that this cemetery was allowed to
get in such a state of disrepair is absolute disrespect for the
dead and the families of those loved ones left to witness such
desecration.
In the photo above right you see a number of large garbage bags piled up against a once proud private
mausoleum.   The family that built this beautiful building spent a great amount of money back in the
day for such memorialization. These people try to hide behind their religious designation, but this
should be considered criminal by any standard.  Other pictures to follow should infuriate anyone
viewing them.  The images are disturbing, and there is much more to this story.
Vandals broke into this mausoleum and pried open a
casket, pictured to the right.  The lone act of vandalism is
disgusting in itself, but what about the health issues that
could be present from this?  What was the cause of death
in this case?  Were these and others that visit to this day,
exposed to blood born or air born pathogens?   Was there
an infectious disease involved?  If so, the vandals may
have gotten more than they bargained for.  That would be
divine intervention, but how can the owners of this
cemetery perpetuate this?  How can they just leave this
casket exposed like this without resealing and protecting
not only the sanctity of the remains, but the general
public health?  I am shocked the New York City Health
Department hasn't been all over this.  What about the
caretakers that apparently still work here from time to
time.  What is their exposure to health risks?  Should be
of interest to OSHA in that case.
Pictured to the left is yet another casket broken
into in a private mausoleum.  Yet again, this
desecration is allowed by the owners with little or
no effort to rectify the situation.  These problems
are not new or recent, they are ongoing for some
time now as evidenced by the pictures.  More
concern for not only the sanctity of the dead, but
for the public health.  I sure wouldn't want to live
in proximity to this mess, or unknowingly visit
such a place.

At the end of this article you will find a number of
links to information regarding health
considerations relative to cemeteries and pathogen
exposures.
Pictured here is a funeral director removing and cleaning one of the casketed
remains that were disturbed.  As I understand it, this was a voluntary act.  My
concern again goes to his exposure.  He is wearing a paper dust mask, tyvek suit,
and leather/canvas work gloves.  His risk of exposure is certainly high.  He should
be wearing, according to OSHA, additional protection for his eyes and ears.  The
gloves he is wearing hopefully were incinerated after this procedure.  A full face
respirator, rubber gloves and hood with the tyvek suit would have been prescribed.

If the gloves were not incinerated, I would worry about the possibility of cross
contamination from these being used ever again after this procedure.
Pictured above is yet more garbage.  On the surface, it looks like local neighbors have used this site as
a garbage dump.  Again, the owners of this cemetery have failed to clean it up or show any form of
respect for the final resting places of these families.  What makes this even more despicable is the fact
this cemetery is owned by a religious organization.  I'll let you discover who that is in viewing the
website on your own.  I trust you will be as disturbed as I am.

Let's examine the trash.  What is in these bags?  Is this clippings from the last time the cemetery was
cleaned up?  One would have to doubt that, as the bags are intact and the overgrowth around them is
old.  Is this simple household garbage thrown out by the neighborhood?  There are charges in the
litigation that records have been destroyed, relative to the lawsuit and discovery.  Is there some of
those records in this mess?  Being it is in an inner city, could this be medical waste?  Could someone
who didn't want to pay for medical waste removal throw this here?  

One cannot ignore the possibility there could be animal carcasses in these bags.  Could someone have
lost a pet and used the cemetery and garbage bags to dispose of their dead animals?  Could someone
have placed an unborn fetus in one of these and placed it in the cemetery?  All possible hosts for
pathogens that could have a negative impact on the safety of this environment.

Sound far fetched?  Maybe, but have you heard of these items being found in trash receptacles in our  
cities?  Someone from the health department or the city needs to get curious as to the contents of all
these garbage bags for the safety of the community around this cemetery.  If they find nothing
harmful, great.  But if they find anything that could spread pathogens or other infectious items, it
needs to be identified and dealt with in an expeditious manner.  Investigate and then bill the church
for the clean up.  The city has that authority.

Regardless, this is awful that a cemetery would be kept in this state.  Picture your family in a
cemetery.  Would you put up with this for one minute?  Especially from your religious leaders?
The few pictures I have shared with you here are with the permission of the photographer and
owner/publisher of the website at the top of this page.  Visit his site and chime in with your
thoughts and feelings.  This is one piece of litigation that CemOps can get behind and support.
On his site you will find many more pictures and documents relative to this horrible situation.  
Thank you for taking the time to view this.  I hope it calls you into action against such disrespect.