A Rare Tour Of Hart Island, NYC's Isle Of Lost Souls
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 พ.ค. 2017
- ISLAND OF LOST SOULS
Hart Island is New York City's potter's field: a tiny island in the Bronx where more than 1 million people have been buried since the 1860s.
A thousand more are added every year, buried in open trenches in rows of two stacked three high in pine boxes. They include loners and criminals to veterans and folks who simply outlived everyone they knew, or got lost in the system.
The island contains a million stories, but until now, few have been told. That is in part to the secretive nature of the island, which is run like a prison by the New York City Department of Correction.
But the secrets of Hart Island are slowly being told, thanks to the loved ones of those buried there, journalist and artists. Brian took a rare trip to Hart Island to tell the story of an amazing place.
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That was a horrible comment she passed about bums being buried on Hart island. My ex husband is buried there and I object to that word. Everyone deserves respect
Helen Kiely-O'Regan yes that was so disrespectful smfh
Sorry for your loss Helen.
@Megan Cox get up off yourself already. please.
+Megan Cox ~ She said “bum”. Although everyone that is buried there are not bums. There’s no such thing as a dead bum. 🤷🏽♀️ She is still distraught about the event. She is unable to pay her respects and doesn’t know the exact spot where her daughters remains are. She’s still in pain and rightfully so. She’s speaking out of anger.
Bums are lucky they’re not wrapped in chain and dumped in the ocean after death.
My twin brother is buried on Hart Island. We were born two months premature in 1949, and my Mom didn't know she was carrying twins. Richard was taken away to another hospital for advanced care. Three days after we were born, he passed away. My parents never knew what happened to his body; our family had several places where he could have been buried. For years, my mother would get angry or cry if the topic was brought up. Where was he, and what actually happened to his body? After years of wondering and searching, Melinda Hunt was able to help me verify that he was indeed buried on Hart Island. Before Mom died last year at the age of 99, I was able to tell her that we had found Richard. We buried her with a stone from Hart Island in her hands. We have been able to visit the island several times now, and are grateful for the opportunity to do so. We are forever thankful to Melinda for her efforts to bring some peace and comfort to us, and to all who are beginning to realize and report, access to our loved ones must continue to be made easier. Great piece "Chasing News" - Grace La Mothe-Lippman
Robert LIPPMAN I am so saddened to hear your story but I am, however, so happy that you were able to give your mother an answer she so desperately needed before she left. So bitter sweet. Brought tears to my eyes.
May you brother Rest In Peace
What a beautiful story Robert, thank you for sharing. I’m glad you and your family were able to finally find peace.
+Robert LIPPMAN Your mother and twin brother are reunited and are living much better than you and all of us still living in this unjustly earthy realm.
Robert LIPPMAN woooow!!! condolences...
Huh?? "My daughter wasn't a bum, wasn't a pauper...."
In the next sentence "my daughter doesn't deserve to be burried there...nobody does."
These were all human beings. Thats why they say, we're all ending up in the same place. The only thing thats different is our journey to that place.
I can't imagine how this woman feels...but she should've thought about the harsh words she came out with.
bkbella bell, I was shocked as well. Elaine is heartless.
I was so angry when she said that. I understand her being upset over how things went but no soul is more important then another. No one belongs in a place like this as their final resting place. She sounded heartless to me.
Glad I wasnt the only one who caught that...
That was her grief talking. I understand how she feels. My friend was recently buried in a potters field. Her husband kept the insurance money and didn’t care to give her a proper burial. I even offered to pay for it. We don’t speak anymore and probably never will. Especially after he told me he got the money and what do I think he should do with it. He didn’t like my reply.
That woman is gross.
"my daughter was not a bum or a pauper she was a person" but also "nobody deserves a stigma"
I agree.
Lily Palmer This woman came across as a stuck up bitch, that feels homeless people are less than she
@Kelp Farming who is "you people"? You sound like a delusional racist moron
" my daughter wasn't a bum..she was a human being". News flash lady.." bums" ARE HUMAN BEINGS. YOU don't assume they aren't...and I won't assume you could have been a lil more on the ball and buried your own child.
Her comments really pissed me off....
Excuse me ma’am but “ BUMS & PAUPERS ARE HUMANS TOO
"the bums are buried there..."
"no one deserves that type of stigma"
okay lady pick or chose how horrible you are.
@penguins inadiorama It's genetic because SHE has a soul, unlike us lower-than-beasts. Sad how many will read this, but not understand it.
She played the part of sandy beacum at Charlottesville
Not proud to say I've been on Rikers Island to many times to count. At one point I was sick and as an inmate they asked me if I had an emergency contact. All the hell I've been through I thought and said no! They said I would be buried there and am I sure. Yes I replied. Then I tried my hardest to get a job there as an inmate when I recovered. These videos are reminding me of how important it is to build a caring family of my own to change my destiny as I know it.
This comment is from long ago...still hope you are on the right path!
v t yes beautifully put..bless you
I hope you were successful!
4:40 I understand her being upset. Especially since she looks like she could've afforded a large monument in a nicer cemetery. But the condescension she shows towards POOR people is disgusting. To say they're not human beings.
Katt William's brought me here
I never even heard about this place until they showed a video of them burying covid 19 victims
Me too
It was featured in the Michael Douglas movie "Don't Say a Word." I didn't know about Hart Island either until I saw the movie. They sneaked onto the island to find a grave, but that part was actually filmed in Canada, I think, not on Hart Island. They couldn't actually film on the island.
Same
Funny how i walk all over manhattan and never wondered what happens if that homeless person dies in the train and what happens next.
And the thing is, that MSNBC did a vid in 2015 about Hart Island's inaccessibility for the relatives of the deceased. It's called The Dead of Hart Island. So I'm questioning a lot of things about what has changed in that time and how that might relate to the covid 19 decease? As it is, people are not even allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones in the hospital because of the virus but then to have their bodies taken away and deposited in mass graves and never be able to go to that sight and even mourn them is yet another blow for the families. More attention needs to be brought to this issue because you could be calling every hospital in the state only to discover that they have been buried in a place of lost souls and that is cruel. New York needs to address this and tell the public what measures have been put in place since 2015 to assure families that their loved ones matter. As another vid suggested, they can use some of these valuable, useless golf courses to bury people with dignity. Check out- Beau of the fifth column vid on the subject
I have parent and an uncle on this island. They had a family who loved them dearly. They were not unknown or "bumbs" as offensively stated in this interview. There's such a large misconception/stigma which is why I'm am forever grateful to Melinda Hunt for all she has done to bring light and educate NYer's of the truth.
Hope your family members, and everyone out there, are at peace.
R W thank you
penguins inadiorama thank you.
Stop getting offended. I’m sorry for your loss but she didn’t call anybody a bum she doesn’t know any of you to call any of your loved ones bums. All she said was that her daughter isn’t a bum
@@TeeDaProfit all though this comments was made many years ago I will always remember what she said which is why I was so offended. For one reason or another a human being found themselves in these circumstances only to still be judged by another who of all things being in the same situation. And so I quote
“My daughters on potter's field, potters field the bums are buried there indigents people who had no families unknowns”
She said something so true- "In New York city, it is so easy for people to become disconnected."
Big city life
My good friend and neighbor Phil, who was very secretive about his ancestry (he was born down South, of mixed race parentage), came to NYC and lived as a white man. Changing his name, and eventually dying a drunk, and a recluse.... without anyone knowing much about his people and relatives. He is buried on Hart Island. He was quite close to his mother when he was young:, that much we did know, and he was from Raleigh, I think, or Richmond. A year or so after he died we received a bank statement, showing he had over $12,000 in an account. Which, if he'd only thought to make the proper arrangements, would have allowed us, his friends to send his remains down South to be buried near his mom. But alas..he told no one..and now lies on Hart Island.
I felt all respectful until Elaine said her baby wasnt some bum or a pauper. Oh, so those people who are buried there aren't human now? Obviously to some they are not. Letting corrections run it like a prison is not right. It should be open to families. By this we still are not a civilized society.
So, having a family validates a human beings worth ?
SuperBike Racer Not necessarily, Just nobody is gonna be sad when they are stacked up and buried like that.
Yep, no family, they treat you like a dog. Wait, worse than a dog in this society.
Well I mean if absolutely nobody knew who you were then yeah you probably didn’t do all that much
@Luke McKenzie What have you accomplished?
I say everyone deserves respect ✊ except those committing heinous crimes against humanity. So yeah, not everyone! Now that I think about it.
Anyone here because Coronavirus mass grave?
Lmaoo yess🤷♂️
Please check out my comment to TH3 BLACKGHOST 21 and please spread the word because this is an issue that should be addressed.
Yes, I've heard of the mass burials of Corona victims here. It is so terrible. I hope that after this pandemia they will be buried somewhere else with more dignity. May they rest in peace.
🐑
THey are only burying the unclaimed dead and those whose families cannot provide a funeral, which is always the case. Please go to facebook and twitter and type & click #hartislandsuite. This NYSCA Commissioned musical composition of mine is dedicated to all who rest on Hart Island & their loved ones. Rehearsals & premiere postponed due to COVID19
Mrs Joseph, the bums you refer to are also human beings. May God have mercy On all buried on Hunt island.
Who the hell let her nasty comments be included in this? You should’ve corrected her on the spot. They made it go from incredibly sad to anger and rage inducing.
How very sad. The late actor, Bobby Driscoll, who appeared in many films produced by Walt Disney's company, is buried here.
How did he end up being buried there?
He was. Bobby's name appears on his father's tombstone but his body is still at Hart Island. This is according to Wikipedia
@@samiawilliams151 he was a drug addict. No one knew he was an actor.
Chad Glasner Okay
"She wasn't a bum" one minute later " no one deserves a stigma" lol that's a true jew for ya right there
Bum, pauper, prince, or citizen: we all die and must return to dust. Why does it matter so much where we initiate our repose? Are we something so great that we cannot even rot with those less fortunate in life?
Burial there might be better than in a normal graveyard if you are at least no pumped full of chemicals. Let my body rot naturally, feed the wolves, whatever. I don't need it anymore.
Very well said!
Cremation is the way to go.
WOW! My great-grandparents, great aunts, and uncles weren't bums either, they were human beings too!!! They were very poor and couldn't afford burials during the Spanish flu! Maybe she should've been a bit more diligent about her baby's burial!
All debts are paid by the dead
There are no bums there
Just the departed
In capitalism I guess you have to earn a grave
This make me so sad😢R.I.P all lost souls⚘❤
Thats crazy. My grandfather was murdered in Throgs Neck and was burried in Brooklyn right after the blizzard of 78'
GREAT JOB.
This place is amazing. It deserves to be a happy place where people can come and visit. Let's remember the forgotten.
Agreed. Let someone come and fix it up a bit. I also think that the New York Department of Corrections should have to pay for every damaged or desecrated grave for abandoning the island and letting it become derelict.
Everyone gets to the same place eventually. And it doesn't much matter, in the end, whether your remains end up here or under some fancy piece of marble. Your time is limited, so use it wisely. Be kind, be gentle, and try to leave the world just a little bit better for your time in it.
To Elaine Joseph, all of those other people such as bums, indigents, people without families, unknown are people too and should be treated with respect. It is sad what happened to your daughter without doubt but she is not with others who are less than she is.
One very simple way to have loved ones avoid this place:
CLAIM THEIR BODY & PAY TO HAVE IT BURIED OR CREMATED
you still don't get something for nothing
"My daugther was not a bum, she was a human being" Ok.
A bum is a human being as well. Somewhere that “bum” has a mother father brother sister and is a son or daughter.
Lmao yeah she misspoke badly
Lord I pray them and their souls . They deserved so much better. Good or bad every human is deserving of salvation. Those people buried there was important to somebody. Someones father mother son or daughter.
Actor Bobby Driscoll who played in a boy in the movie Treasure Island with Robert Newton and Bobby also played the voice in animated in the movie Peter Pan. Bobby died young close to where he played in the movie - The Window.
It's hauntingly beautiful and yet heartbroken at the same time
Very heartbreaking.... my lord
Born unto the world and forgotten 😔
I was born at Beth Israel Hospital... Very weird that I came across this very obscure video and just so happens someone in this video was born at the same hospital I was
I have been living in NYC all my life and never knew this island existed! Due to the burial news of the Corona Virus victims I found out about this island... This is truly tragic and haunting history which should be recorded and marked/opened as part of our history to the public for the respect to all whom have perished. This also lead me to read further on how majority of the parks scattered throughout 5 boroughs (Bryant Park, Washington Square Park, Union Square Park, etc.) used to be potter fields as well which is shocking.
I wonder why in New York people died for coronavirus are not cremate and buried in standard cemeteries as still it is happening in Italy
I had never heard of Hart Island either until I saw the Michael Douglas movie "Don't Say a Word."
paying a fortune for a grave is not going to bring you dignity. I lived my life for 65 years and know there are good people everywhere. As for the prisoners doing the job seems it's the same ...there are dignified people everywhere. Thanks to those men or woman prisoners may you gently lay them down.
I really want to visit this place soon
This crazy that a lot of ppl didn't know about this.
Would not want myself or a loved one buried in a mass grave marked unknown. Hwever this place is a lot nicer and cleaner then some that I have seen
Never heard of this place until today when I noticed a story on CBS about bones washing up . The only positive I could say is at least there’s a way to avoid having these Funeral home owners cashing in and eating steak and lobster on the dime of deceased family members.
All those buried there are human beings and deserve the respect and dignity of anyone who has passed through this world.
What a sad but fascinating piece of history that hopefully over time the secrecy and the red tape will melt away. Families deserve the most basic of respects and one of those is to visit their loved one’s grave site.
None of those souls are lost.
They are reunited with God.
They are just misplaced.
Ah, but how do you get to the folded toad? I can’t seem to get to it.
All I want to do is cover it in flowers to honor the dead or hell, maybe move there and just dedicate my life to make sure the dead are resting in a beautiful place
Over a million are buried there, dating back to after the civil war. Currently, hundreds of coronavirus victims are being buried there, perhaps thousands. If there is one place that contains tons of spirits, its that island. Show respect.
It's a propaganda piece by the media. They show you something that's been going on there daily for many decades. Just add the word coronavirus victims & it's instant fear propaganda. You are dumb. Notice the reporter said they had to pan the camera away as they were burying people. It's illegal to film burials but apparent not today to make a piece to instill fear into the public so you obey. They just want to make it easier for people to beg for a vaccine.
There were 4 brothers, sister, mom and dad in my family. I buried them all! Take care of the dead!
How realistic is it to have people visit? If there's 1 million bodies there, that's clearly a lot of visitors if even 10% of families would go to visit.
One million souls over 150 years. The visitation would still be limited. It just wouldn't require an online appointment with Dept of Correction and then require you to bring photo ID, no cell phone, no cameras of any kind, etc.
@rudy kipling not while under the DOC. Check #hartislandsuite on facebook & twitter
I was at city island and I saw the island and I saw alot tree and huge thunder hitting it and I thought it was abandon island or a forest
I'd probably feel more sympathy for the mother if she had not said in a single breath bums are buried there my daughter was a human being not a bum. Maybe her suffering is a karmic lesson she obviously has yet to learn.
I'd love to go at night alone to film
Its off limits with security
R.I.P. bobby driscoll
"And then i saw naked bones, and i wonder, hwo is the soldier and the king, hwo is the poorer and the rich, hwo is the sinner and the saint....all i saw was naked bones" Just remember that.
I like this story they covered, the details they gave, and the way the reporter narrates it.
But I felt the music was over the top and unneccessary. And the editing has the feeling of tabloid news.
It’s a beautiful location…peaceful….
I believe that there should be a record of everyone buried their and a location so they can get visitors ,but aside from that there is a beauty to the place. Go to any Cemetery and what do you see Rows and Rows of tombstones. When they are recent deaths you will find wreaths and flowers ,but as you go to the older parts of the Cemetery you will find less signs of visitors with each decade. When my mom passed I promised her I would visit all the graves at our Cemetery. The oldest one is in a section where the last burials were in the 1950s and usually mine is the only wreath . Its kind of sad but also a fact of life most of these people have no one who remembers them, including me. So maybe its nice to not see all the clutter>??? I have an uncle on Hart island. He was an Alcoholic with mental problems ,so I definitely relate to not being able to find him. No doubt about it these HUMAN BEINGS deserve more than we have given them but a tombstone for all.
A record is kept of who is buried and where. As they are mass burials you will be visiting a mass grave site. Only after you get approval from the dept of corrections and only by escort from corrections dept since civilians are not allowed. Maybe something’s/rules have changed or laxed since I last knew the process.
This is so heartbreaking that human beings are being treated worse than animals. I pray for you all who are burried their.
Their not. If you think about it. Where else would you burry 1 million people
My mother lost a son back in the early 60's. She never claimed his body. I wonder if he's buried here?
Natalia Miranda if you get in contact with Melinda Hunt she will tell you for sure if your relative is there. Good luck.
Just wow :o( She said my daughter was not a bum, indigent, or a pauper, she was a human being. NEWSFLASH.... those she so callously belittled & called those awful epithets are also human beings! They do not deserve to have a stigma either ugh. She should be ashamed of her ignorance! Someone cared about them as well!
That woman is a bigger disgrace then those she belittles are :o(
That lady is one of them looking at it the wrong way an her kid is there. Sad. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
That man said it feels peaceful out there in Hart's Island. I bet he'd say different if it was night time. There's alot of unrested souls in that place I'm sure.
This is so sad especially the people that didn't have anyone dying alone the bums thes are human too
I had never heard of this horrible place before Katt Williams mentioned it.
This REPORTER IS BRAVE VERY BRAVE IN MY EYES....I Would NOT GO even IF MY JOB DEPENDING ON IT....IMAGINE THE SOULS that Scream and Walk around at NIGHT.....This Very Sad 😞
God Bless To All those Buried Souls....😇
Looks like a part of Kings Park. Lol
Seems there are lots of better things to worry about--things that could benefit humankind--the living.
"Incredibly peaceful". No shit, it's a cemetery!
I am a lesbian
wow
Sad story :(
But, why has this reporter decided to recount his story in a security monitoring room of all places? And why in front of a small audience (in the same room no less)? Strange.
de-stigmatize hart island. It is a beautiful and peaceful location. There is no easy solution for those who cannot afford a private burial, hence the need for "Potter's fields". The fact that family cannot visit is a problem, agree...but the entire tone of this video is as if there is some dark conspiracy behind the location.....it's not. NYC Parks needs to take over.
Sad 😔
Crazy, how people are so quick to attack the wording of an individual, but not attack the real problem! Nothing gets corrected that way!
Looks like a nice place to get laid out , and lots of company !
That is greenblattt who is ceo of the adl. They did a deep fake to hide his identity but I got the voice match. Birx plays the part of Melinda hart. On the 2020 documentary Laura birx is commentating and her mom still plays the part of Melinda hunt.
I'm from California
I have never been to new york, and seeing it from outside the box new york seems very mysterious to me, very dark, very sad. Is almost like a cursed ghost town. New York is in desperate need of peace and enlightenment. No offense to anyone hopefully I go visit one day. But that's the vibe I get.
Wow, very sad that burials are not accessible by family and love ones... I can’t imagine loosing a baby or other family member and then having them sent to a place you can never visit 😢
They can visit. Were you listening?
Wow this is very bizarre... I actually never knew what happened to homeless and indigent people when they died... I never thought about it but before seeing this I would've thought they just cremated them and spread the ashes..
Most municipalities have a Potter's Field. In doing some research I learned that the term hails from the Bible, referring to the clay land that potters get their pottery clay from. They supposedly began burying their "unknown" dead in these places because the land was already partially dug up and therefore easier to dig graves in. It's not named after someone named Potter. It refers to a potter who makes clay pots on a potter's wheel.
Here's the latest problem with Hart Island, after Sandy there was considerable erosion & bones were exposed. FEMA gave the city over 13 million for restoration. Work was supposed to start in Sept. '19. No go & no answers.
I'm sure somebody swooped up that money and diverted it to their own pocket fund ✨️🙄✨️
So......This woman says no one should have to be stigmatized but then proceeds to call the people there bums, unknowns, and people without families. Maybe if she did her research, she'd know that many of the inhabitants are children, I believe more so than anyone else. The point is no one deserves to be buried out here, what kind of person deserves to be buried on an island that you can't access or pay respects to. It's weird when people want you to have empathy for their situation but they have no empathy for others. I never heard of this lady therefore, she is an unknown and by her own admission is not a human being.
Is that guy on news 12 nj now?
My brotber is here
I’m sorry that lady is so disrespectful calling people bums. I’m sorry your child is somewhere you can’t visit but don’t disrespect all the others who are buried there. Shame on you!
Very very sad.
Bobby Driscoll 😭💔
I don’t think she used the word ‘bum’ completely in disrespect she used it in anger about her daughter being gone and whereabouts unknown for 30 years. But yes I agree different words could have been used.
Whether they were a pauper, indignant, homeless, unknown, WHATEVER you wish to call them: THEY WERE ALL HUMAN BEINGS. They ALL had a past, they ALL had families! They ALL deserved a PROPER burial regardless of what their outcome was!
Remember 20k buried there during the 2009 flu epidemic
Of course the crave is quite the dead dont speak its up to humans who are are alive to be there voice.
I feel bad for the lady who losy her baby but found her words about the other souls burried there to be disrespectful.
They were people too.
So sad.
i have answers if you have questions. contact on twitter
The indigent, those with no next of kin, and newborns who die in the hospital are buried by prisoners on a run-down island that few get to visit, and within sight of Manhattan's glittering lights.
Is a society truly civilized if we treat the least of us like detritus stuck to the bottoms of our shoes, or is this the price we pay to become a civilized society in the first place?
If Lil B was there then it would be very rare!
This may sound grim but I think funeral services would be a lot cheaper if someone developed a cemetery like this in an area where the family members could visit and the family could place a memorial plaque. The American funeral business is fleecing people on a daily basis. We are one of the few countries in the world that regularly spends thousands of dollars on burial products which are placed in the ground, never to be seen again. I am going to prearrange a green burial for myself. Biodegradable wicker casket, no embalming, no burial liner/vault. Why have your family spend tons of money for all this fancy stuff which starts to deteriorate the minute its put into the ground?
4:38 Super condescending rant starts here.
Imagine how much more worthiness would be received if they used the island for something else. They could've just bury the deaths in the normal cemeteries and use the island as tourist place make hotels, zoo, etc.