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A28 u.s. news
Diamars 6 Juli 2021

NYC temporary morgue lingers, a reminder of pandemic's pain

als. “Because now they’re all which is interring some Jew- ity have been taken, why the
part of our family. And we’re ish people who were at the temporary morgue stayed in
a part of theirs.” temporary morgue. use after the 2020 surge sub-
sided or how many of the de-
Some New Yorkers are trou- “We feel really good that we ceased there are virus victims.
bled that hundreds of others are able to bury these people
at the morgue still wait to be who have been unburied and Brooklyn Borough President
laid to rest. in limbo for so long,” she and mayoral hopeful Eric
said. Adams has asked City Hall
“Still these bodies wait — for to ensure that every effort
what?” asks Kiki Valentine, Still, Koplow feels the medi- is made to reach relatives of
a Brooklyn minister and fu- cal examiner’s office did its the deceased and help with
neral services assistant. She best in a maelstrom. Many applications for government-
wrote to officials to seek an cases require considerable paid funeral reimbursement,
explanation and propose steps searching for relatives, a will spokesman Ryan Lynch said.
she feels could help, such as or other indications of the (The city can provide up to
publishing public obituaries deceased’s wishes, she noted. $1,700, and a federal program
(AP) — On a sun-soaked ity — which the city plans to for the deceased. specific to COVID-19 deaths
morning last month, a close by the end of the sum- As the medical examiner’s allows up to $9,000. Burial
dozen mourners gathered mer — stands as a reminder Virus deaths alone peaked office prepares to close the on Hart Island is free.)
by a freshly dug grave of the loss, upheaval and above 800 a day citywide at temporary facility, the agen-
to bury four people who wrenching choices the virus one point in April 2020 — cy has stopped taking newly Meanwhile, Rabbi Regina
were cast into limbo as inflicted in one of its deadli- deaths from all causes usu- deceased people there, and Sandler-Phillips — who has
New York City contended est U.S. hotspots. ally average about 150 — and investigators are working to organized volunteers to keep
with COVID-19. overwhelmed funeral homes, contact relatives and deter- at-home vigils for the dead
James Brown, George Davis, cemeteries and hospital mine final arrangements for around the world, especially
Each was among hundreds Diane Quince and Charles morgues. The temporary the roughly 200 whose re- the unclaimed and unnamed
of people whose bodies Varga died of various causes morgue was established that mains are left, spokesman — ventures periodically to
have lingered in a temporary between three and nine month to give families more Mark Desire said via email an unobtrusive spot near the
morgue that was set up at the months before their mid- time to arrange funerals after last week. temporary morgue. She goes
height of the city’s coronavi- June burial in Staten Island’s the city shortened its time- to bear witness “to what is
rus crisis last year and where airy Ocean View Cemetery. frame for holding remains That’s down from 750 when not seen, and those who are
about 200 bodies remain, not Officials found no next of before burying them in a the agency briefed City not named,” she says.
all of them virus victims. kin. public cemetery on remote Council members in early
Hart Island. There is no rule May, saying investigators had The pain surrounding the
The fenced-off temporary “But we know that they for how long bodies can stay found relatives in most cases facility’s creation and contin-
morgue on a pier in an indus- lived, not friendless, but with at the temporary facility. but was awaiting their deci- ued use “highlights the diffi-
trial part of Brooklyn is out friends and family,” Edwina sions or had stopped hearing culties of how we honor the
of sight and mind for many Frances Martin, Staten Is- “There was way too much back from them. dead,” she says.
as the city celebrates its pan- land’s public administrator death for the system to han-
demic progress by dropping of estates, told a handful of dle,” recalls Amy Koplow, the Desire didn’t respond to The group at the Ocean View
restrictions and even setting Brown’s friends and volun- executive director of the He- questions about where bod- cemetery on June 17 was
off fireworks. But the facil- teers who attend such funer- brew Free Burial Association, ies removed from the facil- there to bear witness, too.

Amid drought, Colorado rafters flock to oases while they can

(AP) — Across Colorado, drains from high altitudes to ceived funding from the “keep the fish wet, cool the
parched rivers are at some Johnson said the booming replenish water levels. What Walton Family Foundation, river down and increase the
of their lowest levels on demand on the river is a “re- does trickle down is more which also supports The As- oxygen levels in the river,”
record. But on one still demption” from the last raft- likely to get absorbed by the sociated Press’ coverage of Vertrees said.
spared by the drought, ing season, which was cut dry, thirsty ground before it water and environmental
boisterous children and short by the pandemic and reaches the river — a predic- policy. Cottonwood trees have also
guides bob along as water wildfires. But the healthy wa- ament many places were al- been planted to shade the
splashes into their blue in- ter levels on the river might ready experiencing this year. To alleviate conditions, con- river and cool it down when
flatable rafts. not last much longer. John- servation groups and water the water is running low.
son notes the drought could Now the heat wave gripping agencies created a pathway It’s unclear how much such
The summer activity on the end this season prematurely the region is deepening wor- to release water from an up- measures will help maintain
Cache La Poudre River in as well. ries, affecting even simple stream reservoir. That helped water levels.
northeastern Colorado re- recreational activities once
flects the precarious situa- “It’s a little bittersweet,” said taken for granted.
tions of rivers and lakes in Savannah House, a Fort Col-
dry regions, with rafters and lins resident who was recent- The Yampa River in north-
boaters eager to enjoy the re- ly rafting on the Poudre, not- west Colorado is experi-
maining oases while they can ing the extreme conditions in encing some of the lowest
and businesses hoping to eke other parts of the state. stream flows on record due
out a season threatened by to below average snowpack,
drought. For years, those who rely on increasingly dry soil, and the
rivers and streams for their spring’s hot, dry weather. In
“Any time that you make your livelihoods have struggled Steamboat Springs, a recre-
living off of Mother Nature, with the hotter, drier weath- ational hub along the river,
you definitely partner with er brought on by climate rafting and kayaking ended
a pretty turbulent environ- change. a few weeks ago, and fish-
ment,” said Kyle Johnson, ing and tubing could soon
whose whitewater rafting The rising temperatures have be over too if the water dips
company, Rocky Mountain meant dwindling and less re- much lower.
Adventures, has been fully liable amounts of the moun-
booked seven days a week. tain snowpack that normally conservation group has re-