Dozens of bodies were found stored in rented trucks and vans on the street outside of a Brooklyn funeral home on Wednesday. Police had responded to calls from concerned neighbors, who reported an overwhelming odor and liquid dripping from the vehicles parked outside Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in the Flatlands neighborhood.
After police responded, employees could be seen moving the bodies into a refrigerated truck that it was able to acquire later in the day, according to the Associated Press. The funeral home was ultimately cited for failing to control the odor.
The city has not confirmed whether the deceased were coronavirus victims, but the scandal at the funeral home is illustrative of broader problems impacting New York City’s death care infrastructure amid the global coronavirus pandemic. In spite of a substantial jump in morgue capacity thanks to refrigerated trucks bought by the city and acquired from FEMA, the onslaught of death has prompted the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to cut down on the time it will hold onto remains before burying the unclaimed in mass graves on Hart Island. At the height of the crisis, morgues and crematories experienced backlogs of up to two weeks.
Caught between brimming morgues and backed-up cemeteries are the funeral directors who have had to take on higher volumes of business despite staff shortages related to social distancing and illness. When deaths peaked in early April, one Brooklyn funeral director told the Associated Press his home was handling on average three times the volume of remains daily as it would typically pre-pandemic.
Glen Smith, CIO at GDS Wealth Management, shares how investors can allocate their assets as the market broadens and why he’s eyeing June for the first potential rate cut.
After years of price increases for cars and trucks in the United States, costs are slowing and in some cases falling, helping cool overall inflation and giving frustrated Americans more hope of finding an affordable vehicle.
Missed out on the Nvidia wave? Oh course you did — you’re reading this article aren’t you, instead of luxuriating on a white-sand beaches of Bali. But here are at least four other promising semiconductor stocks to add to your portfolio.
Fresh off a successful funding round, co-founder of Lapse Dan Silvertown shares thoughts on regulation, privacy, and why the money for great startups is still out there.
Wendy's announced they are testing out fluctuating prices throughout the day for certain products based on demand. Who will groan the most: lunch-breakers, dinner drivers or late-night goblins?
Shubha Dasgupta, CEO of Pineapple Financial, discusses incorporating artificial intelligence with its newly announced ‘Maui’ tool, plus plans for expansion.