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.
Disney and Fortnite-maker Epic Games will collab on making new video games with Disney characters. Hopefully it will be more than Mickey Mouse hitting the Griddy.
Hershey is cautioning on its 2024 profit growth as the company contends with rising cocoa costs, leading to increased prices for chocolate. The company anticipates its full-year earnings per share being relatively flat, partly due to higher cocoa and sugar costs.
Prince Harry has reached an out-of-court settlement with a tabloid newspaper publisher that invaded his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping. Attorney David Sherborne said that Mirror Group Newspapers had agreed to pay Harry’ “substantial” costs and damages.
An attorney representing passengers of an Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door plug in midair says a “whistling sound” was heard on a previous flight of the same Boeing 737 Max 9.
What do Arnold Schwarzenegger, Aubrey Plaza, and Tom Brady all have in common? You'll see them on Super Bowl Sunday, but not on the field. If you only watch the Super Bowl for the ads, here's a sneak peek.
The Federal Communications Commission knows (to loosely quote Drake) "when that [AI robocall] hotline bling, that can only mean one thing" — deception. The agency says bad actors have been using these voices to misinform voters.
David Stryzewski, CEO of Sound Planning Group, breaks down Disney’s latest results, from adding Taylor Swift to building out ESPN, and why Bob Iger’s leadership is crucial.
