New York's 'Island of the Dead' Destruction Causes Skeletons to Emerge

Hart Island, which is located in New York's Bronx borough and is the site of the largest tax-funded cemetery in the world, recently became the focus of media attention when it became apparent that its ongoing destruction has been causing the dead to literally emerge from their graves.

In this April 29, 2018 photo, a cross of wood and stones is seen on Hart Island in New York The island, which has served for 150 years as New York’s burial ground for the poor and nameless, like a traditional cemetery with manicured lawns or even headstones

Due to erosion that continues to steadily destroy the island’s shores, numerous graves that contain the remains of thousands of people who were interred there are becoming exposed to the elements, and as Melinda Hunt, the chief of a non-profit group called Hart Island Project, explained to CBS, "skeletal remains are literally just coming out of the earth."

In this April 29, 2018, photo, artist Melinda Hunt, president of The Hart Island Project, left, and drone operator Parker Gyokeres, right, look over the footage recorded by Daniel Herbert from the drone flight over Hart Island in New York

"Entire skeletons are sort of falling out of the hill onto the beach, and then they're washed away with the tide," she added.

According to her, the NYC Department of Corrections, which manages the island, is well aware of this problem, as its officers informally refer to the affected area as "Bones Beach," but is seemingly reluctant to deal with the issue.

Earlier in April a total of 174 exposed bones were recovered from Hart Island cemetery by a team of workers and archaeologists dispatched by the city authorities and were subsequently reburied.