Two weeks ago, the world was stunned by drone photos and videos of mass burials of COVID-19 victims on an island that is part of the Bronx, in New York City. Last week, renowned photographer George Steinmetz set out to capture his own images, but police seized his drone. And now we have more details of how that went down. “These are humans, and they’re basically being treated like they’re toxic waste, like they’re radioactive,” Steinmetz told Gothamist about the people buried on Hart Island. The island has served as a potter’s field for New York’s unclaimed and anonymous dead since the 19th century.
The Department of Correction, which oversees Hart Island, would not provide an exact number of people buried on the island, but a spokesperson said it was as high as 47 people on a single day.
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