4. Hart Island is Not Exactly Open to the Public

Even for those with relatives buried in Hart Island, visiting is known to be a challenge. According to Melinda Hunt of The Hart Island Project, New York City is the only municipality that demands people to provide a death certificate before visiting the public cemetery. Visits are allowed only once a month on Thursdays and by request, and until 2015, visits were limited to a small gazebo near the ferry dock. Starting in 2015, gravesite visits were also allowed once a month – 2016 dates are all on either Saturday or Sunday. As a direct result of the activism of the Hart Island Project, the Department of Corrections updated the administrative code for Hart Island operations, with burial records and a visitation policy published online.