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More Outrage Over Sanitation Dept.'s Gravestone Toppling


By

Jen Chung

Published Jan 6, 2011

Modified Jan 6, 2011


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The toppled gravestones at Washington Cemetery

 

WCBS 2


By

Jen Chung

Published Jan 6, 2011

Modified Jan 6, 2011


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The Sanitation Department is still getting reamed over toppling gravestones at Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn. Trucks apparently were piling up snow into big mountains, but the mounds were so huge, the snow fell against a fence, which then buckled under the weight and collapsed into gravestones. One man whose aunt is buried there was irate, telling WCBS 2 that workers had to immediately dig out the gravestones, before he had to break the bad news to a relative, “How do you tell a 91-year-old woman that her sister’s grave was destroyed? What do you say?”

City Councilman David Greenfield was also angry about the Department of Sanitation's disregard for the Midwood cemetery, "This sanitation commissioner has his head buried in the snow. He says his sanitation workers deserve an A-plus. I shudder to think what an F is."

And City Councilman Michael Nelson wants the city to pay for damages—it turns out the incident is not covered by the cemetery's insurance policy or the families' insurance policies.

Tagged

blizzageddon

Blizzard

blizzard 2010

brooklyn

department of sanitation

gravestones

midwood

sanitation department

snow

Washington Cemetery


Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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