PART 1 

     Seeing a loved one, even on this historically forbidden site, should not be a grueling mission. In 2015, the NYCLU jostled their way into “granting survivors visits once a month to the gravesites of their family members” (Kramer); however, only “weather and tides permitting [may] small groups of family members visit the island. The Department of Transportation (DOT) should, in accordance with the DOC, offer weekly or daily ferries. Individuals can pay for their ferry rides or the DOT can acquire funding from the federal government. Furthermore, the DOC must “‘run [the cemetery] in a way reverent to the deceased’” (qtd. in Alvarez). If this cemetery was located on mainland New York, this issue would be no hassle. The struggle to reach, visit, or disinter a dead relative goes beyond disrespect but also dips into violations of religious freedom. NYCLU won their case noting that “prohibiting gravesite visitation goes against... historical tradition in the United States and nations around the world to allow family members to honor the dead as they see fit” and by doing so, the DOC is “prevent[ing] the free exercise of religion for those who hold visiting gravesites as a critical component of faith” (NYCLU). Impeding on religious freedom and the basic liberty to visit a deceased relative, the DOC must loosen their grip on Hart Island. 
    Access should also be granted to the general public as an educational tool. To do so involves turning Hart Island into a public park or a memorial site and hand over authority to the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). The DPR cites “lack of resources and expertise to operate a public cemetery” (Albert 11), but the DOC is more unqualified to look after a cemetery and much less a public park. In any case, the DOC officers “would be more effective... deal[ing] with violence at the jail, not supervising burials”(Bernstein). So far, it is reputed that the DOC “‘let[s] historic buildings deteriorate,’” and “‘operate[s] [this] [place] like a prison’”(qtd. in Alvarez). The DOC asks for $400,000 to run the now cemetery while the DPR is requesting “‘upwards of tens of millions of dollars’” (qtd. in Bernstein). Yet, opening it to the public as an educational opportunity would launch funding to the DPR and pressure the DPR to maintain the island with utmost reverence and cleanliness. Doing so would also bring in money from tourists, schools, and individuals: visitors can be charged a fee for ferry travel as well as entrance tickets to any museums, bird sanctuaries, or memorial sites if one is not coming in as a relative or loved one of the deceased. Loved ones should be given access with no payments involved. If the DPR could take over Hart Island, they could change the “longstanding stigma about the island and criticism that the burial practices are crude and outdated” (Kilgannon).
    Not only should access be granted to loved ones and the general public, but requests should be made to ecologists to help restore the island’s shoreline. Hurricane Sandy and “years of storms have eroded the island’s shores, unearthing graves” (Erosion). Moreover, New York City has been given “more than $13.2 million to repair and restore the island’s seawalls and shoreline,” but requires archaeologists on [the] ground as well (Ricciulli). With public access, any necessary worker for this ecological project could arrive to build sea walls, restore the shoreline, and “‘treat the souls laid to rest at Hart Island with the dignity they deserve’” (qtd. in Ricciulli). Without restoration, human remains will remain exposed, littering beaches, and paralleling the trash on certain beaches in mainland N.Y. These remains, all remains, deserve to be valued at higher care than that. 
    Hours, however, and certain people should be limited. Following weather patterns and seasons, public access should be designed at a time with the least amount of chaos. Access days should avoid storm surges or flood season, and hours of operation should follow business hours. Business and company representatives, however, should be kept out. Hart Island is not acres of land to be capitalized with corporate factories, but a memorial, a nature walk, and a historical park for elementary children. Having corporations run factories would amplify the already prominent issue of climate change, and might even redirect funds away from ecologists. 
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