The Hart Island Project

The Hart Island Project offers a range of services to families and friends who are in search of relatives. If you cannot visit the Municipal Archive in person, and you would like a copy of a record or information about access, please send an e-mail.

E-mail: hartisland@aol.com

If you have a copy of a death certificate that says City Burial (CB) or City Cemetery (CC), that means Hart Island. If the death certificate lists nothing under cemetery, that usually means Hart Island. In this case, a burial record search may be useful if you wish to visit Hart Island or for peace of mind.

You do not need a burial record in order to visit Hart Island. You can visit once you obtain a death certificate that indicates City Burial. If you have special circumstances, such as hospital records that indicate that the body was donated for medical research, the Hart Island Project can help you to negotiate a visit. Only individuals who died in New York City are buried on Hart Island. All unclaimed human remains are buried on Hart Island.

Death Certicates for people who died in New York City are available through the New York State Department of Health, Vital Statistics. Death certifcates for still born babies are free if you go there in person and ask for the fee to be waved. Death certicates more than 50 years old are not confidential and are indexed and available at the Municipal Archives. It takes close to a year to receive copies of death certificates ordered on-line.

Presently, there is no index of Hart Island burials available to the public. Hart Island burial records at the Municipal Archives must be search in person. Burial records after to 1962 are mostly mostly missing or unavailable at the Municipal Archives, Department of Records and Information.

Since June 1913, babies are listed separately from adult burials. Sometimes the microfilm boxes are mislabled. You should review the entire tape and check the dates listed on the actual microfilm rather that what is written on the box. Many stillborn and premature babies are buried on Hart Island. However, they are not necessarily listed on the same tape as the adults from the same time period.

Those wishing to schedule an appointment to visit Hart Island should write to: Deputy Commissioner, Stephen Morello, NYC Department of Correction, 60 Hudson St., Room 608, New York, NY 10013. You can call Officer Zysk at 212-266-1414 during business hours for information. If a member of your family is buried on Hart Island you have a right to visit.

If you have further questions or want to check information provided by the DOC or on their website feel free to write hartisland@aol.com. The Hart Island burial records are public documents. Access is required by Freedom of Information Law. The Hart Island Project seeks to provide accurate information and to make public burial records readily available to everyone.