FAQ

Stillbirths were recorded using the legal name of the mother. Look-up her name in the infant search.

Starting in 2012, you can now order a certificate of stillbirth from the Department of Health.

Yes, please submit a request by filling out our contact form We offer a free consultation and affordable custom search services.

You can visit the Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers St. in Manhattan to search for burial records up to May 1961. Burial records between June 1961 and July 1977 were destroyed in a fire set by vandals. Contact us to verify if a record exists.

You can order a death certificate on-line from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. If the death certificate says CC for City Cemetery or CB for City Burial, then that person was buried on Hart Island. If the field for cemetery on the death certificate is blank, then you can contact the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to confirm the burial on Hart Island.

You must retain an attorney to file a claim within three months of learning of the death.

New York City disinters for free if the decedent or family member did not request or approve a city burial. If your family was not notified prior to burial and was unaware of the death of your relative, you can hire a licensed funeral director to file a disinterment request. The city disinters for free but funeral expenses are paid by the family.

Yes, please outline your request on the contact form. We will get back to you soon.

Anyone who is seeking burial assistance must go to the city's burial claims unit in person, with any documentation they have regarding the death of their loved one. It is a reimbursement service, so people should go after making funeral arrangements. Usually they need a receipt from a funeral home or other burial agency, but the only requirement is that the person who died or the mother of a stillborn was a New York City resident and files the request within 60 days of the death. The city will pay up to $900 for a funeral service that costs no more than $1,700.

Burial assistance is located at 25 Chapel Street in downtown Brooklyn, Room 606. Applications must be in person. The phone number is: (718) 473-8310.

To address the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, DSS/HRA issued an emergency rule:

• Increasing the burial allowance from $900 to $1,700 and increasing the cap on burial costs from $1,700 to $3,400.
• Extending the timeframe for when you can apply to 120 days from the date of the individual's death.

Contact the NYC HRA Office of Burial Service:
33-28 Northern Blvd. - 3rd
FloorLong Island City, NY 11101

Phone: 929-252-7731
Email: BurialServices@hra.nyc.gov

View Application for Burial Allowance

Fill out this form. to appoint an agent to handle your remains. specifying that you wish to be buried on Hart Island

Fill out the contact form with your request. Let us know if you are interested in fiscal sponsorship for you project.

Please make your request through our contact form.