New York considers loosening requirements for funeral directors as bodies pile up

In a move that could ease the passage of bodies from refrigerated morgues to cemeteries, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is considering allowing out-of-state funeral directors to work in New York under the license of an existing practitioner, a state official told POLITICO.

The potential executive order would dovetail with an existing effort by the state’s Funeral Directors Association to recruit upstate funeral directors to New York City to help their overwhelmed colleagues. Overburdened funeral homes are running out of space to process bodies, with the lockdown forcing them to abbreviate mourning rituals — an idea no one seems to relish.

“All of these families want to have a funeral. And they can’t,” said Anthony Cassieri, who runs Brooklyn Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Brownsville. “You can’t celebrate somebody’s life. It’s a sin. It really is a sin.”