The Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in Brooklyn, New York, has had its operating license suspended, according to a statement Friday fro New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker.
Zucker’s office said earlier it was investigating the funeral home after as many as 100 decomposing bodies were found there in unrefrigerated trucks.
Zucker called the funeral home’s actions “appalling, disrespectful to the families of the deceased, and completely unacceptable.”
“A crisis is no excuse for the kind of behavior we witnessed at Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home, and we are holding them accountable,” Zucker said.
Police responded to reports Wednesday of a foul odor outside the funeral home and discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in two U-Haul trucks and a U-Haul van.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the circumstance “unconscionable” and noted the city has been transferring some of the coronavirus victims to freezer trucks for preservation.
FEMA is building long-term storage for corpses as part of its Disaster Portable Morgue Unit with a capacity of nearly 3,000.
