Fast storm leads to fast fall in Qns. ‘Fend for ourselves’ SUV plows into outdoor eatery
Funeral home owner says he tried to serve great need
A Brooklyn funeral home owner whose license was yanked after dozens of coronavirus victims were found in U-Haul trucks outside his business says the only thing he’s guilty of is trying to serve New Yorkers in their hour of need.
“What happened was the pandemic. No one was prepared. New York State did nothing to help us funeral homes. There was no protocol, no mandates, no guidelines, no phone numbers for us to call with questions,” Andrew Cleckley told the Daily News.
“People started dying at an uncontrollable pace,” he added. “All of us funeral directors were down here in New York City to fend for ourselves.”
The state Department of Health shuttered Cleckley’s Funeral Home on Utica Ave. in Flatlands after authorities discovered dozens of corpses stored inside two U-Haul trucks and a U-Haul van on May 1.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner removed 63 dead bodies from the funeral home premises on May 1, not all of which were in U-Haul vans, Cleckley said.
He claimed he needed the rental vans to transport remains to out-of-state crematories as all five New York City crematories were slammed and operating by appointment only.
If the bodies weren’t in transit, they were stored inside rented refrigerated trucks, Cleckley said.
As families, hospitals and nursing homes sent him dead bodies by the caseload, cemeteries and crematories started turning them away, citing overwhelming numbers.
Cleckley, 41, said his biggest mistake was failing to tell people: no more.
“I had a family call me for three days trying to come get their mother out of the house,” he said. “There were no options. The cemeteries, they were cutting back on the amount of burials they were accepting every day. The crematories, they were having us making appointments every day. They were calling us last minute, telling us, ‘You can’t come.’ ”
Though it’s Cleckley’s name on the awning, he said five other independent funeral directors — known as registrants — were bringing bodies to the premises during the coronavirus outbreak and storing them in the U-Hauls. He lamented being the only one held responsible.
Cleckley rejected any implication he was trying to profit off the pandemic and said he has deep respect for the families who have long entrusted their loved ones in his care.
“I came into this business out of reverence for the dead. Not to profit. Not to be greedy. Not to be deceitful,” he said. “I have total respect for these families of the deceased, who passed away through COVID — and other experiences. I have experienced loss myself in the past.”
State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker will make the ultimate decision on whether Cleckley can reopen his business. He faces license revocation and a civil penalty of up to $68,000. His license was the only one suspended during New York’s COVID-19 response, a Health Department spokesman said.
Diners got the scare of their lives when an SUV plowed into the seating area outside an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side, police said Tuesday.
The mayhem sparked off when a Cadillac Escalade heading east on E. 92nd St. struck a southbound Audi SUV in the intersection at Second Ave. about 9:25 p.m. on Monday.
The impact sent the Audi careening into the outdoor seating area for Delizia 92. A barrier was overturned and a few tents were damaged, police said.
None of the diners were hurt, but the Audi driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Two other people were treated at the scene.
The Rev. George Baker had just finished dinner with friend Deidre Begley when they heard a rumble and jumped up. “All of a sudden this whole tenting started coming [down] like a row of dominoes,” he said. “I just grabbed her and we ran [into] this building entranceway. God was with us.”