Long Island Cemetery Again Under Fire, This Time For Gravesite Maintenance
WEST BABYLON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island cemetery that messed up by burying people in the wrong plots is now allegedly neglecting to care for gravesites that families say they spent thousands of dollars on.
One widow said it is so bad that she purchased sod and installed it at her husband's grave by herself, CBS2's Cory James reported Thursday.
"When we got to the site, I just knew it was wrong. But they went ahead with the burial," June Wasserman said.
Wasserman said that on the day of her husband's funeral service she learned he was put in the wrong plot. She tried telling the funeral director of Beth Moses Cemetery in West Babylon.
"He said, 'Maybe you don't remember,'" Wasserman said.
Six months later, her worst fear was confirmed.
"To watch them exhume him ... on a certain angle you could see the remains," she said. "These are the things that I'm wrestling with every day."
Wasserman is now also wrestling with getting gravesite upkeep, after she says it was left in poor condition.
"It's heartbreaking, really," she said.
If this story sounds familiar, it's because it is.
Back in April, CBS2 told you about the Krimsky family, who on the morning of their loved one's funeral learned their plot had been taken.
"They had to take him back from Long Island to New Jersey to put in him in a refrigerator," a family member said.
Both families told CBS2 the cemetery has been ignoring their requests for months, as they try to get damages they say were made by workers, along with work done to finish the gravesites.
Meanwhile, a third family said they have been sending letters and battling the same issue for five years.
James went to the cemetery's office to demand answers.
Minutes after ringing the bell for service, no one showed up. So he knocked on the employee door.
Two people eventually came out, but refused to comment.
"They spent $300,000 on a family plot and there's dirt, there's a broken foot bench," James said, adding after he didn't get a response, "So you don't want to answer anything? Is this how you do business?"
James then tried calling.
"The lights are flashing because we're getting ready to close," a worker said.
"OK, so we'll just meet you in the parking lot then," James said.
And he did.
"Explain to the families why things hasn't been resolved," James said.
The worker offered no comment.
"How would you like it if someone did this to your loved ones?" James asked.
It's reality these families say they are still facing.