April 30, 2020 | 11:24am | Updated April 30, 2020 | 1:32pm
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that dozens of bodies were being stored in unrefrigerated trucks outside a Brooklyn funeral home amid a surge in deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This horrible situation that occurred with the funeral home in Brooklyn is absolutely unacceptable — let’s be clear about that,” de Blasio told reporters during a conference call.
The Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services in Flatlands “shouldn’t have let it happen,” de Blasio said.
“Funeral homes are private organizations. They have an obligation to the people they serve to treat them with dignity,” the mayor said, adding, “I have no idea how they would let that happen.”
The NYPD responded to a 911 call around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday for a report of human bodies inside two vehicles near the funeral home on Utica Avenue near Avenue L.
Police determined the vehicles belonged to the funeral home, an NYPD spokesperson said.
The state Department of Health was notified of the gruesome situation and an investigation is ongoing, according to the spokesperson.
Sources previously told The Post that between 40 and 60 bodies were discovered either stacked in U-Haul trucks outside the funeral home or on the building’s floor after neighbors reported a foul odor.
The funeral home had two refrigerated trucks storing bodies in addition to the two U-Hauls holding corpses, sources have said.
Outside the funeral home Thursday, at least one body was seen being taken out of a refrigerated truck.
Hizzoner questioned why the funeral home did not contact the state or the NYPD for help with the body situation.
“It is unconscionable to me,” de Blasio said.
“You’re talking about the deceased loved ones of family. I’m sorry, it’s not hard to figure out if nothing else is working, call the NYPD,” said the mayor. “It was an emergency situation.”
De Blasio added, “I’m very disappointed they didn’t do that … They do bear responsibility, they should have figured it out.”
The scene outside the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home after neighbors called the police about bodies in a truck.
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On Wednesday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams descended on the scene outside the funeral home and said the city needed a “bereavement committee” to deal with the uptick in deaths due to the coronavirus crisis.
De Blasio called Adams’ proposal “a good idea.”
“We’ll find some way to create something like that,” the mayor said.
Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts and Tina Moore
