New York City crematorium breaks due to heavy usage

At Green-Wood Cemetery in the Brooklyn borough of New York City the crematorium is booked for the next month.

The same is true at crematoriums across the city, according to Richard Moylan, President of Green-Wood Cemetery.

One of five ovens at Green-Wood had to be repaired due to heavy usage during the coronavirus pandemic.

The wall collapsed because it was being used for several extra hours per day than usual.

It can take two to six hours to cremate someone, depending upon their size and whether they are cremated in a wood box or a cloth or cardboard box.

The backlog at New York City crematoriums means that funeral homes have to store the bodies until space becomes available, exacerbating the problem of funeral homes overwhelmed with bodies.

At Green-Wood Cemetery there is not a backlog for burials.

The New York metropolitan area, consisting of about 20 million people across about two dozen counties, including the city's northern suburbs, Long Island and northern New Jersey, has been the hardest-hit corner of the country, accounting for at least one-third of the nation's 70,000 coronavirus deaths.