Dan Austin, president of All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village, reads the notice he received for a $1,200 fine levied a few days before Mother’s Day. Forum Newsgroup photo by Jeremiah Dobruck.
Days before Mother’s Day this year, city health inspectors nailed All Faiths Cemetery with a $1,200 fine, penalizing them for vases of flowers and water left at graves.
Inspectors said they found mosquito larvae and breeding grounds for more.
Dan Austin, president of the cemetery in Middle Village, says he will go to court to fight what he calls extortion.
“This isn’t about public health,” Austin said. “This is about shaking people down and extorting money.”
For years, the city has cracked down on standing water—which can breed mosquitoes—in an attempt to avoid outbreaks of West Nile Virus.
The city sends out warnings to cemeteries like All Faiths, saying the Department of Health (DOH) forbids standing water in vases, tubs, puddles or any other form between May 1 and Oct. 31.
This year, according to the fine Austin received, an inspector visited All Faiths on the afternoon of May 10—the Thursday before Mother’s Day, which Austin said is his busiest time of year.
“This is a disgrace and an attack on mothers,” Austin said.
On Monday, March 21, Austin got the notice that he’d been fined for various instances of standing water and organic material in vases throughout the cemetery.
During the period when standing water is prohibited, All Faiths posts signs warning visitors, passes out written notices and even turns off the water.
That, however, doesn’t stop people from bringing their own water. It’s simply human nature, Austin said, and he can’t search cars or accost mourners.
Attendants try to enforce the ban by checking vases and dumping out water, but with about 15 workers tending to 250,000 graves on 225 acres, Austin said it’s impossible.
“There’s nothing more that I can possibly physically do,” he said. “Only a dope would think you could do that.”
As of press time, the DOH did not respond to questions.
This happened to All Faiths once in the past, too. Years ago, the city fined the cemetery for a few inches of standing water in a bin after it had rained the day before, Austin said.
With the help of a corporate lawyer and then State Senator Serphin Maltese, the fine was reduced from $3,000 to $300.
Austin said he’s heard horror stories of other cemeteries getting similar fines.
“They think cemeteries are an easy target,” he said. “It’s another way the city generates income on the back of people.”
Adding to Austin’s frustration is his perception that the city just wants him to pay and go away.
If the cemetery pays early by mail, the fine is only $600, Austin said, but if he waits until a hearing next month where he can dispute the penalty, he could face the $1,200 maximum.
Austin, a retired NYPD detective, said that won’t stop him from showing up to fight the so-called shakedown.
“For years I put people in jail for that. I’m not going to be a victim of it,” he said. “You’ve got to stand up eventually.”
By Jeremiah Dobruck
