N.Y. General Municipal Law § 164: Abandonment of cemeteries in cities of less than one million

§ 164. Abandonment of cemeteries in cities of less than one million.

Upon a verified petition presented to a judge of a court of record by

the common council of any city of less than one million, the judge to

whom said verified petition was presented shall make an order to show

cause, returnable before him at a time and place within the county in

not less than twenty days from the date of presentation of said

petition, why the remains of any deceased person buried in potters

field, or in any neglected or abandoned cemeteries in which no deceased

person shall have been interred within twenty years, should not be

removed to and reinterred in a properly kept incorporated cemetery in

the same city or in a town or city adjoining the city in which the

remains of each deceased person or persons are buried, or in lands owned

by said city for cemetery purposes, and to fix the amount of expenses

for such removal and reinterment and the order to show cause shall

provide for its publication in a newspaper, to be designated in the

order, which is published nearest to the cemetery from which the removal

is to be made, once in each week for two successive weeks. The verified

petition presented to the judge shall show that the petitioner is the

common council of the city in which said cemetery is located and (1) the

name of the deceased person or persons whose remains are sought to be

removed, if known; (2) the name and location of the cemetery in which he

is interred and from which removal is asked to be made; (3) the name and

the location of the incorporated cemetery to which the remains are

desired to be removed and reinterred; (4) the facts showing the reasons

for such removal. Upon the return day of the order to show cause and at

the time and place fixed in said order, upon filing proof of publication

of the order to show cause with the judge, if no objection is made

thereto, he shall make an order directing the removal of the remains of

said deceased person or persons to the cemetery designated in the

petition within the city or within a town or city adjoining said city in

which the remains are then buried and shall specify in the order the

amount of the expenses of such removal, which expenses of removal and

reinterment, including the expense of the proceeding under this section,

shall be a charge upon the city in which the cemetery is situated from

which the removal is made and such expenses shall be a city charge and

audited and paid in the same manner as other charges. On or after the

removal and reinterment of the remains of any deceased person or

persons, the expenses for annual care of the grave in the cemetery to

which the removal is made shall be annually provided by the city in

which the remains were originally buried at a rate not to exceed fifty

cents per grave, and shall be paid annually to the incorporated cemetery

association to which the remains of each deceased person may be removed

or reinterred unless said remains have been removed to lands owned by

said city for cemetery purposes, in which case such payment shall be

made under the provisions of the city ordinance providing for the care

and upkeep of said cemetery lands owned by said city. Any city owning a

lot or lots in a cemetery maintained by an incorporated cemetery

association in which the remains of the deceased persons have been or

may be buried pursuant to this section, however, may pay such

association an amount sufficient to provide perpetual care therefor.

The petition and order shall be filed in the county clerk's office of

the county in which the remains of the deceased person were originally

interred, and the service of a certified copy of the final order upon

the cemetery association shall be made prior to any removal. Any

relatives of the deceased person or the officer of any cemetery

association in which the remains of deceased person were originally

interred may oppose the granting of said order and the judge shall

summarily hear the statement of the parties and make such order as the

justice and equity of the application shall require. Any headstone or

monument which marks the grave of the deceased person shall be removed

and reset at the grave in the cemetery to which the removal is permitted

to be made and in each case the final order shall provide the amount of

expenses of such removals and reinterment and resetting of the

headstones or monument, including the expenses for the proceedings under

this section; except that where provision is otherwise made for the

purchase or erection of a new headstone, monument or marker at the grave

in the cemetery to which said removal is permitted, such old headstone

or monument need not be so removed and reset in which case the final

order shall not provide for the expense of resetting. The order shall

designate the person or persons having charge of the removals or

reinterments. Upon completion of the removal, reinterment or resetting

the headstones or monuments, the person or persons having charge of same

shall make a verified report of the removal, reinterment, and resetting

of the headstone or monument and file the report in the clerk's office

of the proper county.

After said bodies shall have been removed and reinterred in the manner

prescribed by said order, said lands in which such deceased persons were

originally interred shall be available for and subject to such uses for

city purposes as the common council of such city may determine and may

be conveyed or otherwise disposed of in the same manner as other city

lands.