Central Islip, NY- The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), Touro Law Center and the Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries (CAJAC) today announced their partnership to restore Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery, located adjacent to Touro Law Center. The cemetery will be renovated so as to expand access for individuals wishing to pay their respects to those interred within and will become a community space for reflection and contemplation.  Additionally, Touro Law Center students will assist families who wish to identify the grave site of a loved one buried within the cemetery.

“OMH has committed up to $30,000 in private endowment funding for the rehabilitation of the Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery, which will include several renovations, including new benches, entry gates, security cameras and roadway rehabilitation. The funding originates from an endowment made to OMH by the family of a former patient of the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center, located in Wingdale, New York. The rehabilitation of this cemetery will mark the fifth State Hospital cemetery restored using endowment funds, joining other cemeteries located in Erie, Dutchess and Rockland Counties.” said Acting Commissioner John V. Tauriello, New York State Office of Mental Health.

“Touro Law Center’s tradition in Jewish history and our commitment to public service are both highlighted in our leadership in restoring this cemetery and expanding access for community members,” said Patricia Salkin, Touro Law Center Dean and Professor of Law. “Our students and faculty are dedicated to ensuring the success of the project and I am confident that it will have a positive and long lasting impact on the community.”

In addition to the announcement of the planned restoration of the cemetery, a traditional ceremony was held to bury Jewish prayer books from Pilgrim Psychiatric Center and elsewhere throughout Long Island which were damaged by Superstorm Sandy-flooding. Rabbi Melvyn Lerer, Chaplain of OMH’s Pilgrim Psychiatric Center who has long been an advocate for the restoration of the Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery and who has helped indigent patients receive proper burial within the cemetery itself, presided over the service, along with Professor Samuel Levine Director of Touro Law Center’s Jewish Law Institute.

“Outside of a museum, Jewish cemeteries are the greatest representation of Jewish life and serve as a tangible link between generations. Unfortunately, a growing number of New York's Jewish cemeteries, for a variety of reasons, have fallen into disrepair and have been neglected, abandoned, and forgotten. This important collaboration has created a catalyst to ensure the physical needs of the cemetery are addressed, including requisite repairs and ongoing care. Yet, the greatest result is the creation of a "community of care", which in turn will sustain interest in and support for the sanctity of the cemetery.” said Andrew Schultz, Executive Director of the Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries.

“New Colony”, which later became Central Islip State Hospital, opened in 1889 as a farm colony for 89 individuals with varying illnesses from Manhattan, New York City. In 1899, ownership of the facility was transferred from New York City to New York State. Post-transfer, the name was changed to Manhattan State Hospital, which was then changed to Central Islip State Hospital and finally to Central Islip Psychiatric Center. By 1955, Central Islip State Hospital was home to over 10,000 individuals with mental illness; had its own Long Island Rail Road spur and a campus which stretched over nine miles. The facility was closed in 1996 and the remaining adult patients were transferred to Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in West Brentwood, New York. 

As was custom at the time, many psychiatric hospitals had a cemetery on-grounds and Central Islip State Hospital was no different. In many cases, individuals who received care at the hospital remained there for the rest of their lives and either had no known family or due to the stigma surrounding mental illness, were not accepted by their families after their institutionalization. For these reasons, the hospital was responsible the burial of over 5,000 individuals in its 107 year history, including 500 in a separate consecrated Jewish section, where the Jewish prayer books were buried today.

“I want to send the message that these are people who are gone but not forgotten.  Just as much as they were created with dignity and holiness when they were still alive, under Jewish law, they are still sacred and sanctified after death. The Kohen Gadol—the High Priest—was prohibited from becoming ritually defiled by coming in contact with a dead body, to the extent that he was not able to attend the funeral of his own mother or father.  Yet, if he came across a dead body that no one else could bury, he was obligated to provide a proper Jewish burial—even if the person was a total stranger, and even if the High Priest was on his way to perform the Temple service on Yom Kippur—the service would have to wait, and God would have to wait, because he had to tend to care for the human dignity of the person who died.” said Rabbi Melvyn Lerer, Chaplain of OMH’s Pilgrim Psychiatric Center.

The majority of the graves within the Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery are marked with numbers instead of names, an effort to protect the identities of both patient and family alike. Touro Law Center students have volunteered to work alongside OMH’s Office of Consumer Affairs to help family members locate loved ones buried within the cemetery. Families interested in finding a loved one who is thought to have been buried within a State Hospital cemetery may contact John Allen, Special Assistant to the Commissioner at 518-473-6579 or at john.allen@omh.ny.gov.

Touro Law Center has begun restoring the cemetery and efforts will be ongoing over the next few years. As part of those efforts, Touro Law Center, with the support of CAJAC, will look to engage other community partners and funding sources to expand the restoration effort. For more information about donating to help restore the Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery, please contact: Ken Rosenblum- Associate Dean for Administration, Touro Law Center, at 631-761-7001 or at administration@tourolaw.edu.