WHAT: The New York State Office of Mental Health, Touro Law Center and the Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries announce their partnership to restore Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery, located adjacent to Touro Law Center. Additionally, a service will be held to bury Jewish prayer books damaged during Superstorm Sandy within the cemetery.

WHERE: Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery will be accessible from Touro Law Center’s South Parking Lot, 225 Eastview Drive, Central Islip, New York 11722

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 13, 2013

PRESS: Open

The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), partnering with Touro Law Center and the Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries (CAJAC) will announce the planned restoration of the Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery, which is located adjacent to Touro Law Center. This 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.  

Rabbi Melvyn Lerer, a Chaplain of OMH’s Pilgrim Psychiatric Center who has long been an advocate for the restoration of the Central Islip State Hospital Cemetery, will also preside over a traditional burial service for Jewish prayer books which were damaged in Superstorm Sandy-related flooding on the grounds of OMH’s Pilgrim Psychiatric Center and in other locations around Long Island last year.

During the announcement ceremony, the Office of Mental Health will detail grant monies it secured from a private endowment for the rehabilitation of State Hospital cemeteries to assist the leadership of Touro Law Center in restoring access to the cemetery.