Town, Residents Debate Whether Private Memorials Should Be Allowed On Public Land In Huntington

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) –In parks across Long Island, a passionate debate is underway: should private memorials be allowed on public land?

"I think it's wonderful. I think to stop it would be almost criminal," Huntington resident Mia Gillin said.

"It's a slippery slope. If you allow one person to have a memorial, oversize, big, it could destroy the texture, that's a danger," fellow resident Albert Murray said.

In the town of Huntington, the practice to accept donations for a memorial bench, tree or stone dates back decades. In times of fiscal constraints, parks are pinched for financial upkeep, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.

"I would imagine every municipality across this state, across this country, confronts this issue," Mark Cuthbertson said, a Huntington town board member.

Cuthbertson explains Huntington has more than 100 parks. With the shift to accept more donated memorials, the character of some is changing.

"Are we going to turn this into an area where it's all memorials and it's somber, as opposed to a park, where people jog and picnic and have fun together," Cuthbertson said.

Douglas Hill said he and his family find it distasteful and morose. He worries that beautiful Heckscher Park on Main Street in the village is looking more like a graveyard.

"People come to this park for recreation and pleasure. I don't think they want to spend their time looking at tombstones and memorials," he said.

Hill thinks it's illegal to place privately paid for messages in public spaces.

But Jonah Rangel supports the rights of local grieving families whose deceased loved ones cared deeply for the park.

"Peace of mind, emotions that they've had, memories shared in this park," he said.

As McLogan reported, the town is considering new guidelines that may ban stone memorials, urging families to donate small, uniform plaques for benches or trees instead.

The board will begin by naming a point person to coordinate all memorials in town parks.

You Might Also Be Interested In: