Bellport Muslim cemetery plan gets Suffolk County Legislature's approval
The proposed site of the Muslim cemetery on Beaver Dam Road in Bellport. Credit: Newsday/Drew Singh
The Suffolk County Legislature has approved plans for a Muslim cemetery in Bellport with up to 12,000 burial plots.
The graveyard on Beaver Dam Road, which would be one of the first on Long Island exclusively for Muslims, requires a vote of the Brookhaven Town Planning Board, which could come Thursday.
The legislature voted 17-0 Tuesday to approve the cemetery, Legis. Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) said in a telephone interview.
The legislature initially had planned to postpone the vote because of "flaws" in the application filed by the Hillside Islamic Center of New Hyde Park, which is proposing the burial grounds.
The postponement was waived Tuesday because the cemetery vote was deemed to be "time sensitive," Thorne said, citing Brookhaven's need to vote on it this week.
“The town of Brookhaven can’t vote on anything until we do something,” Thorne said. "The law says they [Hillside Islamic Center] met the criteria. We have no reason to stop it.”
Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan, chairman of the Islamic center, declined to comment Wednesday.
Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A town planning board agenda posted on the Brookhaven Town website does not indicate whether the board plans to vote on the cemetery Thursday.
Opponents of the cemetery at an April 30 public hearing at Brookhaven Town Hall raised concerns about possible contamination of drinking water wells from embalming fluids and decomposing bodies.
Town and Hillside Islamic Center officials said Muslims don't use fluids to embalm bodies.
Thorne and Brookhaven officials dismissed concerns about drinking water contamination, saying the cemetery had been approved for permits by the Suffolk Department of Health and Human Services and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Thorne said the county and state agencies "already cleared them. They’re saying it’s not a problem.”
Supporters of the cemetery said all faiths should be able to bury their dead. Supporters added the graveyard would be preferable to industrial uses like concrete and asphalt plants already located near Beaver Dam Road.
Islamic center officials at the hearing said the cemetery would have a prayer chapel seating up to about 100 people, a storage shed and parking for about 42 vehicles.
Bodies would be washed and wrapped in cloth in accordance with Muslim burial traditions before being brought to the cemetery, mosque representatives said.
Long Island Muslims have said they have struggled to find burial grounds that cater to the needs of their faith. Islamic tradition typically requires that the deceased be interred on the day of death.
The Muslim section of a Mount Sinai cemetery is running out of plots, Newsday has reported.
New York's only state-regulated Muslim cemetery is in upstate Port Jervis, more than three hours from Brookhaven, state officials have said. A spokesperson for the New York Department of State, which regulates cemeteries except for those run by private religious organizations, has said there may be Muslim cemeteries that are not regulated by the state.
The county legislature had approved a planned Muslim cemetery in Calverton last month.
Akhirah Islamic Center & Memorial Grounds is set to open within months at a site on Route 25A near the Calverton National Cemetery.
The Riverhead Town Planning Board approved the Muslim cemetery last July 3, town records show.
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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