Oddly, cremation, the most popular funerary choice in America, and one embraced by other cities, is never discussed. If the city offered cremation as an option in the future, more families could afford to claim a loved one; they would gain time to raise money to bury cremated remains privately, or to plan a memorial when scattering them. The burial of unclaimed ashes on Hart Island would no longer require bulldozers and cranes and the prospect of Hart Island running out of burial space, or of new bones turning up after the next hurricane.