BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After three decades of neighbors voicing safety concerns, the Sheridan Park Crematory, which the Amigone Funeral Home runs, is being shut down by New York State.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the legislation into law that was first proposed by Senator Sean Ryan and Assemblyman Bill Conrad. The law revokes the crematory's grandfathered status to operate just a few feet from homes.
“Putting a crematory in a residential neighborhood was never a good idea. It wasn’t a good idea 30 years ago, it’s not a good idea to keep it here now,” Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joe Emminger said.
Neighbors Ron Labuda and Nancy Varco told me the crematory was added to the pre-existing Amigone Funeral Home in the early 1990s after both had lived there for years.
“You do not want to smell what Amigone has cooking over there. The odors are horrible,” Labuda said. “It’s horrible. Human flesh burning is horrible. It overwhelms you.”
“Such a relief that I am going to be able to sit on my patio in the summertime, work in my gardens and not breathe in their toxic crematory fumes,” Varco said. “We have fought this for 30 years.”
The facility on Sheridan Drive was shut down in 2010, only to reopen in 2017 after Amigone got the all-clear from the DEC.
The law requires the permanent shutdown of the crematory by late May. The funeral home inside the same building is not required to close.
