Homeless men whose roof is the vastness of the sky, whose walls are tombstones, and whose floors are the graves of the North Bergen cemetery where they live, have become a bothersome presence for those who repair to the cemetery or visit their dead loved ones.

It is impossible to know the exact number of the homeless who take refuge in the improvised shelters built of tree branches, cardboard and plastic, by the side of the barrier that separates the light rail tracks from the Grove Church Cemetery, at Kennedy Boulevard and 46th Street.

José is a Salvadoran youth of 21 who explains that although he has an apartment, he likes to go to the cemetery every day to drink beer because “here the dead don't bother you.”

The young Salvadoran, who declined to give his last name, said some 30 people live in the shacks, all of them Central Americans who occasionally work as day laborers.

“They like to live here. They don't want to go to the city shelters because they're not allowed to drink liquor there, but they don't have enough money to pay rent either,” explained José.

Recently, during the four days an El Diario/La Prensa reporter visited the cemetery, she could not locate any of the homeless, though their daily presence was clearly evident from the liquor bottles scattered around the grounds, and on August 28, from two pairs of jeans and an undershirt.

The area, which should receive the visitor in the peace and tranquility proper to a cemetery, has become a cause of concern for more than 15 families, who refused to give their names for fear of reprisals and who said they were afraid to visit their loved ones because they did not want to risk their lives.

A woman, who said she felt worried, explained that her husband died three months ago, but that she does not visit his grave “because the last time we went with my sister-in-law and a girlfriend, a man came up to us to ask for money, and scared us a lot. I think what saved us was that there were some workmen nearby preparing a plot for a burial.”

North Bergen Police Chief William Galvin said it is difficult to arrest someone if he is acting in a peaceful manner, and added that the city currently has no laws against vagrancy in public places.

Rosalía Reyes, a Hudson County social worker, explained that the subject of homelessness is a delicate one.

“Many of them have problems with alcohol or drugs, and you can't force them to go to the city shelters,” said Reyes. “They seek out places like train tracks or this cemetery because according to them these are desolate places where they can live and no one will interfere.”

Area residents agree that every so often the police will enter the cemetery and the homeless leave for two or three days, but afterwards they come back.

“It's really disagreeable to see how they bathe themselves naked with water from one of the cemetery hoses, or urinate and defecate without caring who might be looking,” said one resident.

Reverend Doug Shepler, pastor of the Grove Reformed Church, located inside the cemetery, said he is aware of the homeless problem, and that although he has informed the local authorities about it, it persists.

The uncle of one of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack victims, whose body is interred in the cemetery, said the bronze urns had been stolen from his nephew's tomb.

“The only thing we ask is that the cemetery be a sacred and respected place. We understand these people have no home, but why don't they go to a public shelter?” said this man. “We want to visit our dead in peace and more often, but right now we're terrified.”

Along the railroad barrier where the homeless take shelter there were fliers in Spanish offering help and counseling at a Jersey City center, which has housing, education, health, and drug and alcohol abuse programs.

Last July 28th, a 56-year-old North Bergen resident was raped. This woman was approached by a man in the train station at 47th Street and Bergenline Avenue and forced at knifepoint to go into the cemetery, where she was attacked. The Hudson County Attorney General's Office is presently investigating the case.

Though the Attorney General's office has not at this point determined whether the crime was committed by one of the people living in the cemetery, Attorney General Edgard DeFazio said it is obvious it was done by someone familiar with the area.

The situation has become so intolerable for the families, they say, that most of them are ready to demand that the cemetery reimburse them for the cost of their plots, so that they can remove their loved ones' remains to a place where they can visit them in peace.