NEW YORK - A million people are buried on Hart Island, many of them poor and disenfranchised, but visitors are allowed only a couple of times a month. 

The city's Department of Correction has long maintained this mass grave site just off the northeast Bronx coast.  But the City Council finally has voted to change that.  

For Elaine Joseph, whose infant daughter was buried there in the 1970’s, the change is long overdue. 

"I was hopeful but I’m really glad to see it happening. I can't wait until I can walk there freely without having to give up myself and my dignity," Joseph said.

With the Correction Department in charge, detainees from Rikers Island bury the dead, and security is strict: Guards closely watch visitors and cellphones are banned. The only way to reach Hart Island is by a ferry that runs twice a month. 

The buildings are crumbling and some human remains have been exposed. 

The legislation approved by the Council on Thursday would turn Hart Island over to the city Parks Department, and require the Transportation Department to develop a plan for regular ferry service. 

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Bronx) helped to lead the charge.

"We are giving dignity and respect to 1 million individuals that are buried in the largest public cemetery in the USA. This is about social justice," Rodriguez said.

But not everyone supports the changes. There are concerns about extra visitors and traffic on nearby City Island, where the ferry to Hart Island originates. 

"It is not undignified. It is natural and peaceful and serene. Anyone who feels strongly that their loved one shouldn’t be there should dissenter them," said Cathi Swett of the City Island Civic Association.

And there are doubts the Parks department would do a better job of running the burial site. Councilman Mark Gjonaj (D-Bronx) opposed the legislation..

“Parks Department, I’m very fond of them. They don’t have the resources to take care of current parkland. What makes you think they can take care of Potter’s field?" Gjonaj said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign the legislation, which requires the Parks Department to take control by July 1, 2021.