Top Funeral homes in New York, United States

I have called a number of times and there mail box is ALWAYS full !!! Please empty the mail box so that customers who PAID in full for services.... there message can be heard and answered .

1 star is too much for them. DON'T EVER GO ORTIZ FUNERAL HOME, this is the worse place. We called them because we needed some funeral home pick up our mother from her home. They went there and they picked her up around 11pm to midnight. We had an appointment the next day with Mr. Santiago (the worst) to make the arrangements. We found a friend in a different funeral home and we went to Ortiz to talk with this Santiago to let him know about the chances. He embalming mommy without asking, without authorization and he didn't want to received her clothes, he wanted his money for the pick up and embalming and WITHOUT HIS MONEY " IN CASH" HE'S NOT GOING TO SAY WHERE MY MOTHER'S BODY WAS. WHAT A SHAME!!!!!! This place should be close because they're not professional and they're not capable to understand the pain of the people go in to their place.
This is worse experience that we have in our life. This people especially Santiago thinks that God is not watching what he's doing. Shame on you Ortiz Funeral Home!!!! Shame on you Santiago!!!!!

I held my beloved grandma’s wake and funeral services here. I had no experience with funerals, I was a wreck over my grandmother’s passing and Santiago was patient and handled almost everything. He arranged a beautiful church service, the wake was nice and Santiago did his best to make my grandmother beautiful. He was nice and patient with my family. My only complaint is that this funeral home doesn’t work with life insurance companies, and doesn’t provide car services for the family to get to the burial but we worked around it.

Went in after my fathers death to inquire about funeral services. Is my first time ever doing this and I’m obviously grieving. The guy who runs this place is rude as hell. I barely speak Spanish and he barely spoke English. I tried to speak Spanish to make it easier for him and he was busy correcting me on my Spanish and being a real A-hole about explaining what he meant by “what service you want?” He was getting visibly upset by my questions about how the process works.. when i asked why he was giving me such an attitude when i was just not understanding him he literally kicked me out ave tools me to find another place. I’m shocked and confused by this service i received. Customers who come in are obviously grieving, to treat someone like this in a time of such pain is inhumane.

I cannot leave less than 1 star. This establishment is less than ethical. It’s down right out for who has the money! My father died in a hospital. Which I was in contact with staff daily. I stated NO autopsy! How this was able to take place is beyond me. My father’s body was shipped to Puerto Rico. We were notified of the arrangements made without consent or knowledge! Worse of all his information stated he was not married nor had surviving children! He was legally married/divorce and had 2 legitimate daughters. The EXTENDED family had no moral or ethical right to do all of the above. Ortiz helped them facilitate removing my loved one away within in 24 hours out of the state of NY… shipped to Puerto Rico. Shame on you people… after so many years I’m able to express my deep pain , sorrow and disgust! I have to add my father looked so disfigured it was torture to look at him. Every thing at that time was horrendous. I must add bringing this to their attention did not matter. I am now realizing the obstacles I face facing along with a potential legal battle. Due to this company. They failed to preform due proper diligence! Stay away from this funeral home corporation! Completely and utterly disgusting with every one I spoke to. It happened because they buried so many family members they were comfortable conducting themselves in a reckless manner. They have the audacity to be disrespectful to me. It does not matter if it happened 10, 20, or 30 years ago. Your funeral director assisted in shipping a body out of the state without proper consent. This entire experience has been haunting and traumatic.

If you want to choose a funeral home, don't choose Ortiz, they are the WORST. First, I don't understand what kind of business this is, they don't have the credit payment machine to pay by debit card. They fax your debit card numbers to someone to arrange for your card to be charged and you must come in the next day to pick up your receipt. I gave them my email address so they could also send me my receipt and as of today I have not received it. Another thing, DON'T SIGN ANYTHING if you're not sure you want their service because they will charge you A LOT if you cancel EVEN if you didn't give them a deposit upfront. If you choose this funeral home, be sure to READ those document before SIGNING because THEY ADD things that you DID NOT ask to be added. I tell you from experience. They are greedy for money. They did that to my aunt.They told her that she has to pay for this and for that, they made a long list. She ended up paying to cancel their service despite not having made any deposit. The person in charge of making the arrangements did not inform us about that.

Pat and his team are excellent in this tough environment as they are comforting, empathetic, supportive & accommodating to the community. Quality customer service. Truly recommend this service. Extremely satisfied with the quality of work.

I just called today 9-21-2023 at 3:36 pm and asked if a service was being held for my aunt. The man who answered the phone was rude and barely speak English. I politely asked to speak to someone that I can understand and the man yelled at my at a time that I am grieving and hung up on me. He needs to be fired! This is how negative situations happen because of rude people not having respect, better yet for the dead. I'm beyond DISGUSTED!!! I WILL BE FILING A REPORT/LEGAL ACTIONS!

Horrible service, the lady of Latino decent kicked us out saying we couldn’t afford the service so we had to leave. In the difficult time we are going through of the loss of a family member she went out of her way to discriminate us without any information of what we could afford or anything. Just by looking at us. I hope no one has to go through what we went through so please avoid this place at any cost. And to the lady that turned us away I hope you don’t ever do this to another person.

International Funeral Service is unmatched when it comes to the delicate business of caring for deceased loved ones. Jenny and Myrna were professional, understanding and they honored my family's cultural beliefs and practices. My mother looked as beautiful as memory would allow which speaks to the mortician's skills. I wish I could say more but what I can say for now is thank you for the respect and consideration shown and may God bless you all and this place of business. If you care about your loved ones, IFS is where you should bring them.

Riverside Memorial Chapel could not have been kinder, more compassionate, and more efficient in our time of need. From
start to finish, i.e, picking up the body from another state, sorting out complicated burial plot issues, implementing the service itself, and bringing us to and back from the cemetery, they were understanding professionals, all of them. You could not ask for better.

I would like say thank you to the entire staff of the International Funeral services for their professionalism, respect and care they provided me and my family with the passing of both of my parents. First with our father almost 2 years ago and now with our mother. From the removed of their bodies, the viewing and the burial. They were fantastic. A big big big thank you to Jenny. Always available to the family and always willing to accommodate us with so much empathy and caring; God bless you. Great job work with both of their bodies. Both look beautiful during their viewing. I would never hesitate to use their services for the funeral services of any of my loved ones!!!

The Shomer arrived hours late and left after a short time and my mother was still charged for it, If that wasn’t bad enough my fathers body was in the chapel and the teenagers who brought my father from the lower level were in the room next door talking frivolously and laughing which destroyed the solemn time my family and I had with my father.

I had my father service here and it was amazing he looked like a king the sane way we remembered him Jenny the funeral director was very supportive and helped me out so much in making decisions I don’t think there could have been a better place I wanna thank her and her team do much.

Really personable and wonderful staff. Jenny is efficient plus her knowledge and expertise made me feel more at ease in handling the affairs of my loved one. The owner Pat is understanding and works with you and your family, not against you. Most companies try to take advantage when one is grieving but I didn’t feel this way when working with Intl’. They handled my loved one with care and respect which in a way made them feel like family too. I would definitely recommend them!

Amazing service, especially during such a heartbreaking time. I met with Myrna and she was so patient & sweet, allowing me to take my time when choosing an urn for my son. I cannot thank them wholeheartedly for making the process as painless as possible.

My Uncle Bobby passed away a week before Easter. Myrna and staff at The International Funeral Service of New York II did everything to make sure that the funeral happened before Easter. This was my first time trying to arrange funeral services. They really cared about my family and I by communicating daily through phone calls, text and emails. They also provided visuals and prayer cards that everyone loved at my Uncle Bobby’s services. It could not have worked out any better during these trying times. My family is so grateful for the love and support.
Forever thankful for the International Funeral Home.

I am grateful for International Funeral and Cremation Services. I recently lost a baby and they made a very difficult time easier to deal with. Myrna communicated and worked with me through the entire process, questions and concerns. The place is beautiful and intimate and the other staff were great as well. I recommend this place to anyone for burial or cremation services.

The people were so accommodating to me and my family they are professionals from beginning to end. Always available to answer all questions. The most important thing was that my mom looked like she was sleeping. They do excellent work to make sure the dead look like they are sleeping and that brings so much comfort to the family.

Picking any of the Ortiz funeral homes to say goodbye to your loved one is a bad idea don’t do it, especially the one on Broadway. My father’s body arrived an hour and a half later. We were having him cremated and they said that it was going to be done that same day. After a couple of days, they told us that the cremation place was backed up so it was going to take a little longer. We kept calling and no one had an answer as to when his body was going to be returned to us. I had to end up calling the cremation place and they told me that the funeral home had canceled the day that his body was supposed to get cremated and that they still hadn’t heard back from them as to when they would be delivering his body to them. If it wasn’t because my family kept calling them my father's body would still be sitting in the funeral home.

The staff at Riverside were enormously helpful to me and my family. I highly recommend them.

They walked us through everything needed during the prepay process we did several years ago, which gave us a great deal of security for all these years.

When my mother did pass away a few weeks ago, they took care of everything with just a phone call. We only had to do the minimum required approvals and signatures. I wound up being late to the memorial service due to traffic, and they handled that beautifully as well.

My mother requested cremation, which is not consistent with Jewish law. Riverside was flexible and accommodating, and able to find a wonderful Rabbi to officiate.

Many of my extended family members and friends where unable to attend in person on such short notice. The video live-feed service they offered was very well done, and an edited recording was available after the event. So many people were grateful to have been able to participate this way.

For a moment in your life that could be one of the hardest and very emotional every single staff person I dealt with at Riverside Memorial made me feel so comfortable and at ease with each step of the process: from them coming and picking my loved one up, making the arrangements, the service itself, checking on me afterwards and then when I picked up the ashes. I definitely recommend them for a moment in your life you don’t want hassles

From the first phone call to Riverside Memorial Chapel, my family and I were treated with the utmost care and respect as we planned our dad's funeral. Everyone we dealt with, Maria, Jeff, Angela, Nick, Allison, all staff looked after us so carefully. Never cloying or hovering, they were always so compassionate and helpful. We absolutely recommend their services.

Doesn't return calls. Have been trying to get an update on the encryption of a family members tombstone who passed away over 11 months ago. I have called dozens of times in the last 4-5 months and have not received a call back.
Hard to explain or understand considering this business still performs business for the community. Unbelievable.

Riverside Memorial Chapel made this difficult time in our life so much more bearable. The staff, from the director to the embalmer were so professional and helpful. They anticipated our every need and concerns. The chapel and family room were so beautiful. My family and I are so grateful we had such a caring and kind staff to help plan our mother's celebration of life.

My father died in Oct. 2021, It is now Nov. 2022 and his Memorial Bronze still has not gone into production.

The communication about this bronze has been extremely poor. If I do not followup about progress, no progress is made and nobody contacts me.

I sent a corrected sketch back in July and heard nothing for over 2 months until I contacted them in September asking for an update. 2 days later, I was told "I will reach out to the bronze manufacturer and see what’s taking the revision so long, usually it only takes a couple of days."

6 days passed and again, nobody contacted me until I contacted them to find out what is going on. This was in September.

The estimated production time on this Bronze has also changed from 10-12 weeks, to a latest of 6 months.

It is now November and nothing has gone any further. It still is not in production and we still have no update about approval from the cemetery. We also continue to have to repeatedly contact Riverside to get a response.

I would like to thank the staff at Riverside Memorial Chapel for there compassion and patience in finalizing the arrangements of my mother’ s funeral. The funeral was preplanned but there are always details that need to be addressed. This was all accomplished in one hectic Saturday for me but was made easier by the professional staff. The planning and the funeral went as smoothly as I guess a funeral could possibly go. My sister and I have only positive praise for the way everything was handled. Both my mother and father’s funeral were managed and directed by Riverside and I have no regrets or complaints. I would recommend Riverside Memorial Chapel to anyone in need of professionally arranged funeral.

Seriously one of the worst places to have a funeral. The receptionist is rude, the bathroom are disgusting with no soap or paper towels to wash your hands with. We wanted to zoom the service for family and they had no wifi…don’t go here find a better place.

I wholeheartedly recommend Ortiz Funeral Home at 22 First Avenue. Santiago made this transition seemless. My grandmother passed away in 2019 and now my mom passed away July 3rd 2022 and Santiago and his staff were godsends through both processes. He was understanding, patient and kind. Thank you, Santiago for treating my loved ones with dignity.

This place has no TV, projector, Internet, WIFI. Well, that was okay. I was in charge of setting up a photos slideshow, with my own equipment, which was okay as well. However, I asked to please be there a bit early to set everything up, so everything is ready when the service starts. Pilar, the lady in charge, was so adamant and against it. She said that I had to be there at the time when everyone else is supposed to be there. If you're not offering any media services, which is what any modern normal business would offer in 2021, you should at least give the family a chance to set up their own equipment before the actual viewing starts for the rest of the family. Pilar, the so-called manager, was very disrespectful throughout the service. You do not hire someone who is unfriendly, unprofessional and clearly tired of her work at a Funeral Home. You do not set up an appointment/meeting with another family while a service/wake is taking place! Pilar and the "new" customers were loud and this meeting happened while the priest was doing the mass. This needed to be done at another time or at a completely different room. I am appalled of such horrible service and attitude from the only employee in sight. No consideration or respect for any of the grieving family members whatsoever. This is not only my opinion; everyone in the family witnessed and agreed on this abhorrent behavior from this woman.

Completely disrespectful during the mass. The lady named Pilar is extremely rude with everyone and has no manners whatsoever. She makes others appointments during the mass which is terrible on her part, and on top of that is super loud while making the reservations, I recommend firing her.

In 2016me and my brother went and paid for money for a tombstone for my mother it's 2021 still no tombstone and she's lying saying that she sent me a check about the picture that she telling me now today that she couldn't put up because of Corona this place is bad poor business I don't think anybody should deal with Effie she will lie on you tell you what you want to hear I still don't have a tombstone up for my mother she don't answer her phone the phone to the business it goes straight to voicemail she don't answer her cell your phone you can't get in touch with her at all you have to go through other people that work there she lies on me all the time she tells my brother a different story my advice do not deal with Effie Monument 115st 1ave

My wife’s Father passed on March 19, 2021. Arrangements were made for viewing services on March 22, 2021 at Ortiz Funeral Home at 72nd Street location in Manhattan. She and her brother worked closely with Pilar who was Professional and very experienced. The Service was beautiful while practicing CDC Guidelines. The only one thing that went wrong was that the “Priest” was a no show. Luckily, we had a Family friend that led the prayers. On the day of the burial, March 23, 2021, the Funeral Director and the Limo Driver were Professional, Excellent and Compassionate, and led the Proceedings every step of the way! Both vehicles drove by her Dad’s place of work as well as his residence in close proximity of each other. Stopped at the building to place some of the roses with his prayer card (nice unexpected touch and surprise). They led the entire service once we all arrived at St. Raymond’s Cemetery. Also, we were able to view the casket being lowered as well as witnessing the Cemetery Workers resealing the plot while the Limo Driver waited patiently! Excellent experience minus the Priest.

This organization respected all our wishes with genuine care concerning our loss. Their professionalism from beginning to end never failed.
I truly recommend this particular Ortiz funeral home should your time of need come.

Thank you very much for your excellent and professional services Mr. Santiago. Loosing a loved one(in this case our mom)can be very physical and emotional draining. You made the whole funeral process run very smoothly with sincerity, patience and compassion. RG Ortiz Funeral Homes has affordable prices, they work with your budget and they not push any extra services on you. Thank you very much on behalf of my family and deceased mother Blanca. We recommend your business 100%.

To lose a friend or family member this Ortiz funeral home has always been so very caring and generous with there love especially the Lady Ms. Pillar who will make you feel your lose will be in route to Gods highway to Heaven God Bless you Ms. Pillar 🙏 ❤️

After four decades of my family having their funerals at Ortiz I leave a one star rating out of sheer frustration. Almost a week of trying to call them and no one answers- not even an answering machine. I guess business is too good for them right now and they don’t need to care for old clients.

Effie is selfless and kind-hearted. She will stand by you.

My family wanted to share that the impeccable service we received at the funeral service for my sister in law was amazing. They were very detailed and showed compassion for the entire family. The mass was very beautiful. Angela took care of us and the owner as well as his entire staff was unbelievable. It made a very emotional event peaceful with the service we received.

My family has used this funeral home on two occasions,and we were treated with compassion. The staff here are very caring,and efficient. We highly recommend them without any hesisation,based on our personal experience with them.

The placed smelled like urine before you enter the wake area, right by the podium where you sign in. Second, the makeup on my beloved was terrible. They made my beloved who had a light complexion, appear dark and unrecognizable. They didn’t even give a crucifix for her coffin. I don’t recommend this place!!

They frequently park hearses on the sidewalk, believing that they're somehow exempt from normal traffic rules.

Nice staff,facility small and outdated.

Not happy with their follow up, I called several times regarding My fathers death certificate, and they keep asking me for my phone number but never get a call back from them!
Not even to tell me a lie. Very unprofessional- He was viewed at the Parkchester Funeral, which have no bathrooms for the handicap or elderly on the main floor, and. I elevators!
WOW, if I would've known that, I would never use them!!

Highly competent staff, price sensitive, they treated us with exceptional kindness, very professional establishment.

horrible . not recommended

Very disappointed. My family has used this funeral home for many of our departed loved ones when it was under the management of Farenga Brothers. Ortiz has not done the legacy left behind justice. My uncle was a veteran and he was not treated as such. Ortiz forgot his flag, rosary, they almost forgot him. The hospital had to call my family to ask why he had not been picked up by the funeral home the day of the funeral. The make up was terrible nor is there anyone on site to take touch it up if necessary. This will no longer be a choice for my family.

RG Ortiz Funeral were exceptionally cordial and accommodating during this difficult time. Ms. Pilar Calderon, Manager was informative, sensitive and assisted me with all of the arrangements. The Manhattan Church of Christ ministers delivered the beautiful service at the Funeral Home where we were given the respectful time to rejoice in my father's life and legacy.
Our family and friends are most grateful ,Thank you.
YGS
3/2016.

Effie is a nice person but she has horrible employer and it took forever to make my tombstone after I paid in full at the time of transaction and I'm still waiting for vase and my dad picture to be put up

Effie is great! She was very helpful and very efficient with my order. I would recommend her to my friends or anyone who needs a tombstone or footstone.

Honest John Kuhn (funeral director at Gramercy Park Memorial Chapel) allowed all the arrangements for the funeral of my brother to go forward after taking false information that there were no living relatives. This provided by someone who walked in off the street! GPMC could have found all the information about my brother's living relatives, as I did, on the internet in less than 5 minutes which included current address and phone number. Honest John chose not to go that route, but instead made a quick $12,000 eliminating any decisions by my brother's family. So thanks to honest John, all the family has left is a box of photos. Getting my brother's remains out of Greenwood Cemetery (also arranged by GPMC) will cost in excess of $10,000 and a court order. All because GPMC could not make one phone call to a relative. Knowing this, do you really want to entrust your loved one to this sleezy place?

My mom passed away Oct 2010. Shortly after the burial, I ordered a grave monument from Effie. I also ordered two (2) vases. I was promised the monument within a couple months. After two months, no monument. After months of pleading and begging, the monument was finally delivered after one (1) year, but no vases. Also, the photo tile was not properly photo shopped as promised. Here it is 2104 and still no vases. I sent emails and left phone messages and I am totally ignored. I am currently shopping for another monument for my brother who recently passed away. I will not be going to Effie. I definitely will not recommend Effie to anyone.

This business is run by someone who truly cares about her customers. From beginning to end the experience was pleasant and easy. They obviously take a great deal of pride in doing their job well. This experience with Monuments By Effie has made a family that will never stop grieving feel a lot better. In the event you are unfortunate enough to need this service, I highly recommend this company. Thank you Effie.