Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed off on a bill revoking grandfather status for Amigone Funeral Home on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda. That will force the shut down of the crematory, while allowing the funeral home to stay.
Since the passage of the Anti-Combination Act in 1998, which prevented funeral homes from operating crematories, existing crematories operated by grandfathered funeral entities have been unable to relocate without losing their grandfathered status.
In 2021, State Sen. Sean Ryan and Assemblymember Bill Conrad passed legislation granting Amigone an exemption to this law, allowing them to relocate to a non-residential area approved by the Town of Tonawanda. More than three years later, the crematory is still operating in its original location.
In June of this year, Sen. Ryan and Assemblyman Conrad passed the bill to revoke Amigone’s grandfathered status, as well as the opportunity it had to relocate the combination funeral home-crematory as one entity.