While researching New York City vital records, I stumbled across the FHL's [Register of New York City death records][1].

I haven't read the entire 209-page document yet, but when I was skimming it, this caught my eye:

**Manhattan Bodies in Transit, 1859-1894** (see page 153 of the PDF)

about which I note the following:

 1. This is too late for the 1855 death that JustinY is researching.  Do other records of this kind exist, and if so, who holds them?
 2. Is the 1859 start date of this collection a result of some regulation/law which started in 1859?
 3. Would people who died on a voyage from 1859 through 1894 be found in a collection such as this one?
 4. "There is no known index to this collection." (i.e. when the printed document was created in 2005.)

(Obviously if one wanted to answer these questions, they could be arranged in a more sensible order.)

>  Contents: 
> 
>  - date of passage through New York
>  - name of deceased
>  - date of death 
>  - place of death
>  - place of interment
>  - **name and residence of person having charge of body**
>  - disease which caused death
>  - sometimes age, nativity, occupation and attending physician

So near, and yet so far.

Edited to add second thoughts: 

 - What happened to the bodies of people who died on board ship? 
 - For passenger lists which list 'nearest relative' or 'person going to meet' the master has contact information for someone who might be able to claim the body
 - What agent would be in charge of the bodies until they were claimed by family/friends?
 - Some immigration records (seen while researching a question about immigrants arriving from Canada) exist which are listed by the agent's name.  
 - Does the New York Public Library have an online exhibit or resource guide?

For some arrivals, the person who claimed the body might be the information needed to determine if you have the right person.  (This field has been very useful when viewing headstone applications for US Veterans.)


  [1]: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE63981