Three weeks later, on November 12, 1960, Buckley died from a stroke at New York City's Columbus Hospital. His funeral was at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel at 81st Street and Madison Avenue in New York City on November 16, 1960. Buckley was cremated at the Ferndale Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. The scandal of Buckley's death, partially attributed to the seizure of his cabaret card, helped lead to the removal of Commissioner Kennedy in 1961, and was the beginning of the end of the cabaret card system, which was finally abolished in 1967.