More about Green-Wood Cemetery

Here is an article in the New York Times about trying to find new plots in Green-Wood.

Also, check out my article about Green-Wood earlier this year.

A Tour Through Green-Wood Cemetery

Just south of Prospect Park, situated between Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park lies a historic treasure. You might not know it walking walking east 25th street from Fourth Avenue. 

The neighborhood quiet. Windows are boarded up. Fast food restaurants and stores advertising their acceptance of food stamps line the block.  Forty-five percent of residents in the neighborhood have some type of government income support. It is a largely hispanic neighborhood and a large percentage do not speak English fluently.

But just up the hill lies Green-Wood Cemetery, a garden oasis. Founded in 1838, the cemetery predates both Prospect Park and Central Park and was a model for both. It is the largest cemetery in New York City with 478 acres of rolling hills, lawns and glacial ponds. As you walk up the hill and through the tall gothic style gate, it seems as though you’ve stepped into another time.

The cemetery is one of only six cemeteries considered a historic landmark in the United States. It is the final home to many famous New Yorkers spanning three centuries, including Boss Tweed, Bill “the Butcher” Pool, Samuel F.B. Morse and the Steinway family.  “It’s a who’s who of New York City,” said Jeff Richman, the cemetery historian.

Richman has been working for the cemetery officially for nine years. But he has been giving tours at the cemetery for almost 20 years. Richman was originally interested in the the landscape, which has survived since the 19th century, and toured the cemetery in 1987 during a photography tour. 

He enjoyed the cemetery so much he eventually quit his day job. “I was always interested in history,” said Richman. “I was a lawyer by profession for 30 years, but I decided I liked the cemetery better than practicing law.”

His tours have become a popular attraction to visitors from all over the New York area. Richman gives around 30 tours a year, many of them themed. There are Halloween tours, moonlit tours, tours paired with book signings, and a spring bloom tour at the beginning of every May. To celebrate Leonard Bernstein’s birthday, a permanent resident, the cemetery hosted a musical tour featuring Bernstein’s music.

Originally, the tours were all walking tours with Richman weaving the group through the graves. But in July 2007, the Cemetery bought a trolley in order to give the tours a larger range of the cemetery. “When we were limited to walking we could only see about one tenth of the cemetery,” Richman said.

The trolley has been a tremendously popular addition to the cemetery tours and most of the trolley tours sell out with a maximum of 54 people on board. A tour of the cemetery held on Sunday was sold out weeks in advance.

Many of Sunday’s attendees were regulars on the tours. Marge Poyatt, a Windsor Terrace resident, comes to many of the tours. “I love the history. New York history is fascinating to me,” said Poyatt. “ And it’s so beautiful.” She says there is an endless number of things to see in the cemetery. “I haven’t even gotten all the way through on of the self-guided tours!” Poyatt said.

Gene Ferarro, originally from Manhattan, also comes to the tours to learn about New York history. “It’s probably the best way to get in touch with the past in an emotional sense,” said Ferarro. 

He and his wife, Frances, brought their two young daughters with them for the tour on Sunday. “It’s part of their indoctrination,” said Frances Ferarro. “We hope they soak in a little bit from the experience. We want them to know about their history.”

Marguerite Mayers decided to come to the Green-Wood Cemetery tour on Sunday because she enjoys visiting cemeteries. “Each culture has a different way of burying the dead and views death differently,” said Mayers. “I enjoy learning about all of the different approaches.”

Richman, Green-Wood’s historian, looks forward to tours the most for the interaction with visitors. “There are hundreds of interesting stories and I’m constantly finding new ones,” Richman said. “Visitors are always bringing new stories and new enthusiasm for the history of the cemetery.”

Richman will continue to look for new stories just waiting to be discovered in the garden sanctuary on 25th street. There are plenty of stories tucked away under the trees. With 560,000 residents, Green-Wood Cemetery truly is a city of itself.