Thirteen's continuing series, The City Concealed, heads to Brooklyn to take a look inside Green-Wood Cemetery for their second installment. The video tour visits the tombs and catacombs, and includes a little history lesson as well. Established in 1838, the cemetery has plenty of living roaming the grounds for the art and architecture alone--but as historian Jeff Richman notes in the video, some "fear the spirits" and refuse to visit.
In 2003 the cemetery opened the catacombs for an Open House NY tour, for the first time in 165 years. Richman notes that they were a middle-class option for those wanting the luxury of above-ground interment, and the most prominent person in them is Ward McAllister. Next up for the series: a look inside the abandoned medical complex at the Brooklyn Navy Yard!
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Thomas Durant was the original Wall Street swindler. He made a fortune in the rail roads, building out the Union Pacific Railroad. Even Vanderbilt got scammed by this guy in a rail road stock swindle. I guess when he swindled enough, he died, in 1885.
It was interesting to peek inside his crypt.
I bet NY1 or PBS could do a series of documentaries just on the people interred in Green-Wood.
robingee
Green-Wood is amazing and I wish I had the guts to venture into the underground tombs.
nicemarmot
Totally agree that cemeteries are a massive waste of space - think how many LIVE people you could fit in that area! Not to mention the whole embalming-corpses thing is pretty disgusting, not to mention bad for the environment. Why would anyone want to preserve their corpse anyway? It baffles the mind.
However I will say that Greenwood is flat-out one of the nicest public spaces I've visited in the city, beautiful, peaceful and pastoral. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a nice, relaxing walk.
Rocknrope
I've lived 10 minutes from Green-Wood for about 13 years and didn't pay it a second thought until I had to service my car at Batrouni recently and Mohamed told me to walk around the cemetery across the street for 30 minutes while I waited. Am I glad he did. The place is gorgeous and well worth a visit, even if you're not into the graveyard thing.
lanciano
I totally agree with cemetaries being a waste of land and I plan on being cremated. However, if you can get past the death aspect (which I can) I must say that Green-Wood Cemetary is one of the most lovely spots in Brooklyn.
Splicer
Cemeteries are the biggest wastes of space no matter where they are. Homes for dead people. I've heard they're going to start building playgrounds of aborted fetuses any day now.
Burn the bodies and use the ashes as fertilizer or whatever.
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