Despite (or maybe because of) living in New York for over 7 years, I have a huge NYC Bucket List. I add to it all the time, and going on adventures to do the things on it helps curb my severe wanderlust. I love this city, and I love that no one can ever see all the great things there are to see. Sometimes that’s because the city is always changing, but not in the case of Green-Wood Cemetery, which has been part of Brooklyn since 1838. It’s 4 subway stops from my apartment, and I cannot believe it took me 2.5 years of living in Brooklyn to visit. I’ll be returning often.
Green-Wood Cemetery is massive, 478 acres – over half as big as Central Park. Because I was on foot, and because it was over 90 degrees, I only had time to cover a small portion of the grounds. I focused my wandering on the graves I most wanted to see: Leonard Bernstein and Lewis Comfort Tiffany. Along the way I found Henry Chadwick, a community mausoleum, a tranquility garden with the biggest goldfish I’ve ever seen, and monument to the Revolution War marking the Battle of Brooklyn that was fought on the same land in 1776. I also stopped to take 126 photos (actual count).
Wandering through the cemetery’s winding paths, I looked like a NYC tourist with a map in front of my face (trying to make sure I didn’t miss the footpath that would lead me in the direction I needed to go) and a camera around my neck. But the truth is, I’ve never felt less like I was in NYC. (Well, at least not when I’ve actually still been in NYC.) For long spans of time, I didn’t see another human being. It was kind of creepy, and not because I was in a graveyard. It was creepy to not encounter anyone else – I’m used to the comfort of strangers constantly around to notice if you get abducted/prevent it from happening. But it was peaceful, and I loved sitting by the “Water Valley” pond, taking photos and writing in my notebook. I can’t wait to go back in the fall and winter.
I love old gravestones and cemeteries, especially ones with beautiful, gothic statues. Here are some of my favorite photos from my few hours at Green-Wood Cemetery:
View all my Green-Wood Cemetery photos on Flickr.
