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The Green-Wood Cemetery
Rating Details »
Category: Funeral Services & Cemeteries
Neighborhood: Sunset Park500 - 25th Street
(between 4th Ave & 5th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11232
(718) 788-7850
- Nearest Transit:
-
25th St (M, R)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
15 reviews for The Green-Wood Cemetery
4.5 stars....One of the best cemeteries I've ever been to, definitely worth a visit.
The Cemetery is located between Park Slope and Sunset Park in Brooklyn on the M/R Line (though it's worth driving to if you can), about 8 blocks south of Prospect Park. It's over 478 acres in size and boasts having the highest elevation of Brooklyn at about 220 feet above sea level. It's at this point that the Battle of Brooklyn started in 1776. The cemetery is the final resting place of many notable people including:
Henry Chadwick: "The Father of Baseball"
Samuel Morse: Inventor of the Telegraph and Morse Code
Louis Comfort Tiffany: Founder of Tiffany Glass
Charles H. Ebbets: Owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers
Henry E. Steinway: Founder of Steinway Pianos
Elias Howe: Inventor of the sewing machine
It's also home to a number of Civil War soldiers and Generals. There are alot of great mausoleums too including the Parsons' Pyramid (Henry Bergh-Founder of the ASPCA also has one). The grand entrance of the cemetery is at 25th and 5th but was under construction and closed when I went on Sunday (the building is still open during regular hours but will still be covered for construction for a while). The three other parts worth checking out is the Chapel, the brand new giant Mausoleum at the corner of the cemetery, and the Alter to Liberty (a statue on top of the tallest point in Brooklyn that seemingly waves back and forth to the Statue of Liberty through a completely unobstructed view).
Even when the main building was closed on Sunday there was a cart with free maps and books/shirts for sale sitting outside the entrance. The man who was first there offered us pointers on what to visit on our first trip and was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. When I went back though, there was someone else manning the cart who wasn't nearly as friendly or helpful.
There are a ton of small paths in addition to all the roads which will take you hours to go through. Unfortunately the benches are a little limited here. The cemetery does have a few ponds but all are pretty cluttered with lillypads and algae and aren't nearly as beautiful as they could be. Overall this cemetery is well worth it's status as a National Historic Landmark and no complete NYC experience should be without a trip here.
Out of the few places I was able to hit on my "must-do" list in NYC, this was by far the most beautiful and was definitely worth the trek. And by trek, I mean TREK - wear sneakers, comfortable clothing (NOT jeans in summer - my bad), and if you're looking for a specific plot that doesn't belong to someone famous, you're going to be walking around aimlessly until you flag down a friendly ranger who is used to being asked "I've been walking for 2.5hrs, can you tell me where the hell this grave is??" (save your indignation of swearing at a cemetery, my grandparents had a sense of humor and probably would've said the same thing)
The roads twist and turn all over the cemetery, and the road signs are small and infrequently placed. Even with the map, odds are you will turn down the wrong path. However, some of these wrong turns took me near a very tranquil lotus pond complete with swans, and also an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty. There's supposedly a shuttle that roams around, but the only one I saw was empty and not moving.
If you find yourself in Brooklyn and are up for some wandering around in nature with a hint of benign spookiness, go here.
Almost 500 acres of peace and quiet. It dates from 1838, so it isn't the oldest cemetery in New York, but it is one of the larger and nicer ones.
The main entrance (25th st) is architecturally stunning and is actually full of feral parrots that are descendants of parrots that escaped from a shipping container int he 60s. The highest point in Brooklyn is a ten minute walk from the main gates. That also happens to be a revolutionary war snipers nest from one part of the battle of Brooklyn/Long Island. (We didn't do so well.) There is an excellent view of the statue of liberty and the lower end of Manhattan from Battle Hill, where there is a statue of Minerva.
Green-Wood's website says that it was the inspiration for Central Park and it was apparently a popular place in the 1800s to take a carriage ride and look at all the statues. These days you can walk for 20 minutes and see no people, and there are plenty of nice shady spots and benches by some of the ponds. There is an abundance of bird life and a range of tomb art. You'll see weathered typo-ridden simple tombstones, and art-noveau statues, ironwork & stained glass. There are also some simple and linear modern tombstones, but the main attraction are the masonry mausoleums. At points it seems like you are in a minature version of ancient Athens. There's a nifty pyramid and sphinx near Battle Hill.
I'm always interested to see what people put on their tombstones. The statues of dogs and horses always make me smile, and Freud would no doubt have something to say about all the victorian-era gentlemen who decided on 40 foot tall obelisks. There are thousands of stories that you can only guess at by the dates and names of when people died. There are a lot of nifty names that have gone out of style as well.
The more famous residents that we still know of today are Basquiat, Bill the Butcher, Horace Greely, Boss Tweed, L.C. Tiffany, Leonard Bernstein, etc.
I walked through this cemetery for a few hours at the very end of the autumn leaves season - great timing! I'm not quite sure why the signs say "no photography," but I took advantage of the sparse number of people around and snapped a few shots. I kind of wish there had been more paths off the main roads, for some of the more interesting stones were off the side of the road. Also, I found out the hard way that there's no exit on the south side of the cemetery; more signs toward exits would have been very helpful. This cemetery reminded me a little bit of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.
I say, as others do - GORGEOUS.
Greenwood is the most beautiful park setting in the City.
The parrots live and hang out at the 25th St. entrance
I've never been the kind of person that feels compelled to enter cemeteries. I don't know anyone buried in Greenwood and my family already has plots set up for them (yeah, morbid), but I do like to walk so when Time Out New York published a walking tour of the Greenwood Cemetery, located only 3 blocks from my home I had to take advantage of it.
The Time Out walk (found in the 2nd week of May 2008 issue) is about 3 miles and took me about an hour and a half stopping to see everything, though the magazine claimed it should have taken 2 1/2 hours. If you can't hunt down the issue you can grab a map with points of interest from the super sweet security guard located at the gate listed as the address.
Greenwood Cemetery was established in 1832 and the upkeep is fantastic. There are ponds and bluffs, hills and cleared paths. No litter, trimmed grass, VERY coherent map (I'm a dumb ass, I got lost.) Right now they have a tribute to those buried there that served in the Civil War. At the end of Landscape Ave (stay to the right around the lake) there are two brothers who fought on opposing sides and died on the same day by the name of Prentiss. I'm a big dork, so maybe this info isn't as exciting to you. Anyhoo....
Famous people buried in Greenwood: Boss Tweed, Billy the Butcher, the Steinway family, William Morse, the guy that invented the soda fountain and my homeboy Charles Ebbets (holla, Chuck). Also people with fun last names like Hiscox and Hooker which made my experience more enjoyable.
On your way in keep an eye out for these really cool bright green parrots that escaped from an airport in Queens back in the 1960s. They look completely out of place and have called Greenwood home ever since they Houdini-ed themselves. (This post initially said the 1860s from a cargo ship, which is what I heard initially, but another Yelper corrected me, so I fixed it though the truth is slightly less interesting.)
One of my favorite New York City landmarks.
It's a gorgeous part of Brooklyn, which everyone should see if they have the opportunity. In what other graveyard will you get to see the burial places of presidential matriarchs, ringleaders of Protestant, Bowery-based street gangs, New York governors, and renowned playwrights?
They do offer seasonal tours, and I have to say that the guide, Jeff Richman, is one of the most knowledgeable individuals, when it comes to New York history, who'll you'll ever meet. The best parts of the tour I took part in were visiting the catacombs-after sunset no less-and looking out from the top of Battle Hill, which is the highest point in the cemetery.
There are so many amazing mausoleums and crypts that you won't regret the visit. Not in the least bit macabre, if you ask me.
One of my favorite cemeteries. Greenwood is huge, yet it doesn't seem overwhelming. I find it to be a very peaceful place and it invites wandering. It's located on a high point and is accessible by public transit. There's lots of beautiful statuary, and many prominent people are buried at Greenwood. I've been intending to take one of their tours, as I've heard they're fascinating.
Greenwood is the third largest cemetery in the country and a supremely beautiful urban oasis. We live 2 blocks away and I talk walks there both alone and with my kids.... (My younger son who is 5 is obsessed with dead bodies and is always asking to take his shovel along....).
It's beautiful any time of year, but as we are coming up on fall, this is the time to go.
I love just strolling through and thinking about the people buried there. My kids and I have long discussions about how we thought they lived, what happened to them, etc. We recently saw a stone where 3 sisters all died on the same day in 18-something. That kept us talking for a long time. You can walk for hours and only see a handful of other people.
The cemetery also has events, concerts, which free or at least cheap.
Greenwood Cemetery (established in the 1830s) is a pretty interesting place to visit as far as cemeteries are concerned considering its history and current status as a national historic landmark. My girlfriend and me recently bought a condo that borders the very western end of the cemetery in Greenwood Heights (between 4th and 5th Aves). The view from our rooftop terrace is mostly of maintenance equipment, but we do see approximately 300 or so gravestones, which isn't too creepy as long as we don't think about it too intently. Most of the more than 550,000 grave sites are located in the more scenic parts of the cemetery east of 5th Ave. There are a significant amount of "famous" people buried here, what the cemetery calls its Hall of Fame. There are also approximately 3,000 veterans of the Civil War interred here as well. The cemetery is also a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System, recognizing the diversity of wildlife that nest in or migrate through the cemetery, such as numerous bird species (green backed herons, Canadian geese, mallards, American black ducks, Chinese geese, herring gulls, sharp shinned hawks, red tailed hawks, mourning doves, belted king fishes...and more). There are a few tour groups that offer tours of the cemetery, something that my girlfriend and me may do to get better acquainted with the dead (LOL) and beauty of this park-like cemetery.
It really is a beautiful place (and seemingly tranquil), covering nearly 500 acres, with numerous mausoleums of all sizes (some bigger than your average NYC apartment). It's also a very naturalistic cemetery consisting of thousands of trees, some garden areas, and even a few small lakes (so I've been told, though they must be very small bodies of water, indeed).
The main entrance to the cemetery is on 5th Ave at 25th Street; however, there's actually another entrance less than a block from our condo. One of these days I'll be sure to visit (on foot, since no bikes are allowed, and before 4 PM because that's when it closes). Heck, the cemetery lies in the shadow of my condo, so maybe I'll even have a good reason to visit on any given day. Perhaps I'm in a gangsta bad mood and need to get into a bare-fisted fight, so I visit the grave site of William "Bill the Butcher" Poole (member of the Bowery Boys, and for whom director Martin Scorsese based the character Bill "the Butcher" Cutting in his film Gangs of New York). (Got to figure William Poole's hands are pretty bare-fisted now, considering he's been dead for 153 years...LOL). Or maybe I'll be in an inventive mood and thus visit the grave sites of Samuel Morse (inventor of the Morse code) and Elias Howe (inventor of, and received the first patent for, the sewing machine). Or maybe I just need to talk baseball, and who better to listen to my rants about the game than Charles Ebbets, who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and who built Ebbets Field. Or maybe I'm feeling artistic and need some inspiration from Jean-Michel Basquit. Or maybe I'm delusional and think I'm not in Brooklyn any more. Who better to turn to than the great "Wizard of Oz" Frank Morgan to advise me to simply click my heels three times to find my path home. Or maybe I'm home sick after more than 11 years of living in New York and need the companionship of a fellow native from my home state of New Hampshire such as Horace Greeley. You just never know what kind of solace or inspiration you can get from such past legends.
Other notable famous people interred at Greenwood include: Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., father of US President Theodore Roosevelt; Leonard Jerome, grandfather of Winston Churchill; Alice Roosevelt, the first wife of President Theodore Roosevelt; Peter Cooper, founder of Cooper Union; and Laura Keene, actress/theater producer (who was on stage during the performance of Our American Cousin at the Ford Theatre when President Lincoln was assassinated). The list, of course, goes on.
I guess the historical significance of so many famous people buried at Greenwood is what fascinates me the most, considering I've always been a bit of a history buff.
This is a beautiful cemetery. If you don't find it creepy, it's really nice to walk around in there... but prepare to get lost. They also have tours, but the guide I've experienced knew way more about the cemetery than I had an interest in knowing, meaning he was boring.
This is a sprawling gorgeous green space suited to inner contemplation, as you will not encounter joggers, hot dog carts, or sunbathers. Kudos for cemeteries! The highlights for me were the lily pond with the lone egret, the lake with the geese and ducks, and the variety of blossoming trees that you would be more likely to find at botanical gardens. I didn't see the parrots, but I did see a red cardinal. Hubby enjoyed taking pictures of the more ornate statues. Keep an eye out for the Mason mausoleums. They are really something!
we live close to greenwood cemetery and visit often or drive through taking a scenic shortcut on the weekends. as aforementioned by yelp reviewers there are a multitude of famous and infamous people buried here. some of the mausoleums have beautiful stain glass windows. many of the grave markers and headstones are artistic and carved in a dignified and befitting manner. sadly acid rain and the elements have ravished some of these, in some cases angels appear eerie.
this is a good place to bird watch and it is fun to see the green parrots congregate and look at their elaborate flats by the main entrance. speaking of odd birds the victorians treated greenwood cemetery as a park and would often stroll here on weekends. my favorites in greenwood cemetery are the weeping beeches that create such a beautiful canopy. the variety of trees and plantings is wonderful, dogwood of all varieties, garish azaleas for those who love azaleas and smokebush.
sometimes on hot summer nights, the fireflies make their presence known like hundreds of spirits lighting up the flora, and often masked bandits roam in the shadows.(raccoons)
the chapel is exceedingly beautiful and worth a visit! i envy the caretakers, for the caretakers cottage is very lovely and the neighbors are rather quiet!
This is such a beautiful cemetary. We went here a few years back in early spring and everything was starting to bloom. I remember seeing the statue of liberty's sister in full roman battle dress another. One thing that scared the shit out of me was when the alarms went off in the crypt HOLY SHIT!!!! anyways good times :)
I love walking arround the cemetery. beats walking down a regular street smelling the cars. I mean 'specially the ft hamilton side. smells soo good when you turn your head toward the cemetery (not toward the traffic!) everyone walks their dog there
