The highest point in Brooklyn is in the Green-Wood Cemetery, which seems, at least to some Brooklynites, a little unfair: all that prime real estate for folks who can’t enjoy it? But the NY Times suggests that cemeteries are enjoyable for the living, too, especially Green-Wood, with its beautiful grounds, not to mention views. “Green-Wood Cemetery — an early example of the ‘rural cemetery’ movement imported from Europe — had become one of the country’s premier attractions [in the 1860s], ranking up there with Niagara Falls. Half a million people visited a year, and that’s just counting the live ones.” The cemetery is home to many beautiful sculptures, including the statue of Minerva (for which a troubled condo project is now named). Then there’s the attraction of the famous folk buried there: Jean Michel Basquiat, Leonard Bernstein and “Boss” Tweed among them.
You Can Come and Go. They’re Staying Awhile. [NY Times]
Photo by lostinbrooklyn.