Monday, August 16, 2010

Current Events; or Cypress Hills Cemetery, part one

This topic is not really new, but the article was in the New York Times yesterday.


“Graveyard Gridlock” by Marc Santora appeared on the first page of the Real Estate section- because cemetery plots are scarce and sell for a lot more money than your average parcel of land in NYC. (The online article was titled "City Cemeteries Face Gridlock.")  It makes me wonder who will finance the care of these plots when the cemeteries run out of ways to raise more money.

I visited the relatives in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn and Queens. The Hawkins family plot was a circular area with a little path all around it. The path had been filled in and graves surrounded the Hawkins’ circle, the original pattern now noticeable only for the circular fencing. They are long dead and cannot contest, but it makes you wonder if they paid more for their own little circle, and if so, if it’s really okay for the cemetery to fill in the land that made the circle cost more.

Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn/Queens, New York
Section 17


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