Greenwood Cemetery: A Photo Essay

As the weather turns toward summer, Chad and I have been getting outside again, finding ways to sneak away from the city bustle occasionally.

Years ago, when I was doing interviews for my New York Guide, one of the interviewees mentioned how lovely NYC’s sprawling cemeteries are for a walk. So now that flowers are blooming and the sky is blue, we made our way to one of his picks: Green-Wood.

Here are the photos that came from that little afternoon retreat from the city.

Chad under tree

petals close up

white flowers

Cemetery

lake


(Psst, this post may contain affiliate links, which means if you purchase something through one of my links, I get a commission at no extra cost to you.)


All photos taken with my Sony a6000.


Going to New York?

Walks of New York walking tours are all kinds of interesting. Get behind the scenes at a Broadway show, learn about NYC’s famous crimes with a tour led by a former NYPD officer, explore filming locations for TV and film, visit the MET, explore the 911 Memorial (with priority access), and more.

Comments

  • Valeria Vincent Sancisi

    This is great! Cemeteries like this are very interesting to me..I grew up in a city where my backyard ran along the entry of an old Rural Cemetery.. I would play there and pose with the statues and mausoleums and the trees and grass.

    These cemeteries were created when cities were installing their municipal utilities and the city churchyard was no longer an option, and not healthy. So The Rural Cemetery Act was passed, and the cemeteries were no longer attached to the church yard.
    I did an historical survey called HALS that are like reports for historical landmarks for one in Oakland called Mountain View Cemetery designed by Olmsted who designed Central Park in New York..
    Thanks for the essay, the photos are great and much in the Picturesque Tradition..

    • gigigriffis

      Wow! Thanks for the additional history. I, too, adore cemeteries. And here in NY, they’re the quietest, nicest places to walk. I was telling Chad we should have stayed a lot closer to this one because I would have come daily to walk and then tuck myself away in a corner and write.

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