From the NY Times:For the dead, however, virtually no amount of money will secure a final resting place in the heart of a city that is fast running out of graveyard space.
And in the parts of town where a burial plot is still available, the cost has in some cases more than tripled in less than a decade; aboveground mausoleums can fetch upward of $3 million. Cemeteries are scrambling to create more space, and as plot prices have soared, the number of cremations has also risen, with a quarter of New Yorkers choosing the less expensive alternative.
The largest Jewish graveyard in Brooklyn, Washington Cemetery, ran out of land in the winter after tearing up roads and pathways to utilize every cubic inch of ground. Evergreens and Cypress Hills, also in Brooklyn, may sprawl, but not enough, and dozens of smaller cemeteries spread across the five boroughs are squeezed, too. The city’s largest Catholic cemetery, Calvary in Queens, is close to capacity. And even the most famous of them all, Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, has only about five more years before it will be forced to stop selling plots.
More than 50 years have passed since a major cemetery was established within the city, and no new burial grounds are planned. But New Yorkers continue to die, some 60,000 a year.
New York City is not now contemplating graveyard evictions, although the state did pass a law several years ago that allows cemeteries to take over empty plots bought more than 75 years ago if the owner cannot be reached. Maple Grove in Queens has already reclaimed more than 150 graves, and many other cemeteries are taking similar action, state officials said.
11 comments:
I'm going back to the country:)
I've got a plot for St Charles.wonder what itis worth?
"London allows people to be buried upright."
Hey, that's for me. Where do I sign up? I never was a no couch potato.
Well then instead of stuffing them in Queens and Brooklyn like they have done why not shove them into some empty lots in Manhattan? Maybe shove one right up Bloombergs ass!
Green burials are the way to go - no formaldehyde. Just wrap the body in a sheet and stick it into the ground.
Of course it would be much better for the planet were the deceased to have eaten primarily organic produce and hormone-free animals.
I'm surprised there is any space left at any price. I thought city cemeteries filled up 20 years ago.
New York City is not now contemplating graveyard evictions, although the state did pass a law several years ago that allows cemeteries to take over empty plots bought more than 75 years ago if the owner cannot be reached.
Yes, the city might have a little bit of trouble contacting the "owners" of empty plots purchased over 75 years ago! Ya think?
I wonder if we'll soon have an "undocumented dead" problem in our cemeteries?
They could just use eminent domain. They have no problem using it now... What's an empty grave plot to them...
Wait for Bloomburg to officially declare eminant domain and build more crap to cram more people into Queens. It will happen. No respect for the dead. He only cares that his developer friends make money.
"When there's no more room in Queens, the dead will walk the earth."
do you think that the obamacare czar BERWICK (the re-distribution of wealth )advocate, will bury all senior citizens in mass graves to save money ?
i guess we will find out in 2014,when the law will be enacted. if obama and berwick survive the 2012 election?
remember in november
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