(Sold Out) Common Shade: Death, Dying, and Buddhist Insights

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

Although it may sound counterintuitive, taking time to contemplate death often works to reduce anxiety and suffering and increase happiness. Meditation and Buddhist practice have always advocated for the daily reflection on death: its inevitability and unpredictability. Confronting death helps us to overcome our fear and to develop an acceptance of death as a natural part of life. It serves to remind us of the preciousness of our time, and helps lessen the surprise and anguish when loved ones pass away. Discuss the how’s and why’s behind the practice with Bhante Suddhāso, a Western Buddhist monk and co-founder of an organization connecting laypeople to monastics in both secular and non-secular spaces. He’ll lead a guided meditation in Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel before answering questions from Common Shade host Evan Michelson and you.

Event Series Historic Trolley Tour

Historic Trolley Tour

Experience the most magnificent and historic 478 acres in New York City. Join our expert tour guides to hear fascinating stories of Green-Wood’s permanent residents, see breathtaking views of Manhattan, tread where George Washington and his troops fought the Battle of Brooklyn, and much more.

Each tour boasts great views, beautiful monuments throughout, rolling hills, century-old trees and stories of the fascinating persons interred at Green-Wood. Please note: all tours include a visit to Green-Wood's Historic Chapel and to Battle Hill.

The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Event Series Historic Trolley Tour

Historic Trolley Tour

Experience the most magnificent and historic 478 acres in New York City. Join our expert tour guides to hear fascinating stories of Green-Wood’s permanent residents, see breathtaking views of Manhattan, tread where George Washington and his troops fought the Battle of Brooklyn, and much more.

Each tour boasts great views, beautiful monuments throughout, rolling hills, century-old trees and stories of the fascinating persons interred at Green-Wood. Please note: all tours include a visit to Green-Wood's Historic Chapel and to Battle Hill.

City Stories, City Spirit: Write with NY Writers Coalition!

Inspired by the serene, historic landscape of Green-Wood, City Voices, City Spirit returns this June. Facilitated by NY Writers Coalition, the largest community-based writing organization in the country, this workshop helps writers generate new writing and connect with their craft on a deeper level, with every nook in the cemetery offering inspiration and enlightenment.

The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

(Sold Out) The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

(Sold Out) Hamilton: The Trolley Tour

Hamilton is a smash hit on Broadway, and these days the man and his legacy are all the rage. Now you can get your fill of the saga at Green-Wood! Although Alexander himself rests elsewhere, many family members and those who crossed his path are interred within Green-Wood’s 478 acres. Led by Historian Jeff Richman, you’ll visit Robert Troup, Hamilton's college roommate with whom he had a lifelong close relationship; William Peter Van Ness, who was Burr's “second” during that fateful duel; Hamilton's son, John, who spent years studying his father’s history; Hamilton's grandchildren, Elizabeth and Schuyler; William Livingston, who served in the Constitutional Congress with Hamilton; and many others.

The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Historic Trolley Tour

Experience the most magnificent and historic 478 acres in New York City. Join our expert tour guides to hear fascinating stories of Green-Wood’s permanent residents, see breathtaking views of Manhattan, tread where George Washington and his troops fought the Battle of Brooklyn, and much more.

Each tour boasts great views, beautiful monuments throughout, rolling hills, century-old trees and stories of the fascinating persons interred at Green-Wood. Please note: all tours include a visit to Green-Wood's Historic Chapel and to Battle Hill.

Gay Green-Wood

Celebrate Brooklyn Pride Week (June 5 – 11) in a most unique way, with an LGBT-themed trolley tour of Green-Wood! Tour guide Phil Desiere – who leads tours of Greenwich Village, Central Park, and other NYC sights – will illuminate stories of Green-Wood ‘permanent residents’ who were openly gay, including “It’s Raining Men” co-author Paul Jabara, and others who were likely gay or bisexual, including Violet Oakley, a member of a “Boston marriage.”

The Great American Casket Company

Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States

What is it that makes a good life? And a good death? The Great American Casket Company would like you to believe that they have the answers – but do they? Does anyone? Explore for yourself on this roving, immersive theater experience that uses Green-Wood’s historic landscape as a central, and essential, character. As the sun sets on 478 acres, you’ll be led down a performance rabbit hole, written exclusively for Green-Wood by BREAD Arts Collective. You’ll become a part of the show, too, as you respond and interact to what’s happening around you. By the end of your journey, you may have come to some conclusions about life’s big mysteries. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, your experience may simply raise more questions. Either way, your time with the Great American Casket Company is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Green-Wood’s public programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.