Here are some of Green-Wood’s permanent residents whose birthdays fall in the month of December: December 1, 1795: Gamaliel King, designed Brooklyn’s City Hall (now Borough Hall) and the original Kings County Courthouse (now demolished); born on Shelter Island; died in 1875. December 5, 1841: Marcus Daly, born in Ireland, immigrated to America as a … Read more
Sylvia Gerrish had quite a run. Born in California, she sang in her church choir, then came to New York City as an entertainer. According to her obituary in The New York Times, she “soon went on the stage, sang before royalty and was the toast of the town. After a while she met (Henry … Read more
Writer Paul Auster is both prolific and award-winning. His most recent book, Sunset Park, was published this year. Auster was recently asked by Travel & Leisure to name his favorite place. The choice was an easy one for him: Green-Wood Cemetery. He describes Green-Wood as “one of the most remarkable places in all of New … Read more
At a recent Weschler’s auction in Washington, D.C., Green-Wood’s permanent residents did very well. The top lot of the auction was “A Young Aspiring Sailor” by John George Brown (1831-1913), which soared to $192,950. A native of England, Brown studied painting there, then came to America in 1853 and settled in Brooklyn. There he continued … Read more
Marge Raymond and Rob Jett have been birding at Green-Wood for years. And, remarkably, after all these years, they still are making new discoveries. So, just last week, they were out birding at Green-Wood when they came across something they never before had seen there: a flock of bluebirds. Now, I know from a fifth … Read more
On Friday, November 12, Philip Carlo, who wrote best-sellers about serial killers and hit men, was laid to rest at Green-Wood. He died from Lou Gehrig’s disease (A.L.S.) and cancer at the age of 61. Carlo was born and grew up in Bensonhurst. Here’s how he described, in an interview a year ago, the early … Read more
I very much am looking forward to Sunday. Peter Kenny, a decorative arts curator at The Metropolitan Museum, is giving a talk at 1:00 p.m.
I’ve been leading tours at Green-Wood Cemetery since 1990. So, if my math is right, that’s 21 years worth of tours. And I’ve been leading Halloween tours of Green-Wood for about 15 years. It will come as no surprise to you: cemetery tours on Halloween are a big draw. So, each year since about 1995 or so, I’ve done two Halloween tours on the weekend before Halloween.
November 1, 1849: William Merritt Chase, who was, perhaps, America’s greatest painter/teacher, led the movement to enhance appreciation of American artists and opened his own New York School of Art.