It\u2019s arguably one of the most peaceful and scenic spots in all five boroughs.<\/p>\n
Green-Wood Cemetery has been welcoming mourners and visitors since 1838, when it opened as part of the Rural Cemeteries Movement in America.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The Green-House is a new welcome center at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn
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The center features a restored 1895 greenhouse, which was also a former flower shop
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There is an exhibition hall with information about notable permanent residents of the cemetery, which opened in 1838\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original founders established a rural cemetery for the living and for the dead. We come here to remember our loved ones we lost, but they also envisioned and we do too, that people all over New York can escape the stress of city life by wandering through our 21 miles of landscaped hills and paths,\u201d said Meera Joshi, the president of Green-Wood Cemetary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fact is that once visitors go through the gothic arch, which is the main entrance to the cemetery, the vastness of the grounds and the multitude of stories from just some of the over 500,000 permanent residents at the cemetery can be overwhelming. That\u2019s where the Green-House at Green-Wood, across the street from the main entrance, comes in.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a new visitor center featuring a restored Victorian greenhouse from 1895, which was once a neighborhood flower shop. It\u2019s now Green-Wood\u2019s new front door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBy coming to the Green-House first, you just come here to the tile floor which is a map and you get a quick bird\u2019s-eye view of the entire beautiful acreage which is almost the size of Prospect Park,\u201d said Joshi.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The center also features an exhibition hall with artifacts and information on some of the cemetery\u2019s notable permanent residents, like Basquiat and Bernstein, Pete Hamill and others with familiar names like Steinway and Ebbets. A touchscreen allows visitors to discover information and track down a person\u2019s grave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really would love for people to come here first and to get some context on Green-Wood and this incredible exhibition and all the things that are here to show them what they are going to be seeing before they cross the street,\u201d said\u00a0Lisa Alpert, the senior vice president of development and external relations at the cemetery.<\/p>\n
She said the Green-House will be a busy place with a variety of happenings for visitors and folks in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory programs, programs on arts and culture, and one of the most important programs to us, a programming called \u2018Death Education,\u2019 which are programs that have to do with grief and mortality and loss,\u201d said Alpert.\u00a0<\/p>\n