Just a short stroll from the magnificent Prospect Park is another iconic green space in Brooklyn — Green-Wood Cemetery, which dates back to the 1830s.
You can stroll through this 478-acre oasis on your own, but to get the most out of a visit, you should join guide James Hoffman for his Green-Wood Cemetery Tour that he hosts through Bowery Boys Walks.
I had the chance to talk to James to find out the details behind the tour and what makes Green-Wood so special.
Tell us about your background and how you became a tour guide in New York?
I moved to the city about 20 years ago and quickly became a full-time tourist. I was really interested in the general history of New York, but I was also into discovering the more off-beat locations. I spent a lot of time creating self-guided historical tours for myself by foot and bike. I read a lot of classic New York history books and followed NYC-centric blogs/podcasts (including, of course, The Bowery Boys!)
Eventually, a friend who knew I was into history recommended that I watch The Cruise (a documentary on a double-decker bus tour guide called Speed Levitch). After watching the movie, I discovered you had to pass a test to be a licensed tour guide. Initially, I got my license for bragging rights and thought it would be a part-time gig. Once I started doing my first tours in 2007, I was hooked and have been doing it ever since!
Have you always been fascinated by cemeteries? And what is it about Green-Wood in particular that makes it special?
I do like all types of graveyards/cemeteries, but in particular, I’m a big fan of rural cemeteries. They’re an amazing combination of landscaped green space and history. I’ve been to a few throughout the world, and they’re always a great experience.
I won’t list them all, but the last one I visited was Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. I got to see the final resting places of John D. Rockefeller, James Garfield, and Ray Chapman (the only major league baseball player to die from a hit-by-pitch). Wade Memorial Chapel is amazing, and true to the name, there are indeed amazing views of Lake Erie.
Despite being one of the best-known rural cemeteries in the world, I still think Green-Wood Cemetery is grossly underappreciated. With over 600,000 interments, there are so many fascinating stories; the cemetery has unforgettable views of the harbor, and the grounds are so beautiful!
A shout out to the Green-Wood Historic Fund for doing such a great job making the space accessible to visitors and putting on so many cool events.
Can you speak about how Green-Wood was such a vital green space in the city before the concept of public parks?
One of the biggest surprises for guests is when they find out that Green-Wood pre-dates both Central Park and Prospect Park. Green-Wood Cemetery is similar to these parks in the sense that it has a very naturalistic design, but one of its biggest influences was its incredible popularity back in the 1800s.
“These cemeteries are the only places in the country that can give an untravelled American any idea of the beauty of many of the public parks and gardens abroad. Judging from the crowds of people in carriages, and on foot, which I find constantly thronging Greenwood and Mount Auburn, I think it is plain enough how much our citizens, of all classes, would enjoy public parks on a similar scale.” – Andrew Jackson Downing – Rural Essays
People had pushed for a large public space in New York for many years before Central Park was built. The thousands of people who visited Green-Wood every year were a huge motivation for New York (which was a separate city from Brooklyn at the time) to get the ball rolling.
One highlight of the tour is reaching the highest point in Brooklyn to see the stunning view. Can you tell us about a couple of other favorite highlights on the tour that you have?
People are always delighted by the monk parrots at the front gate. It surprises a lot of people to learn there are parrots in NYC at all, much less while visiting a cemetery. That’s in addition to all the other birds here with Red-tailed Hawks being another crowd favorite.
I tend to focus on the history of the grounds and people interred there, but I do love all the trees here in Green-Wood as well. There are hundreds of different varieties here, and depending on the weather, I sometimes show people my favorite — a beautiful weeping beech in the middle of the cemetery.
The graves of famous people are always a draw in any cemetery. Can you name a few interesting New Yorkers who are buried in Green-Wood?
So many! Boss Tweed, Chuck Close, DeWitt Clinton, Basquiat, Elizabeth Tilton, Lola Montez, Bill the Butcher, Pete Hamill… the list goes on and on.
Often, it’s the history of the person buried at a grave site that draws you in. Sometimes the grave site itself is the draw. I have a soft spot for the grave with a recipe for spritz cookies.
Beyond cemeteries, what other types of tours do you give?
I do a lot of different walking tours; Grand Central, Financial District, Central Park… a lot of the classic neighborhoods and landmarks.
As far as specialty tours go, I do a variety of cocktail-themed tours and talks. I currently do a cocktail-themed tour of Green-Wood Cemetery that ends with cocktails connected to the grave sites seen on the tours (such as Bill the Butcher and Boss Tweed). I also will be doing a new cocktail-themed stage/burlesque/vaudeville themed cocktail tour of Green-Wood this year as well. We’ll visit Frank Morgan (The Wizard of Oz), Laura Keene (the lead actress at the performance Lincoln was assassinated at), and Lola Montez (a famous dancer and courtesan) before having theatrical-themed cocktails at a local bar.
I also do a Gilded Age cocktail walk of Madison Square and Gramercy Park and will be debuting one or two Prohibition-themed walks this year.
Bike tours are another speciality of mine, especially throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. I’ve been doing them for over 15 years. It’s a great way to see the city and lets you go on routes that simply aren’t possible any other way. It’s really cool to take a tour group and to be able to go from Fort Greene to Prospect Park to Red Hook to the Brooklyn Bridge all in less than 3 hours.
Thanks, James!
Do you want to stroll through Brooklyn’s most famous cemetery?