Grave Intentions

Brooklyn, NY - Peter Puleo - Friday, May 29th, 2009 : goo

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Want to own the "little drummer boy" and the man who made the "forsythia" the official flower of Brooklyn? Well now here is your chance! The 13 acres of historic Canarsie Cemetery in Eastern Brooklyn are on the market once again from its keeper of 40 years, the city of New York.

On record the cemetery dates to 1838 although it may be older as it originally was located behind the Canarsie Methodist church located on E.92st and Church Ln. The present cemetery is located on Remsen Ave and Church Ln and originally was the Remsen family burial ground but by 1838 was acquired by the town of Flatlands, Brooklyn as a community burial ground and the Methodist church maintained a section of its own in there. When E.91st was paved and sewer lines installed in 1924 by the city a dredging pipe burst and washed away all the tombstones in the little graveyard behind the church. Although today it is just a 2 acre grassy field behind the church many of the oldest families in Canarsie are buried underneath unmarked areas which only church records can try to identify.

The main Canarsie Cemetery just one block over is in itself a historical map of a Brooklyn neighborhood. The oldest graves are those of the original Dutch and English families with many civil war veterans and some Native and African Americans. The graves from the 1890s till the 1970s are graced largely by German family names and starting in the 1940s many Italian names are represented as well. Since the 1980s a growing number of African-Caribbean American and Latin Americans have also found a resting place here. Demonstrating not only the changes of one Brooklyn neighborhood but the movement of different ethnic groups and their descendants witnessed in many areas across this country as people head far and wide in search of the American dream.

Whoever purchases this historic place must maintain the grounds and keep it a non-sectarian burial ground for future generations to visit and use.
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DEPARTMENT OF CITYWIDE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
One Centre Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10007
(212) 669‐7140 • Fax: (212) 669‐4664
Martha K. Hirst
Commissioner

N E W S R E L E A S E
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2009
www.nyc.gov/dcas
DCAS INVITING PROPOSALS TO PURCHASE
CANARSIE CEMETERY

The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) is inviting proposals from qualified cemetery operators to purchase the Canarsie Cemetery in Brooklyn. DCAS issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to Not-for-Profit New York State Cemetery Corporations interested in purchasing the cemetery. The RFP was prepared
with input from a community panel to determine the future of the City-owned site. DCAS will place conditions on the sale to ensure that the 13-acre site remains a burial
ground, and that any future structures added to the site are no higher than 20 feet, in keeping with the character of the surrounding neighborhood. “The City inherited this former town cemetery over a hundred years ago, and it’s long
been recognized that everyone’s interests would be best served by transferring it to a nonprofit operator,” said DCAS Commissioner Martha K. Hirst. “I’m glad that we’ve
addressed the community’s concerns in a way that ensures that this historic burial ground – the final resting place of a Brooklyn Borough President and a local Civil War
veteran, among many others – will be properly maintained for future generations. I want to thank Council Member Fidler and the members of the Community Advisory Committee for their assistance, as well as the DCAS team that has pushed this initiative forward.” “I am pleased that we are making progress in this effort to place Canarsie Cemetery in
the hands of a responsible not-for-profit operator,” said Council Member Lewis A. Fidler, whose 46th Council District includes the cemetery. “I’m grateful to DCAS and the community volunteers who have participated in crafting this Request for Proposals.”

State legislation approved in 1998 authorizes the sale of the cemetery, subject to certain conditions and oversight. Any sale must be approved by the Mayor, City Council, the
New York State Cemetery Board and a State Supreme Court judge.

As required by the legislation, DCAS convened a Community Advisory Committee to make recommendations during the development of the RFP. The committee members were: Neal Duncan, president of the United Canarsie South Civic Association (UCSCA); Ira Kluger, co-president, Canarsie Historical Society; and Frank Seddio, former New York State Assembly Member for the 59th Assembly District, which
includes Canarsie. Under the terms of the RFP, proposers must be currently operating under the jurisdiction of the New York State Division of Cemeteries and must agree to maintain the site “as a non-sectarian burial ground for persons of all races, faiths and ethnic origins,” as required by the authorizing legislation. DCAS will also require that the height of any future mausoleums or other structures be limited to 20 feet.

The Canarsie Cemetery is located at 1370 Remsen Avenue at the corner of Remsen Avenue and Avenue K. It was acquired by the Town of Flatlands in 1888 from the estate of John Remsen. Responsibility for operating the cemetery was subsequently transferred to the City of Brooklyn, which later merged with the City of New York. Since 1969 the cemetery has been operated by the Department of General Services, now known as DCAS. No new burial permits have been sold by the City since 1993. Of the cemetery’s 13 acres, 8.5 are developed and 4.5 are undeveloped and have the potential for new graves or mausoleums. The cemetery’s facilities consist of a two-story administration building of 3,500 square feet with offices and a chapel, completed in 1981, and two smaller buildings.

Notable figures interred in the cemetery include John Cashmore, who served as Brooklyn Borough President from 1940 to 1961, and John H. Nolan, a local Civil War
veteran who was known as the Union army’s “little drummer boy” in the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Copies of the Request for Proposals (RFP) may be requested by writing, faxing or visiting the DCAS Division of Real Estate Services, One Centre Street, 20th Floor North, New York, NY 10007, fax 212-313-3486, or by emailing Edward Ong,
Project Manager, at eong@dcas.nyc.gov.

Media Contact: Mark Daly (212) 669-7140

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