If you really want to enjoy a slice of scenic Brooklyn in total peace and quiet, make for Green-Wood Cemetery. A historic burial ground set on the borough’s highest point, it covers almost 500 hilly acres. Its myriad tombs, mausoleums and patches of forest are connected by a looping network of roads and trails, making this a perfect spot for some aimless rambling.
Founded in 1838, the cemetery is the final resting place of all kinds of notable personalities. In fact, some 600,000 people are buried here – that’s at least 530 miles worth, if you laid them head-to-toe. This includes inventor Samuel Morse, mobster Joey Gallo, abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, and ’80s graffitist and Brooklyn son Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The best spot in the cemetery is Battle Hill, the highest point, where the Continental Army fought off British troops during the 1776 Battle of Long Island. The event is commemorated by the 7ft statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, who waves to the Statue of Liberty in the distance. The hill is located in the northeast sector of the cemetery, off Battle Ave. Maestro Leonard Bernstein and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Charles Ebbets are both buried in the vicinity.
You can pick up a free map at the entrance. On Wednesdays (and some Sundays) at 1pm, there is a two-hour trolley tour (per person $15). Note the squawking green parakeets nesting atop the Gothic entryway – these guys apparently broke out of an airport crate in 1980 and have lived here ever since.
Tip: pack mosquito repellent in the summer.
