Henry Euler takes a walk around Lawrence Cemetery, which was landmarked in 1967. Bates for News
At a quiet corner in Bayside sits a cemetery where the oldest grave dates to 1832 and the buried souls include a 19th-century New York City mayor.
Sadly, the history of Lawrence Cemetery - designated a city landmark in 1967 - is routinely lost on passersby.
"People dump trash and refuse as they walk past because they see the site as empty," griped Daniel Egers, a trustee with the Bayside Historical Society.
Egers and a team of volunteers view the boneyard in a far different light. They came on Friday and Saturday to cut grass, pull weeds and prune trees - trying to restore the land to its former glory.
Headless statue at cemetery guards the grave of a young child. Bates for News
"It's one of the first plots of land that was bought in Bayside back in the 1700s," Egers said. "The cemetery is one of the last remaining links we have to our Colonial past."
New Amsterdam Gov. Willem Kieft gave the property to English settler William Lawrence in 1645. Centuries later, the influential Lawrence clan began using the plot as a graveyard.
Many notables are interred there, such as Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence, a New York mayor in the 1830s, and Frederick Newbold Lawrence, president of the New York Stock Exchange from 1882 to 1883.
But the last burial was in 1939 and decades of neglect have turned the site at 42nd Ave. and 216th St. into a litter-strewn eyesore.
The historical society, which maintains the grounds, took a positive step with the weekend cleanup, aided by the Friends of Oakland Lake and the Northeast Queens Community Action Network.
Volunteer Paul DiBenedetto help clear refuse and overgrown vegetation from the landmarked graveyard. Bates for News
The city Sanitation Department even pitched in by providing free bags to volunteers and making a special trash collection.
But preservationists are still seeking financial support for the cemetery - with calls out to local elected officials and private groups.
