Friends of Lawrence Cemetery Seek to Recover Its Old Glory by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

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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.

Kin Sues Jewish Cemetery in Ozone Park by Victor G. Mimoni - Queens Courier

The management of Bayside Cemetery in Ozone Park is being sued by the grandson of a couple interred there, claiming they used “perpetual care” monies to repair their building. PHOTO BY NICK BENEDUCE

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A management consultant from Connecticut has gone back to federal court in Brooklyn, to sue a congregation in Manhattan over their management of a Jewish cemetery in Queens.

John Lucker, 47, had brought a lawsuit against Congregation Shaare Zedek, a synagogue on West 93rd Street in Manhattan. He charged that they breached their contract to provide “perpetual care” for the graves of his grandparents, Harry and Ruth Lucker, who are buried in Bayside Cemetery in Ozone Park, along with some 35,000 other Jews.

Bayside is the middle of three Jewish burial grounds, located between Liberty and Pitkin Avenues, between 80th and 84th Streets, just blocks from the Brooklyn border.

In 1842 the congregation, then on the lower East Side, bought the land, between Acacia and Mokom Sholom cemeteries, not far from the margins of Jamaica Bay.

Over time, most of the plots were sold to individuals and “burial societies,” private groups that cared for the interment of members and their families.

Though some of the area nearest to the entrance at 81st Street and Pitkin Avenue is recognizable as a burial ground, a large portion near the rear of the cemetery, bordering Liberty Avenue, is a jumble of un-pruned trees, weeds and tilted headstones.

Stephen Axinn, the synagogue’s lawyer, contends that the congregation owns only a fraction of the 12-acre site.

“The synagogue doesn’t own 90 percent of the land in the cemetery,” Axinn reportedly said. “The property that’s inside that cemetery was sold off from 50 to 125 years ago to burial societies,” he explained.

“But those burial societies, which came from various towns and villages, are now kaput,” Axinn insisted.

Lucker disagrees; the suit accuses the synagogue of using money intended for the perpetual care of the graves to make structural repairs to its building. “The fees for perpetual care were set by the synagogue and should have been properly accounted to arrive at enough income to provide for the cemetery,” he reportedly said, after going to court last September.

In May, his attorney, Michael Buchman, accepted a suggestion by Judge Raymond Dearie that the suit be postponed, in view of an offer by unidentified benefactor to perform a “one-time cleanup” of the overgrowth.

In court, Axinn had claimed that “One of the leading owners” of the city’s Jewish cemeteries volunteered to put his personnel and his equipment to work on the cleanup.

“But he would not set foot in the cemetery or take any steps to assist us so long as this litigation is pending because he feared that he would somehow be brought into the case,” Axinn said, before agreeing to contract for the cleanup by August 15.

“No physical dent to improve the cemetery’s condition has been made at all,” Buchman told the court in a letter requesting the lawsuit go back on the court docket.

According to Buchman, Lukin toured the cemetery and found bags of rotting garbage among the headstones, before going back to court.

“Despite various indications by defendants that corrective action would be taken, nothing of any significance has been done to rectify the squalid conditions at the cemetery,” Buchman wrote the court. “It is now time to act and achieve results, he reportedly said.

In 2003, six funeral directors and several hundred volunteers, mostly Mormons, spent four days hacking away at the overgrowth and debris covering many of the graves.

Though the funeral directors reportedly “continued to work on the grounds for months after,” the volunteers left, many reportedly saying “they sensed a lack of interest from Congregation Shaare Zedek.”

Neil Leventhal, a 34-year-old filmmaker from Los Angeles, who recorded the 2003 cleanup reportedly returned to the cemetery last month.

According to a published report, he found the grave of his grandmother, Ethel Leventhal and great-grandmother, Emma Stoloff, barely visible amid the weeds and the gate to the family plot missing.

The cemetery’s groundskeeper, Bob Martorano, was reportedly at the cemetery when Leventhal visited and is said to have declared that the cemetery had no equipment, not even a lawn mower, to clean up the property.

The congregation reportedly secured a $145,000 grant from the United Jewish Appeal for cleanup costs, and has created a nonprofit corporation to raise funds to maintain the cemetery in the future.

Axinn reportedly acknowledged that the cleanup has not begun, but insisted that progress is being made to improve the cemetery for the long term, claiming in a published report that the grant, “Would merely cover weeding, mowing and minor repairs - and in six months, the cemetery would look like there had been no cleanup at all.”

Tower Expansion Gets Approval From C.B. 10 by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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Community residents’ complaints about the height of an 82-foot wireless communication tower in the Mokom Sholom section of Ozone Park’s Bayside Cemetery seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Not only will the tower remain standing, soon it will soar in the air 12 feet higher, thanks to Community Board 10’s approval of a request to expand it.

The board’s vote came after a presentation from attorney Robert Gaudioso, who represented Northrop Grumman Information Technologies, the company seeking a variance to permit the 82-foot structure to grow to 94 feet. Gaudioso explained that the extension to the tower’s height was necessary to accommodate the New York City Wireless Network.

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a five-year, $500 million New York City broadband mobile wireless contract by the City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to construct and maintain the NYCWiN.

According to the company, NYCWiN will enhance the city’s existing mobile wireless communications network with high-speed data and video capabilities, and deploy several new, advanced wireless applications to support first responders and transportation personnel.

The wireless network is solely dedicated to city use — not just for public safety, but for public service as well.

DoITT Commissioner Paul Cosgrave said NYCWiN will provide emergency responders with quick access to critical information in the field, enabling them to better protect the city and its residents.

In recent testimony before the City Council, Cosgrave explained that the network will enable police officers to access real-time photo, warrant and license plate databases for the identification of suspects in criminal investigations. It will also enhance access to the NYPD Real Time Crime Center.

In addition, mobile cameras can operate on the network and be tied back to existing command centers. NYCWiN can also support wireless emergency call boxes for the public to summon emergency responders when needed.

Cosgrave also told the committee that through NYCWiN, the Fire Department will be able to establish reliable wireless connectivity between its Operations Center and responders in the field. It will have the capacity to transmit on-scene data and full-motion streaming video and provide remote access to operating procedures, maps and other geographic information.

Another type of application that is supported by the network is Automatic Vehicle Location technology which has contributed to decreasing ambulance response time. The network will further enhance AVL by providing real-time map and database updates.

DoITT is currently working with the Department of Education to explore the use of AVL technology in city school buses to help measure on-time performance and keep track of the fleet.

As part of NYCWiN, the Department of Environmental Protection is coordinating a citywide rollout of an automated meter reading system, and the Department of Transportation is utilizing the network to enable its Wireless Traffic Signal Control program.

This will expand the city’s ability to remotely monitor and program traffic signal controls both on a daily basis and during emergency events.

“When complete, this system will provide robust, reliable and resilient data communications, enhancing coordination and ensuring that critical information reaches our mobile workforce,” Cosgrave said.

Walking Tour of Highland Park and Ridgewood Reservoir with Members of The George Walker, Jr. Community Coalition on June 5th...

On June 5th, my friend Sam Franqui and I accompanied Salema Davis, President and Carolyn Walker-Diallo, Vice President of The George Walker, Jr. Community Coalition, Inc. on a walk around Highland Park and the Ridgewood Reservoir.

The George Walker, Jr. Community Coalition, Inc. (GWJrCC) is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to assist in community rehabilitation and neighborhood renewal in the East New York and Cypress Hills area by providing programs on and around the George Walker, Jr. playground (map) which is located on Wyona and Vermont Streets between Jamaica Avenue and Fulton Street.

Ms. Walker recently sent me an email, which stated: “We are interested in creating an environment program to teach our neighborhood youth the importance of preserving the environment, including our natural local landscapes. As I have lived in the East New York/Cypress Hills Community all of my life, I am aware of the importance of preserving the reservoir and would love to speak with you about creating a program centered around the reservoir.”

We spent over four hours thoroughly exploring the Ridgewood Reservoir, and the entire Highland Park area. They were also impressed by the history of the location, as exhibited by the stone bridge, it's proximity to Cypress Hills National Cemetery, it's being the source of all the drinking water for the then City of Brooklyn by the Brooklyn Water Works facility and the former gate houses.

I think it is safe to say that both Ms. Davis and Ms. Walker came away from our walking tour awed by the natural beauty and tranquility of the park and the reservoir.

During our long walk we encountered many bird species including a male Northern Cardinal and a pair of Baltimore Oriole, in their full spring plumage. (Photos from the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology - All About Birds)

We talked extensively about the potential of using the park and the reservoir as a learning tool for our area youth to see, hear and experience nature without the need to travel long distances from their homes. This would be an excellent opportunity for local student to get a step up on the “green-collared” job of the future to be prepared for the economy of the future.

We also happened upon a large Common Snapping Turtle while walking the bicycle path around the Reservoir.

The Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is a large freshwater turtle, which is common to the eastern United States.

The turtle was probably seeking a safe place to lay it's eggs, since this species mates from April through November, with their peak laying season in June and July.

Snappers will travel extensively overland to reach new habitat or to lay eggs. Pollution, habitat destruction, food scarcity, overcrowding and other factors will drive snappers to move overland; it is quite common to find them traveling far from the nearest water source.

All in all, I felt it was a wonderful day spent in the outdoors with like-minded civic people with a common goal for our community. I look forward to working in the future with the GWJrCC to help local youth to better understand their environment, the history of their area and most importantly their place among it all.

Cell Phone Tower Draws Community Angst by Stephen J. Bronner and Tonia N. Cimino- Queens Courier

Update on article: On June 5th Community Board 10 voted unanimously to approve the new tower...


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Margaret Diaz moved into her home on Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park just two years ago, but she is ready to move.

That’s because of the 82-foot-high cell phone tower erected late last month directly across the street from the house she rents.

“They said they sent out notices, but they didn’t,” said Diaz. “They didn’t notify anyone. I’m going to be moving out with this thing here.”

The tower, currently in use by T-Mobile, stands on land owned by the Mokom Sholom Cemetery. The owners of the cemetery, who authorized the use of its space, could not be reached for comment.

The city commissioned construction of a 10-foot extension to the tower, which will be used as part of the New York City Wireless Network (NYCWiN). NYCWiN is a high-speed information system designed to give the “city’s emergency responders high-speed data access to support large file transfers, fingerprints, mug shots, city maps, and full-motion, streaming video; and will also support a host of other public service applications,” according to the web site for the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT).

A spokesperson for DoITT said that they have contacted Borough President Helen Marshall and City Councilmember Joseph Addabbo for approval.

“T-Mobile believes that Ozone Park residents deserve the peace of mind that comes with expanded wireless coverage - the ease of staying connected to the important people in their lives, and to improved access to emergency services,” said Jane Builder, Senior Manager for External Affairs for T-Mobile.

“ . . . Our new installation at 80-35 Pitkin Avenue will allow area residents to benefit from enhanced wireless coverage. We believe that this location represents the optimal balance between the needs of wireless users and the concerns of residents - many of whom are wireless customers today.”

Builder continued, “The wireless industry is closely regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which sets rigorous science-based guidelines and exacting standards designed to ensure the protection of residents’ health and safety. T-Mobile antennas operate well within national safety guidelines established by the FCC.”

Two of Diaz’ neighbors said they had not received prior notice of the construction. Daniel Rios, however, said he received a notice in the mail. “They asked if I had any objections, and they were going to have a meeting about it,” said Rios, who said he has lived at his house on Pitkin Avenue for 40 years. “I knew way before it was up.”

Betty Braton, chair of Community Board 10, told The Courier that the application for the tower had been submitted about a year ago, and that it had been previously approved by the city.

It came before the Community Board and was approved with the condition that it be shorter than the originally proposed height of 90 feet, she said.

“It’s a balancing act between the system the city requires for public safety and everyone [else],” said Braton. “Eighty-two feet makes for a pretty big pole.”

Diaz said she feared that the tower could pose a danger to public health, but a technician on site said that unless someone is high above the ground - near the top of the tower - it poses no threat.

“Radiofrequency emissions from antennas used for wireless transmissions such as cellular and personal communication systems signals result in exposure levels on the ground that are typically thousands of times less than safety limits,” wrote the Health Physics Society on their web site. “Therefore, there is no reason to believe that such towers could constitute a potential health hazard to nearby residents or students.”

The issue will be on the agenda at the next meeting of Community Board 10 on Thursday, June 5.

Cemetery Cleanup Countdown by Julie Wiener - The New York Jewish Week

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I would urge interested parties and individuals, local neighborhood and civic associations to assist with this clean up...

Anyone interested please contact me as I have reached out to the appropriate parties in an effort to make this happen...

I'd like to note that I have lived in Ozone Park for over 40 years and this cemetery has been in disrepair, neglected and vandalized for longer than I care to remember...

The photos for this posting are from an EyeMaze blog post entitled "The Journey" (click on photos to enlarge)...

Congregation must restore decrepit burial ground by High Holidays or face renewed litigation; new nonprofit to oversee abandoned graveyards.

Can Bayside Cemetery, the long-neglected Jewish burial ground, turn itself around in time for the High Holy Days?

That’s what officials with Shaare Zedek, the Upper West Side congregation that owns the 35,000-plot Ozone Park, Queens cemetery, are hoping.

A class-action lawsuit against Shaare Zedek and the historic cemetery — in which plaintiffs accused them of, among other things, breach of contract and improperly diverting money from the cemetery perpetual care fund — has been administratively closed until Sept. 26. The recent “tolling agreement” between the plaintiffs and defendants is to give the defendants time to clean up the cemetery and develop a long-term plan for its ongoing maintenance.

Established in the 1840s, Bayside Cemetery is riddled with overgrown weeds, fallen branches, toppled-over gravestones and vandalized mausoleums. Indeed, many sections of the cemetery are so overgrown that they are completely inaccessible, and large swaths look more like a rainforest than a burial ground.

Five years ago a group of Mormon volunteers launched a major cleanup effort there, but the cemetery has since returned to its previous, unkempt state.

If the plaintiffs, who are descendants of people buried at Bayside Cemetery, remain dissatisfied with the cemetery’s condition at the end of the tolling period, they have the right to immediately resume the litigation with an expedited schedule, according to assurances given by Judge Raymond Dearie in a March 28 pre-motion conference. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.

“Our hope is that we can make substantial progress toward cleaning this thing up,” Stephen Axinn, Shaare Zedek’s attorney, told The Jewish Week. In the next few months, Shaare Zedek will oversee a major cleanup effort of the cemetery, he said. Axinn said a “righteous individual” who has experience managing Jewish cemeteries, but asked not to be publicly identified for fear of becoming ensnared in the lawsuit, has volunteered his “manpower and expertise” to clean Bayside. A $140,000 grant from UJA-Federation will defray his expenses.

In addition, Axinn said, Shaare Zedek is working with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and other Jewish federation agencies to establish a nonprofit organization called the Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries (CAJAC) that will raise funds for and assume responsibility for maintaining Bayside and other neglected Jewish cemeteries.

CAJAC was on the verge of hiring an executive director last fall, Axinn said, but its progress has been stymied by the class-action lawsuit filed in September, which apparently caused several interested job candidates to “shy away.”

In an e-mail statement, David Pollock, associate executive director of the JCRC, echoed Axinn’s assertion that the lawsuit had slowed momentum on CAJAC and the cemetery cleanup, saying, “the litigation had a chilling effect.”

“The current agreement gives the parties an opportunity to recreate the previous momentum. It will be a difficult challenge but everyone will do their best.”

Shaare Zedek has long contended that it lacks the resources to care for Bayside and that, because the majority of its plots were sold to now-defunct Jewish burial societies rather than congregants, responsibility for its care lies with the larger Jewish community, not the shul.

John Lucker, one of the plaintiffs, and the grandson of two people buried at Bayside, said he hopes Shaare Zedek and Bayside use the legal reprieve “to perform not just a onetime temporary Band-Aid fix to the problem.”

In addition to developing a long-term, viable plan for maintaining the cemetery, it is essential, said Lucker, “that the synagogue and the cemetery restore and create a financial endowment trust necessary to fulfill their perpetual care obligations.”

“Time will tell what the synagogue and cemetery are able to accomplish during this brief pause,” he said.

Cemetery Woes to Be Weeded Out by John Marzulli - NY Daily News

Cemetery woes to be weeded out

The operator of Bayside Cemetery in Ozone Park may have found a savior to drive out the weeds and overgrown foliage plaguing the Jewish burial grounds.

But a lawyer who filed a federal lawsuit last year against the operator, Congregation Shaare Zedek in Manhattan, is skeptical that sufficient funds are in place to maintain the cemetery beyond a one-shot cleanup.

"We have agreed to give Congregation Shaare Zedek one last opportunity to remedy the serious and longstanding problems at Bayside Cemetery," said attorney Michael Buchman, who represents a Connecticut man whose grandparents are buried there.

"We trust they will timely address the issues, but we are not optimistic given the disrespectful and neglectful manner in which they have historically maintained the cemetery," he added.

Federal Judge Raymond Dearie urged the parties to resolve the problem to avoid costly litigation. The suit accuses the congregation of breach of contract for failing to maintain perpetual care of the cemetery on Pitkin Ave.

According to a document filed in Brooklyn Federal Court on May 2, both sides have agreed to a stay of the suit until August, when the cleanup should be completed.

Congregation attorney Stephen Axinn declined to comment yesterday, but he described the plan in detail for Dearie last month.

"One of the leading owners of Jewish cemeteries in the City of New York volunteered that he would put his personnel and his equipment into Bayside Cemetery to begin the cleanup of this very, very large project," Axinn said, according to a court transcript.

"But he would not set foot in the cemetery or take any steps to assist us so long as this litigation is pending because he feared that he would somehow be brought into the case," Axinn said.

The Daily News is withholding the name of the benefactor, who wants to remain anonymous.

The cemetery has obtained a $140,000 grant from United Jewish Appeal for the cleanup costs and also created a nonprofit corporation to raise funds to maintain the cemetery in the future.

jmarzulli@nydailynews.com

the journey...Visit Mokem Sholom Cemetary in Ozone Park, NY with Eyemaze...

Eyemaze visits Mokem Sholom Cemetary in Ozone Park...

Spent the day out in Ozone Park at a cemetary I saw from the subway a few weeks ago. I didn't think places like this existed in NY! It was really hard to edit down and wish I could show them all...


the journey...view more photos...

Maple Grove Cemetary Spring Walking Tour with Authors and Historians Nancy Cataldi & Carl Ballenas - April 12 - 2pm - Free

Other Richmond Hill Historical Society upcoming events...

April 18th - Open Meeting 7:30 pm - Church of the Resurrection
Queens Noir - Authors discuss their book, an anthology of mystery stories set in various Queens locations...

May 31st - Victorian Tea at Forest Park - 2:00 pm

Cemetery Has a Mob of Mafiosi by Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad NY Daily News

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Salvatore D'Aquila's 1928 gravestone rests in a crowded part of St. John's Cemetery. D'Aquila was an early boss of what would become the Gambino family.

Far from the unpredictable and dangerous life of the mob, more than 20 infamous gangsters rest beneath majestic tombstones or lie in glimmering vaults in the vast stillness of St. John's Cemetery in Middle Village.

The likes of Joseph Profaci, Joe Colombo, John Dioguardi and most recently, John Gotti, share a resting place here.

Families of the deceased mobsters often choose to have their loved ones buried there, according to Frank DeRosa, spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens.

"Cemeteries are close to where families reside," he said. "So they have easy access."

A majority of the mobsters were born in New York or became residents here, so they are buried near their homes with extended family, according to Beth Santore, Webmaster of the Grave Addiction Web site, which posts photos of cemeteries.

"Many of the mobsters buried at St. John's Cemetery are Italian, and most were raised Roman Catholic," she said. "I'm sure that was probably what started the tradition of being buried in the St. John's Catholic Cemetery."

The mobsters may be resting side-by-side now, but the big bosses didn't always get along while alive.

Salvatore Luciano, better known as Charles "Lucky" Luciano, considered the father of organized crime, ordered the murder of Salvatore Maranzano, another early Mafia boss, in 1931. Luciano died in 1962 from a heart attack. Their graves are in the same section of the 130-year-old cemetery, with Luciano resting in an imposing cubical stone room, while Maranzano's grave features a simple tombstone with an engraved cross.

"You'll even find that there is competition amongst rivals in cemeteries," Santore said.

The large number of mafiosi resting in one spot may concern others who have loved ones buried at the cemetery. But cemeteries might not have a choice, said Jim Tipton, founder of the Find a Grave Web site, which lists millions of grave records for celebrities and non-celebs alike, including those of the mobsters interred at St. John's Cemetery.

"If you buy property in a cemetery, it doesn't matter who you are," Tipton said. "Plots are often purchased long before people are known as gangsters."

Queens Chronicle: Advocates Work To Put Life Back Into A Graveyard by Theresa Juva...

Additional info: Prospect Cemetery Association

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The symphony of buzzing insects and warbling birds is the soundtrack to the story of Prospect Cemetery. Founded in 1668, the 4.5-acre graveyard in Jamaica is the final resting place of the borough’s most famous families.

But today, the memory of the Van Wycks, Sutphins and Merricks and Revolutionary War veterans have disappeared underneath thick and thorny vegetation that has become an overgrown manifestation of time and neglect.

“I’ve shed enough tears over this to float a battleship,” said Cate Ludlam, whose ancestors are buried in Prospect, which is located on the York College campus.

In the mid-1980s, Ludlam was contacted by a local resident who discovered the famous headstones while rescuing puppies in the wild brush. Ludlam soon learned her relatives were not only buried in Prospect, but that the chapel located on the grounds –– ohe Chapel of the Sisters Ж was built by her ancestor, Nicholas Ludlam, after his three young daughters died.

Interested in revitalizing the site, Ludlam reached out to other descendants and re-organized the Prospect Cemetery Association, a group of descendants that was originally given responsibility of the site, but disintegrated in the years after it was formed in 1879.

The response was lukewarm, and membership dwindled; in 1996, Ludlam pulled weeds and raked the grounds in an effort to restore it herself –– until the monsters of poison ivy and tall grass eventually reclaimed it.

Focus shifted to the chapel where cooperation among the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, the Landmarks Conservancy and the Prospect Cemetery Association led to a movement to save the designated city landmark, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

By 2002, fundraising efforts began for the renovation of the chapel, which had sat vacant for years.

The groups secured more than $600,000 from state and national preservation funds and Borough President Helen Marshall’s Office. The project will revamp the interior of the chapel, including the floors, and plumbing, heating and electrical systems. An additional $399,000 was spent on the overall site and a pedestrian walkway was built on 159th street in front of the chapel linking the college campus to the Long Island Rail Road. A sturdy exterior fence was also installed to keep vandals away.

In April, ground was broken on the chapel improvements and is expected to be completed by the beginning of next year.

Karen Ansis, a member of the Prospect Cemetery Association and the Landmarks Conservancy, has been working on gaining funds for the cemetery. In June, she applied for a $500,000 state grant that is set aside for properties on the national registry.

She said the overhaul will cost $1.1 million and the complexity of the problem –– damaged tombstones and vegetation unearthing markers or completely obliterating them Ж makes the restoration especially costly and difficult, much like an archaeological dig, she explained.

She noted the group will seek the additional $600,000 from private donors and local elected officials.

Ludlam said restoring the graveyard is the last piece in the project to make the site a community epicenter.

“The grounds are the history,” she said. “This is the history of Jamaica. This is the history of the United States. This is what freedom is all about.”

She said she wants visitors to someday be able to wander the graveyard and be enthralled with the stories that lay in it.

“I’m very optimistic,” she said of the possibility the graveyard will eventually be filled with life. “I feel failure is not an option.”

©Queens Chronicle 2007