Real Estate
Your ‘forever home’ right in a garden
BY MARTHA WILKIE
For an affordable (for the East
Village) $350,000, you can buy
a place and never have to move
again. The catch? It’s a marble burial
vault located beneath 3 feet of soil.
New York Marble Cemetery (not to
be confused with the New York City-
Marble Cemetery nearby) is a private
cemetery founded in 1831. Epidemics
prompted the city to ban burials below
14th St., and the vaults were offered as
a safe alternative.
Descendants of the original owners
are entitled to be interred there,
although the last one was in 1937
(check the Web site for your ancestors).
Because of the complex ownership
scheme, legally, the cemetery couldn’t
be relocated and will be there for eternity.
For the fi rst time in decades, the
nonprofi t cemetery association is offering
two vaults for sale. It wasn’t an
easy process. Caroline DuBois, the association’s
president, is a direct descendant
of Cornelius DuBois, an original
owner.
“In order to reclaim a vault, it had to
be empty,” she explained. “It was the
style of the day to move remains when
a family relocated. We had to research
the genealogy and prove there were no
possible heirs, post legal notices, and,
fi nally, get permission from the State of
Picnicking in New York Marble Cemetery.
New York.”
The cemetery is a landscaped, walled
garden hidden behind a locked gate. No
headstones, but worn stone plaques line
the masonry walls. Since the vaults are
sealed, a loved one could be interred
wrapped in a shroud or in a wicker
basket.
DuBois is passionate about the cemetery’s
history. She plans to join her
forebears someday.
“I’ll be the fi fth generation in our
vault,” she declared.
The garden may be rented for events
—but requests for morbid gatherings
like a midnight vampire party will be
politely turned down. Weddings are
popular.
“Often the mother-in-law objects,
but once she sees the garden in person,
she’s charmed,” DuBois said.
The public is invited to visit this
“little garden in a big city” on “Open
Gate Days”; the next one is Sun., June
30. For more information, visit MarbleCemetery.
org.
If you’re not shopping for a vault,
perhaps you might be interested in
some of these offerings:
A rental studio looking for a tenant
boasts generous outdoor space — a
roof deck and patio perfect for summer
drinks with friends. $2,150.
(Brownstoner.com/listing/CITIHABITATS
1976007/east-village-ny-
10003)
A furnished two-bedroom, one-bath
rental features an ornamental fi replace.
$3,000.
(Brownstoner.com/ list ing/NT-
2721530/120-e-10th-st-2-east-villageny
10003)
An attractive one-bedroom, one-bath
with exposed brick and an eat-in-kitchen
is on the market for $565,000
(Brownstoner.com/listing/URBANCOMPASS
91112052063476433/327-
e-3rd-st-east-village-ny-10009/)
A bright one-bedroom, one-bath,
with furnished roof deck, dazzles with
Chrysler Building views. $600,000.
(Brownstoner.com/listing/NYCReal
Estate-523797/121-e-10th-st-eastvillage
ny-10003/)
L.E.S. lottery for affordable senior housing
BY GABE HERMAN
The city opened its affordable
housing lottery on June 19 for
apartments at 140 Essex St., a
building that is part of the Essex Crossing
development and that will be exclusively
for low-income seniors.
The Lower East Side building will
be on Essex St. between Rivington
and Stanton Sts. Scheduled to open in
2020, it will have 92 total units.
Eighty-four of the units will be studio
apartments available through the
lottery, starting at $331 per month. The
other eight units will be earmarked for
formerly homeless seniors.
The studio units are open to senior
households making between zero and
60 percent of area median income, or
individuals earning up to $40,000 per
year.
There will be a 50 percent preference
for residents within Manhattan’s
Community Board 3. In turn, half of
those units will be prioritized for former
A rendering of 140 Essex Street.
residents of the Seward Park Urban
Renewal Area a.k.a. SPURA.
People can apply online at nyc.gov/
housingconnect, where more information
can be found on the available
apartments and income requirements.
An application can also be requested
by mail, by sending a self-addressed
COURTESY BEYER BLINDER BELLE
envelope to: Essex Crossing Site 8/Triborough
Finance New Station, P.O. Box
2011, NY, NY, 10035-9997. Applications
should either be submitted online
or postmarked no later than Aug. 20.
“It’s incredibly meaningful that the
fi rst building to open as part of Essex
Crossing’s second phase will provide
housing exclusively for low-income
seniors — an increasingly critical
resource on the Lower East Side,”
said Don Capoccia, principal at BFC
Partners, which is a developer of Essex
Crossing. “We’re proud to work
with the city to make affordable senior
housing services a top priority at Essex
Crossing.”
Residents of 140 Essex will all have
access to a senior center a few blocks
away at 175 Delancey St., which
opened last year at Essex Crossing’s
Frances Goldin Senior Apartments.
The ground fl oor of 140 Essex will also
have 9,600 square feet of retail space
when it opens.
There was an information session
about the available units at 140 Essex
St. hosted by Delancey Street Associates,
another developer of Essex Crossing,
on Wed., June 26, at 175 Delancey
St., in the Grand Street Settlement’s
community room.
30 June 27, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
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