Green-Wood Cemetery has provided much needed green space
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rhododendrites/Wikimedia Commons
Very grave
circumstances
Green-Wood Cemetery may
close due to rule breakers
COURIER LIFE, MAY 8-14, 2020 3
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
blooms behind closed gates
BY ROSE ADAMS
As businesses remain shuttered
and Brooklynites continue
to shelter indoors, spring
is in full bloom at the Brooklyn
Botanic Garden, where azaleas,
tulips, and lilacs burst
behind closed doors.
Ever since the garden
closed on March 17 in an effort
to help stop the spread of the
novel coronavirus, a series of
small, rotating teams of essential
staff have continued tending
to the garden’s 52 acres —
becoming the sole witnesses of
the blossoming plants’ beauty.
Now, dozens of fl owers are
in bloom, including peonies,
lilacs, and wisteria.
The closure has forced the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden to
cancel its springtime events
through June, including
Sakura Matsuri — the Japanese
cherry blossom festival
in late April — as well as the
annual benefi t Plant Sale, the
Greenest Block in Brooklyn
Contest, its members-only Rose
Night, and all of its classes.
However, the garden has
moved many of its programs
online, and now offers a series
of virtual garden tours,
performance highlights from
past Sakura Matsuri festivals,
and a list of blooming plants
updated daily. Green thumbs
can also fi nd useful gardening
tips and projects for gardeners
of all ages posted to the site.
A spokeswoman for the
garden said that reopening
is “a moving target,” but offi -
cials hope to reopen the garden
by July 1.
“We hope to reopen July 1,
and if we are allowed and able
to safely open sooner, we will,”
says the garden’s website.
BY BEN VERDE
Managers of Green-Wood
Cemetery are threatening
to close the gates of the
borough’s biggest burial
site because bad-behaving
Brooklynites looking
for open space have been
breaking rules on the
grounds, said the cemetery’s
president.
“The conduct of a small
percentage of our visitors
has created an unacceptable
situation,” wrote
Richard Moylan in an
email to supporters. “If
things don’t change we
may be left with no choice
but to close our gates as
many other cemeteries
have done.”
The 182-year-old National
Historic Landmark
has served as a refuge to
cooped up Brooklynites
since New York State instituted
a stay-at-home order
to slow the spread of the
novel coronavirus — yet
visitors had been flouting
the rules by riding bikes,
walking dogs, climbing
trees, and taking flowers
off of gravestones.
“None of these actions
is appropriate or permitted,”
said Moylan.
To help make the space
more easily accessible, the
burial ground — which
spreads through Green-
Wood Heights, Sunset
Park, Windsor Terrace,
Kensington, and Borough
Park — had gone so far as
to open up its Kensingtonadjacent
gates to provide
access to those who live
far from the normal Fifth
Avenue entrance.
Yet, Moylan says, some
visitors have abused the
space and disrupted the
“connection to nature”
that the cemetery aims to
provide.
“Green-Wood is a cemetery.
It is an arboretum,
and a place of tranquility,”
Moylan wrote. “It is
not a place of recreation.”
With weather this
weekend projected to
reach the 70’s, Green-
Wood is expecting crowds
once again and will be
deploying volunteers as
cemetery ambassadors to
make sure rules are followed.
If they continue to
be flaunted, the gates may
be closed for an indefinite
period of time, graveyard
officials said.
“Our rules are clear on
what is allowed and what
is not,” said Moylan.
COVID-19 fallout
as locals seek the outdoors