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Bayside Cemetery

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Coordinates: 40°40′39″N 73°51′18″W / 40.67750°N 73.85500°W / 40.67750; -73.85500
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Bayside Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1865
Location
80-35 Pitkin Avenue, Ozone Park, Queens, New York City
CountryUSA
TypeJewish
Owned byCongregation Shaare Zedek
Size12 acres (49,000 m2)[1][2]
No. of graves35,000[1][2]
Find a GraveBayside Cemetery
The Political GraveyardBayside Cemetery
A gateway in Acacia Cemetery erected by a synagogue located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Bayside Cemetery is a cemetery located at 80-35 Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. It covers about 12 acres, and has had about 35,000 burials.[1] It is bordered on the east by Acacia Cemetery, on the north by Liberty Avenue, on the west by Mokom Sholom Cemetery, and on the south by Pitkin Avenue.

Bayside was established by Congregation Shaare Zedek when the latter was an Orthodox Jewish synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Shaare Zedek still owns Bayside Cemetery and is currently a Conservative synagogue located on the Upper West Side, about ten miles away. The cemetery is reachable via public transportation by taking the IND Fulton Street Line A train to either the 80th Street station and walking west on Liberty Avenue around Mokom Sholom Cemetery to Pitkin Avenue, or to the 88th Street station and walking east on Liberty Avenue around Acacia Cemetery to Pitkin Avenue.

History

Bayside was founded in 1865, making it one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in New York City that is still active. Among those buried there are military veterans from the Civil War and a victim of the sinking of the Titanic.

Decline

Starting around the middle of the 20th century and extending over several decades, Bayside Cemetery fell into extensive disrepair, through both numerous episodes of vandalism[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and steady neglect.[14] During a portion of this time, by the 1980s, its owner Shaare Zedek was "essentially defunct," with no rabbi and irregular services.[14]

A volunteer cleanup was organized in 2003,[15] but it lasted only four days, and did not result in the sustained effort that was needed to cut and substantially remove the decades of overgrowth of trees, bushes, vines, and other vegetation. Shaare Zedek did not participate.[1]

A lawsuit was initiated in 2007 attempting to force Shaare Zedek to assume responsibility for the poor condition of Bayside, and claimed that Shaare Zedek used funds that were given for perpetual care of graves at Bayside for other purposes, such repairing the roof of the synagogue.[16] In a newspaper interview, a lawyer for Shaare Zedek claimed that the synagogue was not responsible for maintaining the cemetery and that it did not own 90% of it.[1] As of January 2016, an appeal of the lawsuit is still ongoing.[17]

Restoration

During the past several years, CAJAC, The Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries, coordinated a major project to restore and maintain Bayside Cemetery. CAJAC was established as a non-profit organization to rescue and maintain Jewish cemeteries, and hired MC Landscaping to perform the major cleanup at Bayside. Volunteers have complemented the professional efforts.[2] The initial cleanup was set to be completed by November 2009, but took substantially longer than expected and was finished in 2012.[18] Since then, Anthony Pisciotta has volunteered his equipment, time, and skills to repair and seal many of the damaged mausoleums and reset many of the downed grave markers.[19]

Notable burials

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wilner, Anne (August 15, 2008). "Weeds Among the Graves, and Dismay Among the Survivors". New York Times. p. CY6. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Shapiro, Sorah (October 11, 2003). "Reclaiming Bayside Cemetery - In the 1865 Jewish graveyard, a diverse group of volunteers fights the insults of man and nature". New York Newsday. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Vandals In Cemeteries - Damages Estimated at $40,000 in Ozone Park". New York Times. February 19, 1951. p. 25. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Vandalism Is on the Increase in City's Cemeteries". New York Times. December 18, 1973. p. 45. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  5. ^ Spiegel, Irving (August 27, 1976). "Suspect, 19, Arrested in Thefts Of Bronze Doors From Cemetery". New York Times. p. B2. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Vandals Again Desecrate Jewish Cemetery". New York Times. June 4, 1977. p. 23. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Vandals Topple 50 Headstones in Queens Cemetery". New York Times. April 5, 1994. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Vandals Again Hit A Jewish Cemetery". New York Times. April 14, 1994. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  9. ^ LeDuff, Charliie (November 24, 1996). "3 Cemeteries Are Haunted By Vandals". New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  10. ^ Onishi, Norimitsu (June 9, 1997). "A Cemetery In Queens Hit By Vandals". New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  11. ^ Haberman, Clyde (June 13, 1997). "An Affront To the Dead, And the Living". New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  12. ^ Weir, Richard (March 1, 1998). "Neighborhood Report: South Ozone Park - Mausoleum Vandalism Hits Old Jewish Cemetery Again". New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. ^ Weiner, Julie (January 16, 2003). "Vandals Strike Queens Cemetery". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  14. ^ a b Wiener, Julie (October 17, 2002). "The Cemetery Nobody Wants". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  15. ^ O'Grady, Jim (June 8, 2003). "Neighborhood Report: Ozone Park; For a Cleanup at a Jewish Cemetery, Thanks, Amid an Old Worry". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  16. ^ "Litigation Against Congregation Shaare Zedek" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Bayside Cemetery Litigation". Archived from the original on 2012-09-02. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Weiner, Julie (July 2, 2012). "Bayside Cemetery Spruced Up, But Many Questions Linger". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  19. ^ "A Cemetery's Righteous Gentile". The Jewish Week. July 2, 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  20. ^ "George Rosenshine at Find A Grave". findagrave.com. Find A Grave. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  21. ^ Stone, Kurt F. The Jews of Capitol Hill - A Compendium of Jewish Congressional Members. Lanham, Maryland. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8108-5731-5. Retrieved 7 January 2016. {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)
  22. ^ "Harry Wolff - Known in the Theatre Business as Harry Lorraine, Booking Agent". New York Times. August 22, 1934. p. 17. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bayside Acacia Cemetery.

40°40′39″N 73°51′18″W / 40.67750°N 73.85500°W / 40.67750; -73.85500

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