The last few installments of Sirens have heavily featured New York’s Washington Square Park and its iconic arch. If you’re wondering why we chose this particular set piece, there are a few reasons, and one may be a little surprising. Yes, it’s a famous New York landmark. And yes, the park is a notable teen hangout. It’s even the park I played in as a child in the 80s when it was not particularly pretty or safe (it was mostly rough concrete and drug dealers, if we’re being honest).
But what most people don’t know is, there are about 20,000 bodies buried under Washington Square. The park was built on top of a potter’s field back in the late 1800s, and the bodies were left there. It sounds wild, right? And you might think it’s some type of urban legend. But no, you can read all about it in this article from the New York Public Library or on the park’s very own site. Obviously, a haunted park seemed like a fitting place for our supernatural teens to find each other.
But it’s also just a general interest of ours, if I’m being honest. You learn a lot about a culture by how they treat their dead. And you learn about the history of a place, about its people, by visiting their cemeteries. We travel a fair amount, and we always try to visit some type of burial ground everywhere we go. Maybe it’s creepy, but we find it incredibly informative. Want to see some of our favorites?
And, bringing us back home to NYC, I may be a little biased, but the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn is perhaps unrivaled. They have an incredible education and entertainment program, and put on spectacular holiday events that respect and embrace the grounds. One of the most interesting things they do is make a cider from the apples of the trees that grow in the cemetery. (Yes, we’ve had it. And it’s delightful.)
And thus concludes our spooky cemetery tour. Make sure to join us for more future adventures!
