The Graves of Calvary Cemetery

By JACOB BARNES

In the shadow of the Kosciuszko Bridge, you’ll find more than greenspace and fun times—just across Newtown Creek, in Queens County, is the largest cemetery in New York City: Old Calvary Cemetery. More dead people than living people can be found in the city’s most populous borough; Calvary alone has nearly three million burials.

Calvary Cemetery has its own rich and fascinating backstory, tied firmly to the history of New York City’s impoverished Italian, Irish and German immigrants. Its age makes it a glorious showcase of some of the most beautifully carved tombstones and mausolea to be found in the state, alongside its large number of celebrities and notables interred there.

In the words of local Newtown Creek historian Mitch Waxman, the tale of Old Calvary is one of pe