At Sunset Park’s northern border is the beautiful Green-Wood Cemetery. Opened in 1838, it was the city’s first rural cemetery and its first great park (Central and Prospect Parks would not be built until later in the century). People from all over the city travelled to enjoy its lush surroundings, putting this rural neighborhood on the map before any major development took place here. The cemetery extends from 20th Hamilton Parkway to Fourth Avenue, encompassing 478 acres in the heart of Brooklyn. Its rolling hills, specimen trees, ponds and beautiful grave sites continue to draw visitors. The entire site is a National Historic Landmark.

The cemetery is home to the highest topographical point in Brooklyn, roughly 200 feet above sea level. This is a site in the Battle of Brooklyn, which took place on August 27, 1776, America’s first battle after signing the Declaration of Independence. A bronze statue entitled Altar to Liberty: Minerva by Frederick Ruckstull was erected on the site in 1920, in commemoration of the battle. Minerva’s arm is outstretched toward the Statue of Liberty across New York Harbor.

In addition to the cemetery’s lavish mausoleums and memorials, other architectural marvels include the cemetery gates and chapel, which are both designated New York City landmarks. The brownstone gates were designed in the Gothic Revival style in 1861 by Richard Upjohn, the famed church architect who is best known for designing Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. The chapel was constructed in 1911 after designs by Warren and Wetmore, architects of Grand Central Terminal, and is a reduced replica of Christopher Wren’s Thomas Tower at Christ Church College in Oxford, England.

Among the noted residents of the cemetery are DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828), who, as Governor of New York, was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal; Henry Steinway (1797–1871), founder of Steinway & Sons, piano manufacturers; Samuel F. B. Morse (1791–1872), painter and inventor of the telegraph; William M. “Boss” Tweed (1823–1878), infamous New York politician and leader of Tammany Hall; Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) and James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), famous printmakers; Susan Smith McKinney-Steward (1846- 1918), the first black female doctor in New York State and third in the country; Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), decorative artist best known for his works in stained glass; Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), artist; and Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), musician, composer and conductor.

Eighth Avenue between 42nd and 68th Streets|

This is the third Chinatown in New York City. Chinese immigrants made their way to Brooklyn from Chinatown in Manhattan in the 1980s, traveling on the N train from Canal Street to 62nd Street. Because the station is above-ground and open-air, the Chinese immigrants nicknamed it “Blue Sky Station,” which also references the relatively suburban environment of this Brooklyn neighborhood.

526 59th Street Franz Joseph Untersee, 1905-28;
5902 Sixth Avenue 1902-03|

The largest religious edifice on Long Island, the basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help occupies an entire block. The granite Romanesque Revival basilica is a “double church” with two levels for worship. The ground floor was completed in 1909 and the second floor was completed in 1928. In its early years, the parish consisted mainly of Irish congregants. Today, some Irish remain, but the congregation is largely Hispanic and Chinese. Its subsidiary buildings include the Romanesque Revival brick rectory with Gothic Revival details and terra-cotta trim, which is to the rear of the basilica, and the St. Alphonsus School on Sixth Avenue, which predates the basilica by several years. The school was designed in the Ruskinian Gothic style with fanciful beige and black brickwork, pointed-arch door and window openings and a central statue above its entry.

411-471 Henry Spicer, 1895;
412-440 Frank S. Lowe, 1896;
444-468 Henry Pohlmann, 1902|

This block showcases some of the rowhouse architecture that defines Sunset Park. On the north side are 26 houses, unusual for their flat-fronted façades, all designed and built by the same person in the same year. Across the street are two sets of 13 houses by two different architects, but all of them feature projecting bays, which creates an interesting contrast with the north side’s flat wall.

5323 Fifth Avenue;
1926|

The most prominent commercial building along this section of Fifth Avenue, this Classical Revival limestone bank features Ionic columns and pilasters along both its Fifth Avenue and 54th Street façades and grand arched window openings. Though it now functions as a Chase Bank, the original company name, foundation date and date of the building’s construction still grace its crown.

William H. Abbott Jr., 1897;
J. H. Nadigan, 1897|

Designed for a mix of uses, Fifth Avenue contains buildings with retail shops at ground level and residential units above. In addition to these, the avenue is also home to religious institutions, firehouses, police stations, schools, banks and other commercial properties. One of the most architecturally distinguished sections is numbers 5404-5420, a Renaissance Revival row featuring projecting angled iron bays and metal window lintels. The brick Queen Anne building at number 5424 stands out for its pronounced corner turret and projecting bay on its 55th Street façade, which are both made of pressed metal.