Address: Greenpoint Avenue at Gale Avenue
Constructed: 1892
LPC Action: Public Hearing in 1973
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice

HDC Testimony 

LPC- Fact Sheet |Research File

In 1847, faced with cholera epidemics and a shortage of burial grounds in Manhattan, the New York State Legislature passed the Rural Cemetery Act authorizing nonprofit corporations to operate commercial cemeteries. That same year, the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral purchased land in Maspeth and built Calvary Cemetery. By 1852 there were 50 burials a day and by the 1990s there were nearly 3 million burials here. It is today one of the largest cemeteries in the country. Designed in an array of architectural styles, cemetery gatehouses serve as picturesque portals. The Old Calvary Gatehouse was designed in the Roman Vernacular Queen Anne style, which is not found elsewhere in Queens. It features warm brick and terra cotta treatment, a picturesque arrangement of dormers and gables and a conical belfry.