There are plenty of famous and spooky cemeteries in New York City. There's the New York Marble Cemetery, the Green-Wood Cemetery, and the Woodlawn Cemetery.
Would you believe, though, that those are all just about full? That your last chance to lay your lifeless body to rest in NYC would be now?
It's true.
The only burial plots left that are available for the public to purchase are in the New York Marble Cemetery, and they cost $350,000 per vault.
There are some reserved spots for VIPs in Trinity Church's uptown cemetery, but clearly those are not available. Can someone count as a VIP after they've died? According to Trinity Church, apparently, yes.
The New York Marble Cemetery is a small burial ground in the East Village, and it's comprised of 156 underground vaults.
We never thought the real estate market for dead bodies would be as difficult as the market for live bodies, but it turns out finding space for your body, alive or dead, is always difficult in NYC.
[anad]
"I think it would be the perfect gift for a hedge-fund billionaire to give his sweetheart," said Caroline DuBoise. She's the president of the New York Marble Cemetery's board, and she's the future occupant of vault number 54.
"When you only have two, why give them away?" asked DuBoise in regards to the vaults' extravagant prices. She and Robert Breck Denny came up with the price by researching comparable grave sites in San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Paris, and "basically, did a market analysis."
If you're wondering, Denny is likely the future occupant of vault 38. You're probably also wondering how much it cost to buy a vault in 1830, when the cemetery first opened. To answer your question, it was originally $250 to buy a vault.
"I think it was the same amount to buy a good car," Denny said.
"A good saddle horse," DuBois said, correcting him. "It was also the wages of a servant for one whole year, or five acres on Long Island."
Unlike other cemeteries, the New York Marble Cemetery does not have visible gravestones. It's just a lawn, and the vaults are all buried underground, in rows, with plaques set into the surrounding walls.
"We are looking for someone with strong ties to New York," Denny said.
"It's going to be a long process," DuBois said. "We have a vision for this."
Are you a hedge-fund billionaire? Do you have strong ties to NYC? Are you perplexed about where your lifeless body will remain after your soul has departed? Do you have $350,000 to spend on your death vault?
If you answered "yes" to all of the above questions, we're pretty sure you're the perfect candidate to buy at least one of NYC's last remaining burial plots. Happy shopping!
Check out As If You Couldn't Imagine NYC Being Any More Expensive.
[via New York Magazine]
[Feature Image Courtesy The New York Times]