Entrance to the New York Marble Cemetery, ca. 1977.

Founded in 1830 by wealthy merchants, the New York Marble Cemetery (not to be confused with the New York City Marble Cemetery around the corner) was the city's first non-sectarian burial place. Occupying a little green oasis in the midst of the tenements of the East Village, it is final resting place of more than 2000 New Yorkers. An outbreak of yellow fever in the 1820s and the fear associated with earthen burials, made the stone underground vaults, each the size of a small room, a welcome burial option for wealthy citizens. The cemetery has no freestanding headstones, and as such, looks more like a garden. Descendants of 19th century plot owners can still be buried here.