VISITORS who traveled to a beloved city to visit tourist hotspots may not know they’re walking on a mass graveyard.
In New York City, burial sites are being turned into vacation destinations.
In New York City, visitors can tour Hart Island, which is the gravesite for over 1 million bodies[/caption]
Most tourists may not know that other popular tourist destinations in the city are gravesites, like Manhattan’s Bryant Park[/caption]
This Halloween, you can visit harrowing historic graveyards just by walking through some of the Big Apple’s most popular parks.
One of the most terrifying spots is Hart Island, which the NYC Parks Department took over in 2021 and has since started giving tours.
Around 1 million people have been buried on the island, and it’s hosted a list of eerie institutions, including a prison camp, psychiatric ward, and homeless camp.
Bodies buried on the island range from poor Civil War soldiers to unidentifiable New York City residents.
In 2020, the island was used as a mass burial site for victims of Covid-19.
Since November 2023, urban park rangers have started taking visitors on dark journeys to see gravesites and now abandoned buildings.
Floating between the Bronx and Queens, Hart Island has not been inhabited since 1977. It was run by the NYC Department of Correction until 2019.
People who suspect they have a relative buried on Hart Island can search the city’s database for answers.
If they find proof there’s a relative living there, they can schedule a grave visit.
While some tourists may go to Hart Island specifically for the spooks, other NYC travelers may not know they’ve probably already visited a hidden burial site.
An estimated 20,000 people were buried under the arch in Washington Square Park, Lower Manhattan, from 1797 to 1827.
The area was used as a cemetery in that year because of a yellow fever epidemic that killed a devastating 10% of the city’s population.
All of the bodies remain underground, where they were buried at varying levels, according to a 2005 archaeological assessment.
Bryant Park, a bustling area in Midtown Manhattan, was also used as a potter’s field, which is a graveyard for people who couldn’t afford plots of land.
From 1832 to 1840, bodies were buried in the area, but they were moved after the city turned the park into a reservoir.
What is Hart Island?
HART Island is the home of over 1 million gravesites in New York City.
The eerie land is located between Queens and the Bronx, and has hosted several dark institutions, including a psychiatric ward, prison camp, and homeless camp.
Bodies buried on the island range from poor Civil War soldiers to unidentifiable New York City residents.
Those who weren’t rich enough to afford plots of land may have been sent to a potter’s field on the island after their deaths.
Since 2019, the NYC Parks Department has managed the island and has started giving tours.
Those who have loved ones buried on the island can arrange tours to visit their gravesites.
Visitors could walk over gravesites in Madison Square Park, just south of the Empire State Building, as the area was used as a potter’s field from 1794 to 1797.
However, those bodies were moved to Washington Square Park.
Union Square Park was also used as a public grave until 1815, but how many bodies were buried there is unclear.
The spooky tourist destinations come after The U.S. Sun spoke with residents of New York’s “most dangerous city.”
One local declared that she would never leave the town that’s “rougher than New York City.”
Union Square was used as a public graveyard until it became a luxurious neighborhood[/caption]
Underneath Washington Square Park’s iconic arch, thousands of bodies are buried[/caption]
