# How does NYC not run out of places to bury the dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356 "2009-10-02T16:05:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/1 "2009-10-02T16:05:47Z")
NYC is a small area populated with a LOT of people. People die. How does this city find places to bury the dead? Is there a possiblity this can become an issue in the future? ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/2 "2009-10-02T16:14:59Z")
Cremation is becoming increasingly popular. Graveyards don’t last forever. We don’t reuse them yet in this country - but we probably will. And after a hundred years or so they may sell the land to a developer who will move the graves (sometimes this only legally requires the movement of the above ground memorials) and build a Wal\*Mart or houseing complex. Even if they do move the “bodies” (I use the term loosly because after a few decades there’s not much to move.) the graves they move them to are smaller and more densely packed. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/3 "2009-10-02T16:39:03Z")
Not everyone who dies in the city is buried there either. Several of my relatives who lived their whole lives in the Bronx are buried in Valhalla or Gate of Heaven Cemeteries in Westchester County. Especially in earlier times, several people were buried stacked up in the same plot. In doing genological research, I found that seven relatives were buried in one grave, including my great-grandfather, great-grandmother, her sister and her sister’s husband, and three children. This was over a period of about a dozen years. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/4 "2009-10-02T17:58:55Z")
Two words: Soylent Green ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/5 "2009-10-02T18:02:03Z")
Even life-long New Yorkers may retire to Florida eventually, and a lot of people hit middle-age, have kids, and move to the suburbs. So they end up getting buried somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/6 "2009-10-02T18:03:02Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > Graveyards don’t last forever. We don’t reuse them yet in this country - but we probably will. I suppose that someday they could always decide to move in an ‘upward’ direction. Only fitting if it was N.Y. that conceived and put into play the concept of _diescrapers_. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/7 "2009-10-02T18:12:40Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I suppose that someday they could always decide to move in an ‘upward’ direction. Only fitting if it was N.Y. that conceived and put into play the concept of _diescrapers_. We wanted a block of flats, not an abbatoir! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/8 "2009-10-02T18:36:33Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > (sometimes this only legally requires the movement of the above ground memorials) Obligatory Craig T. Nelson reference. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/9 "2009-10-02T18:44:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Two words: Soylent Green _ **Tad’s. Steaks. Are. PEOPLE!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/10 "2009-10-02T18:58:20Z")
No, four words. Dirty Water hot dogs. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/11 "2009-10-02T20:53:53Z")
Don’t the mass graves on on Hart Island get dug up and reused every couple decades? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/12 "2009-10-02T23:27:30Z")
I knew literally hundreds of people who died from AIDS. Most of them either went back to their out-of-town families to be buried, or were cremated. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/13 "2009-10-02T23:39:28Z")
Giant ossuaries in the unused subway tunnels. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/14 "2009-10-03T01:22:53Z")
One word: Necropolis ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/15 "2009-10-03T01:30:30Z")
New York is geographically not as small as you might think. Outside of Manhattan (where burials have been banned for some time), there’s more square mileage than you might think. It’s not too late to reserve your spot to be buried in Brooklyn: [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/nyregion/19graves.html?scp=3&sq=green-wood&st=cse](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/nyregion/19graves.html?scp=3&sq=green-wood&st=cse) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/16 "2009-10-03T01:50:19Z")
CHUDs ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/17 "2009-10-03T02:33:11Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > One word: Necropolis Yep. Pinelawn has its own stop on the LIRR. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/18 "2009-10-03T03:21:19Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Yep. Pinelawn has its own stop on the LIRR. And Valhalla on Metro-North. That cemetary is truly gigantic. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/19 "2009-10-03T03:44:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Especially in earlier times, several people were buried stacked up in the same plot. In doing genological research, I found that seven relatives were buried in one grave, including my great-grandfather, great-grandmother, her sister and her sister’s husband, and three children. This was over a period of about a dozen years. Not to be indelicate, but are you literally describing opening up the same vault/sarcophagus/pine box, laying grandma on top of grandpa, and closing up the box? Again, with all due respect to your family, doesn’t that get . . . _messy_ after several decades? Or by “plot” do you mean “same small 1/8th acre for multiple graves”? Tripler I’ve seen small family cemeteries. . . but not same _graves_. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356/20 "2009-10-03T04:42:03Z")
Barge mausoleums. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-nyc-not-run-out-of-places-to-bury-the-dead/512356.md?page=2)