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Dead Queens: The Cemeteries of New York City’s Largest Borough
If there's one county in the United States that deserves its own cemetery book, it's New York's Queens County. With millions of burials in a stunning array of cemeteries of all faiths and sizes dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, Queens' burial grounds reflect the diversity and indeed the very story of New York City itself. Dead Queens is a visual journey through more than thirty of the borough's cemeteries in 220 fascinating photographs.
- GenresNonfiction
128 pages, Paperback
Published June 28, 2021
8 people want to read
About the author
Richard Panchyk
48 books20 followersRichard Panchyk is the author or editor of 14 books on a diverse range of topics, including children's nonfiction (science, history, art, politics/government) and adult nonfiction (history and folklore). His works have been translated into four languages.
Among his books are the award-winning and bestselling World War II for Kids, which is available at bookstores and museum gift shops across the nation. This book is considered as one of the top books ever published for teaching kids ages 9 and up about the war, and is used in schools and by homeschoolers from New York to Alaska. It features a foreword from the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain.
He is also the author of the lavishly illustrated Galileo for Kids, featuring a foreword by the astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
To order autographed copies of any of his books, or for more information, you may contact the author at panchyk@yahoo.com.
Richard Panchyk's latest books are German New York City, published as part of the famous Images of America series by Arcadia and 101 Glimpses of Long Island's North Shore, published by The History Press.
German New York City is the first-ever major book to cover the story German population in one of the world's biggest cities. It features nearly 200 historic photographs.
101 Glimpses is a pocket-sized book offering a snapshot of different beautiful locales along the historic North Shore, and features a foreword by Thomas Suozzi.
Coming in 2009 - The Keys to American History, featuring more than 60 of America's most important documents and speeches.
Among his books are the award-winning and bestselling World War II for Kids, which is available at bookstores and museum gift shops across the nation. This book is considered as one of the top books ever published for teaching kids ages 9 and up about the war, and is used in schools and by homeschoolers from New York to Alaska. It features a foreword from the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain.
He is also the author of the lavishly illustrated Galileo for Kids, featuring a foreword by the astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
To order autographed copies of any of his books, or for more information, you may contact the author at panchyk@yahoo.com.
Richard Panchyk's latest books are German New York City, published as part of the famous Images of America series by Arcadia and 101 Glimpses of Long Island's North Shore, published by The History Press.
German New York City is the first-ever major book to cover the story German population in one of the world's biggest cities. It features nearly 200 historic photographs.
101 Glimpses is a pocket-sized book offering a snapshot of different beautiful locales along the historic North Shore, and features a foreword by Thomas Suozzi.
Coming in 2009 - The Keys to American History, featuring more than 60 of America's most important documents and speeches.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 5, 2022
The histories of various Queens cemeteries were much appreciated, and I liked getting names and locations of places I haven't checked out myself yet. I'm a Queens girl who is steeped in cemeteries from childhood, having lived in Glendale one block away from Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery; one of my earliest memories is of my mother and a friend of hers walking me hand-in-hand through a snowy All Faiths Cemetery to get to the Times Square Stores on Metropolitan Avenue. (That cemetery was commonly used as a shortcut by Glendale residents.)
So the text was great! But the photography was disappointing. So many photos were taken on dark, desolate, dull winter days... and so many of those desolate photos are frontloaded to the beginning of the book, which made me worry that all of them might be like this. (I shoot in the winter at times too, but specifically for a desolate aesthetic, to see statues and gravestones that are usually covered in leaves, or to capture snowy landscapes.) St. John's Cemetery's photos might also have been taken in a wintery look, but at least the sky is pretty in those shots. The photos in this book are very documentary, while I like some more aesthetic involved. The shots could be so much prettier, underlining the sentiment occasionally expressed in the text about how these cemeteries can be a peaceful nature walk. Spring and autumn can be so beautiful in them.
Things this local girl would've been happy to see: the Calvary Cemetery section doesn't include a photo of the massive Johnston mausoleum, the very monument that grabbed my interest (and my father's) while riding on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and made us want to go inside for a closer look. For the cemetery-related businesses, a photo of the Frank T. Lang building, what is currently Middle Village Body Works' location, would've been appreciated. It's crumbling but still way too grand for an auto body shop. From the Queens Chronicle: "Frank Lang built the massive structure early in the 20th century indicating the quality of his work. He was a builder of mausoleums and monuments and created many beautiful stone buildings in Lutheran and Saint John’s Cemetery..." He ran that business out of this building, which also held a funeral home for a while.
So the text was great! But the photography was disappointing. So many photos were taken on dark, desolate, dull winter days... and so many of those desolate photos are frontloaded to the beginning of the book, which made me worry that all of them might be like this. (I shoot in the winter at times too, but specifically for a desolate aesthetic, to see statues and gravestones that are usually covered in leaves, or to capture snowy landscapes.) St. John's Cemetery's photos might also have been taken in a wintery look, but at least the sky is pretty in those shots. The photos in this book are very documentary, while I like some more aesthetic involved. The shots could be so much prettier, underlining the sentiment occasionally expressed in the text about how these cemeteries can be a peaceful nature walk. Spring and autumn can be so beautiful in them.
Things this local girl would've been happy to see: the Calvary Cemetery section doesn't include a photo of the massive Johnston mausoleum, the very monument that grabbed my interest (and my father's) while riding on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and made us want to go inside for a closer look. For the cemetery-related businesses, a photo of the Frank T. Lang building, what is currently Middle Village Body Works' location, would've been appreciated. It's crumbling but still way too grand for an auto body shop. From the Queens Chronicle: "Frank Lang built the massive structure early in the 20th century indicating the quality of his work. He was a builder of mausoleums and monuments and created many beautiful stone buildings in Lutheran and Saint John’s Cemetery..." He ran that business out of this building, which also held a funeral home for a while.
Displaying 1 of 1 review