Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Step Inside A Cocktail Party In The Green-Wood Cemetery Catacombs
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 27, 2014
Modified Oct 27, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 28
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 27, 2014
Modified Oct 27, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
If these photos are any indication, the Place to Be on Saturday night was underground in Brooklyn (where else?) surrounded by decomposing corpses (and music and booze). For three mysterious hours, the New York Obscura Society gave visitors a rare, late-night look inside the catacombs under Green-Wood Cemetery, where Samuel Ward McAllister (and others) are interred. McCallister's ghost was billed as the party's host:
"During the Gilded Age, a time of immense wealth, opulence and growth for the city of New York, one man held the key to the city's most exclusive gatherings: Samuel Ward McAllister. A self-appointed arbiter of high society from the 1860s to the early 1890s, Ward McAllister performed as an advisor in class and etiquette for the city's wealthiest families. He also kept what became infamously known as 'The Four Hundred,' a strictly maintained list of individuals who were lucky enough to be ranked amongst the creme de la creme of New York society and, amongst numerous other perks, receive invitations to Mrs. William Astor's legendary balls.
"With fear of being buried alive rampant in the late 19th century, mausoleums were at the height of burial fashion when McAllister passed in 1895. He was laid to rest within the catacombs of Green-Wood Cemetery, a long, tunneled burial space embedded within a hillside that offered above-ground interment in its numerous vaults. Dating back to 1838 as the city's first garden cemetery, Green-Wood's winding, forested paths are lined with mausoleums and memorials by the leading architects and artists of the 19th and 20th century. Designed to be a space of beauty for the living as well as the dead, Green-Wood continues to be an open green respite for the public to come both to mourn and to remember while experiencing the stunning landscape and memorial art of the cemetery grounds."
The Saw Lady (Natalia Paruz) set the appropriate haunting tone, followed by accordionist Erica Mancini and the Dandy Wellington jazz band. Take a look around at what you missed, and if you regret missing out on the macabre fun, do yourself a favor and subscribe to the Obscura Society's events newsletter. They'll teach you how to pick locks and identify all the toxins in Newtown Creek.
Tagged
atlas obscura
greenwood cemetery
original
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Why LCD Soundsystem's 'New York, I Love You' is still the city's most honest anthem
The song continues to resonate 20 years after its release, even showing up in movies and TV to convey people’s mixed feelings toward the city.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 30, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. ET
Would you live on a Halloween block? These Hackensackers live for it.
A guillotine, killer clowns, clownfish: They've got it all on Clinton Place.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Would you live on a Halloween block? These Hackensackers live for it.
A guillotine, killer clowns, clownfish: They've got it all on Clinton Place.
By
James Ramsay
Owl pellets and period equity: What's happening at NYC's public libraries this November
By
Alec Hamilton
How the Village Halloween Parade keeps its soul
By
Hannah Frishberg
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .