Woodlawn Cemetery’s sepulchral sanctuary

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Given the popularity of  Martin Scorcese’s movie The Wolf of Wall Street, Woodlawn Cemetery director Cristiana Peña likes to point out the resting site of another American fat cat: Jay Gould, known to some as the “Skunk of Wall Street.” 

His 30,000-square-foot plot is the largest singular plot at Woodlawn Cemetery, occupied by the mausoleum in which Mr. Gould is entombed, as well as a weeping beech tree like the ones he is said to have planted himself on his estate in Tarrytown in the 1800s. A railroad speculator and developer, Mr. Gould accrued a massive fortune — and notoriety as a “robber baron” with close ties to Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. 

But in spite of, or perhaps because of, his reputation and rise to riches, Mr. Gould left behind a site at Woodlawn that is the picture of serene grandiosity — a temple-style mausoleum reminiscent of the Greek Parthenon. 

“It’s really meant to look like the Parthenon — kind of a temple to himself,” said Ms. Peña. “Every mausoleum told a story about the person’s life and what things were important to them.”

Mr. Gould is one of many historical figures — most with more positive reputations than his own — and “ordinary” people buried or entombed at Woodlawn Cemetery, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year and was deemed a National Historic Landmark in 2011. 

Woodlawn Cemetery, Boss Tweed, J.C. Penney, Duke Ellington, Joseph Pulitzer, Maya Rajamani
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