Old Dutch Church NYC
Worship and Activism Since 1656
Welcoming the 21st Century
21st
Century
In 2001, just before the towers went down,
the Reformed Church hired Dr. Warren A. Mac Kenzie,
and our Congregation
cleaned up the "New Section" of the historic Cemetery,
transforming it into the tranquil spot we see here.
This section contains with 363 markers dating from 1834 to 1916 including the grave of
Judge Jacob Tyson and the family plots of: Van Name, Houseman, Drake, Kohler and Post.
In the 1950’s the Church left the rear, or New Section of the Cemetery to fallow. To celebrate the new century, in 2000 the Congregation undertook the clearing of the underbrush and removal of at least twenty dead trees which had made the property impassable. Upon completion of this work with an investment of (+-) 18k, they found that the lack of attention allowed the property to fall victim to illegal dumping by the surrounding property owners.
With the grant from Richmond County Savings Foundation, the Congregation undertook the massive refurbishment project depicted in the photographs below. Given the location of the Cemetery, removal of debris was labor intensive as it had to be removed in some instances by hand and at a great distance. Our Church could not secure rubbish removal by NYC Sanitation so they needed dumpsters. Extensive manpower was required to cart the refuse, restore security fencing, lighting, grading and seeding, and raise and reset toppled monuments. Over 440 cubic yards of debris were removed. This equals eleven 40-yard dumpsters. Several more trees were removed. This work took place over two weeks by a huge crew.
