Woodland Cemetery, Staten Island, New York

Michael Pelczar did an amazing job conducting historic walking tours through the cemetery this weekend. So much positive energy and great reaction to the improvements that have been made recently.

The deer family that lives in the Cemetery was out and about, notwithstanding the rain. The fawns are growing fast.

Our landscaper and his crew worked very hard this week, mowing, weed-whacking and raking in the back of the Cemetery and along the road to the pond. They did a great job! See for yourself...

Ladies and Gentlemen: Good day. I write this post in response to those of you who are upset or angry about the Board's decision to host tours of our very historic Cemetery. I know I speak for myself, as President, and for my fellow officers, who are all plotholders and who also have loved ones buried in the Cemetery, when I say that we take our roles very seriously. We spent a lot of time discussing this matter and ultimately decided that it was a good way to market the Cemet...Continue reading

Happy Fall, everyone! As the seasons change and autumn bathes the Cemetery in shades of red and gold, we invite YOU to join us for our very first public tours of the Cemetery... Michael Pelczar of Spooky Staten Island will lead the way as we unearth the lives, deaths, and legacies of some of the three thousand souls resting here. Cemetery Tales: A Walk Through Woodland will share gripping true tales from local lore. Discover the history hidden behind our gates, and enjoy the ...beauty of this unique space. Your attendance will aid us in our mission to revitalize Woodland! See the comment section below to click on the link for tickets.

We had some unexpected visitors show up at our Trustees’ meeting on Wednesday night.

We took these pictures after the goats left. You can see how clear the ground looks. Now that fall is coming, we will start working on removing fallen trees and branches.

We took these pictures after the goats left. You can see how much more clear the ground looks. Now that fall is coming, we will start working on clearing fallen trees and branches.

Here’s another goat video to start your Friday!

You may have noticed some unusual fencing in the Cemetery. For a few weeks this summer, the Cemetery "employed" eight special workers to kickstart restoration of the grounds. Due to COVID, we could not have workers in the Cemetery. With the help of Larry and Ann Cinahek of Green Goats of Rhinebeck, New York, their "Green Team", headed by Lulu and Cinnamon, helped us to tackle the biggest problem at the Cemetery: invasive weeds and shrubbery, especially wild roses, thorny bu...shes, English ivy and poison ivy. The majority of the Cemetery is covered in weeds: they grow around and up trees, monuments and plot delineation markers. They are a real pain to deal with and an eyesore to look at it. The goats arrived on June 9. As soon as they stepped into the Cemetery, they started eating right away. Goats eat 20% of their body weight a day, so they had plenty of food to keep them full! They also eat up to six feet from the ground, so they will reach up to eat vines and tender leaves from trees. If you walk along by the children's burial ground, you can actually see where the goats were eating and grazing - because there is a line from where they could reach down to the ground! Their favorite food? Poison ivy. That's right - the very plant that is the bane of humanity is no match for the goats. The goats did such a great job that they went home a few weeks early. We can now walk through many areas of the Cemetery without encountering any poison ivy, knotweed or thorny bushes. As a matter of fact, we found graves in the children's burial ground that are not marked on our maps. Check out some of our pictures and videos. We hope you enjoy them! If you are interested in learning more about the Green Goats, please visit www.green-goats.com.

On June 9, the Green Goats arrived at Woodland, ready to work (eat) their way through the Cemetery.

Frontage along Victory Boulevard tidied up.