Clarkstown Cemetery now a historic site
Subject
Cemeteries, West Nyack, Mount Moor Cemetery
Creator
Source
Date
1988-09-18
Text
Clarkstown cemetery now a historical site
By Pati Nash
Staff Writer
Mount Moor cemetery, on the site of the proposed Palisades
Center mall in West Nyack, now is a designated Clarkstown historical site. The first burials there date back more than 150 years.
The cemetery for black war veterans and local families was
made a Clarkstown historic spot by a unanimous Town Board vote after a brief public hearing Thursday night.
Supervisor Charles Holbrook, said no one spoke against designating the cemetery as a historical site before the Town Board vote. The designation requires that any developer who proposes to build on the land go before the town Historical
Review Board before making any changes.
The cemetery also is governed by strict New York State cemetery guidelines, which require permission from the next of kin to remove a grave. The law also requires an exhaustive search for the next of kin from information on the tombstone.
Late last year, the developers of the mall offered to buy the land
from the Mount Moor Cemetery Association, pay for the removal of the graves and set aside $100,000 for a permanent upkeep fund. The association declined the offer. Meanwhile, officials of the cemetery group say that representatives of Pyramid Cos. have tried to help them with applying for tax-exempt status and have offered to match any donations they receive to clean up the brush-covered hill-side.
A Pyramid spokesman said that his company was no longer seeking to relocate the cemetery and that he was pleased about the recognized historic status. "I think it's great," said Thomas Valenti, sponsoring partner of the proposed mall. "I hope that now more than a handful of people will care enough
about the place to maintain it for a long, long time."
The developers have now promised to clean up the one-acre site and fence it off.
By Pati Nash
Staff Writer
Mount Moor cemetery, on the site of the proposed Palisades
Center mall in West Nyack, now is a designated Clarkstown historical site. The first burials there date back more than 150 years.
The cemetery for black war veterans and local families was
made a Clarkstown historic spot by a unanimous Town Board vote after a brief public hearing Thursday night.
Supervisor Charles Holbrook, said no one spoke against designating the cemetery as a historical site before the Town Board vote. The designation requires that any developer who proposes to build on the land go before the town Historical
Review Board before making any changes.
The cemetery also is governed by strict New York State cemetery guidelines, which require permission from the next of kin to remove a grave. The law also requires an exhaustive search for the next of kin from information on the tombstone.
Late last year, the developers of the mall offered to buy the land
from the Mount Moor Cemetery Association, pay for the removal of the graves and set aside $100,000 for a permanent upkeep fund. The association declined the offer. Meanwhile, officials of the cemetery group say that representatives of Pyramid Cos. have tried to help them with applying for tax-exempt status and have offered to match any donations they receive to clean up the brush-covered hill-side.
A Pyramid spokesman said that his company was no longer seeking to relocate the cemetery and that he was pleased about the recognized historic status. "I think it's great," said Thomas Valenti, sponsoring partner of the proposed mall. "I hope that now more than a handful of people will care enough
about the place to maintain it for a long, long time."
The developers have now promised to clean up the one-acre site and fence it off.
Original Format
Newspaper article
Files
Collection
Citation
Pati Nash, “Clarkstown Cemetery now a historic site,” accessed April 18, 2024, https://rocklandroom.omeka.net/items/show/51.