1. Calvary Cemetery, Maspeth and Woodside, Queens: 3 Million Interments

Although the First Calvary Cemetery has only 42 graves (technically making it one of the smallest cemeteries in New York City), the other three divisions that make up its entirety hold roughly 3 million interments; this makes Queens home to more dead than living. Spanning over 365 acres, the cemetery is not just the largest cemetery in the New York, but the largest cemetery in the United States.

According to Calvary Cemetery’s official website, its founding in 1848 also marked the first time a New York City cemetery had been established outside of Manhattan Island — a necessary move due to overcrowding and several serious outbreaks of disease that spread as a result. In 1952, deaths in New York City from typhus and cholera became so numerous that the City Council passed a law preventing people who perished from such diseases to be buried on the island. As a result, Calvary became the first of many cemeteries to make up the “cemetery belt” — the strip of cemeteries along Jackie Robinson Parkway that’s large enough to be seen from space.

In more recent times, Calvary also has become the site of something a little more lively — the backdrop for numerous movies and television series. The list includes the Godfather, Zoolander, Gotham, The Night Of, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil, just to name a few.

To read more about New York City’s cemeteries, check out The Top 10 Secrets of NYC’s Calvary Cemetery in Queens, the Largest in the US and Ava Vanderbilt’s Final Resting Place in Woodlawn Cemetery. Get in touch with the author: @Erika_A_Stark