People often think that living in New York City means giving up access to the quiet and peaceful. Indeed, for many the cities skyscrapers and yellow taxis are synonymous with a hectic and noisy lifestyle. But if you know where to look, there are places in this metropolis that will make you forget the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. And you don’t necessarily need to take a long subway ride to some far-away park – there are quiet oasis’s right under most New Yorkers’ noses in the heart of places like Midtown and Soho. From rooms devoted to engaging your every sense to a section of Central Park untouched for 80 years, here are 10 places where you can hear yourself think above the noise of the city.

1. New York Marble Cemetery

Courtesy of the New York Marble Cemetery

In between Bowery Street and Second Ave lies a patch of green dubbed, “A Little Garden in the Big City”, and indeed that is what lies at the end of a small alleyway off of Second Ave and East 2nd Street. Incorporated as a cemetery in 1831, the New York Marble Cemetery (not to be confused with the New York City Marble Cemetery nearby) is the oldest public non-sectarian burial ground in New York City. Although there are no formal headstones, the cemetery houses marble vaults underground built originally due to the outlawing of earth graves over fear of yellow fever outbreaks.

Today, it remains a place of solace amidst Lower Manhattan, although it is open to the public only on specific days outlined on the cemetery’s website. It can also be rented out for special events of all kinds, from religious ceremonies to weddings. It is a New York City landmark and a place of tranquility and historical significance. And of course, many of New York City’s cemeteries are often very quiet – discover the city’s smallest and largest!