Sacred Places
Greenway Botanical Garden
A historic burial ground reimagined as a native meadow, where visitors move gently above hallowed ground finding retreat from the city.
WHERE
Brooklyn, NY
SETTING
Neighborhood
FOCAL POINT
The Raised Boardwalk
PARTNER INSTITUTION
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
Visit
Where it is
Williamsburg Street West between Kent Ave and Flushing Ave
What happens here
Visitors experience the garden from a raised boardwalk, moving gently above the historic ground while immersed in a thriving native meadow. Bird walks, live bird-song monitoring, and hands-on nature exploration invite discovery, while the Nature Sacred bench and journal offer a quieter place to pause and reflect. Children and families can deepen that connection through nature books, journals, and ecology-based activities woven into the garden experience.
A sound healing experience supported by the Nature Sacred Firesoul Network.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
Rooted in remembrance and a refuge for the living.
Drag to see the transformation.
01
The Need
The former Naval Hospital Cemetery held deep historical significance, yet for decades remained an inaccessible, unused landscape within a dense urban community. The challenge was to make this hallowed ground accessible without disturbing potential burials beneath it, while restoring native habitat and creating a much-needed place for nature and respite from city life.
02
The Vision
The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, along with local partners including The Horticultural Society of New York, The Green School, and Brooklyn Community Housing & Services, reimagined the site together. Their shared vision was to honor the hallowed ground while restoring it as a living landscape—a native meadow and sacred grove where ecology, remembrance, learning, and quiet retreat could coexist.
03
The Transformation
A long-inaccessible burial ground has become a thriving native meadow and sacred grove, with an elevated boardwalk allowing visitors to move gently above the historic landscape. Now, neighbors, bicyclists traveling the Brooklyn Greenway, and visitors from farther afield discover an unexpected urban refuge alive with native plants, birds, and pollinators—a place where history is honored through new life.
WHAT’S HERE
Above a former burial ground
01
The Raised Boardwalk
A river-like path floats above the hallowed ground, allowing visitors to move through the landscape with reverence while immersed in the meadow.
02
The Pollinator Habitat
A designated Monarch Waystation, where milkweed, bee balm, goldenrod, and other native plants create a living refuge for monarchs and other pollinators.
03
The Granite Stepping Stones
An axis of granite blocks recalls the Navy Yard’s industrial past while serving as a subtle marker of those once buried here and drawing visitors deeper into the meadow.
WHO TENDS IT
Avvah Rossi
Firesoul, Greenway Botanical Garden
Read more →
Hunter Armstrong
Firesoul, Greenway Botanical Garden
Read more →
HEAR FROM THE VISITORS
From the Little Yellow Journal
Dear Bench,
Thank you for giving people so much love and safety. I feel more connected to everyone sitting here today. I am here with someone I love and that is a blessing.
Love the drawing
— Camilia
watch
Video
How this Sacred Place on the Brooklyn Greenway came to be. 5 min.
READ
Research
News & Stories
Read
Greenspace is essential infrastructure. So say the people who live there.
Asked what their neighborhood needs most, residents named two things — a grocery store and greenspace.
Urban Resilience
Watch
Green Space For You
This short film tells the story of the creation of the Naval Cemetery Landscape, a green space that is part of the Brooklyn Greenway.
