All Faiths Cemetery

[2] In 1847 the New York state legislature passed the Rural Cemetery Act, which allowed nonprofit organizations to incorporate and sell burial plots.

[3][4] While St. Paul's decided against investing in this endeavor, St. Matthew's and Dr. Geissenhainer pursued the purchase of land in Queens in 1850.

The parcels owned by St. Matthews and Dr. Geissenhainer were held and developed separately; he incorporated as the "Lutheran Cemetery" (although members of all faiths were accepted) on March 22, 1852.

[2] In 2006, vandals allegedly toppled over or destroyed over 60 headstones, some of which the cemetery's president said weighed over 800 pounds (360 kilograms); he asserted that a group of mischievous teenagers had caused the damage and stated, "At first it seemed they were targeting Jewish-sounding names, but then we realized they were just jumping all over.

[6][7] One article described "Toppled monuments, sunken gravestones and shattered mausoleum windows..."[8] The chairman of the cemetery's board of directors attributed such conditions to a lack of funds and state law restricting use of perpetual-care funds for upkeep of graves where the owners had not paid for such care.