An old, well-kept Jewish cemetery that is part of, but separate from, non-sectarian Hillside…read moreCemetery (which I wrote about in another review). Its most famous "permanent resident" is Jeffrey Hyman aka Joey Ramone, who died way too early in 2001. Years before Joey died, and before my re-union with my genetic family, I came here with my camera to take pictures of the NYC skyline, not knowing I had a connection to some of the people buried here.
At the time, I thought of it as "once and done" cemetery visit.
When I first started visiting cemeteries way back when, I experienced some confusion as to Jewish cemeteries "attached" to non-sectarian ones. When I visited California and tried to find Bugsy Siegel's grave in Beth Olam Cemetery, it took me longer than it should have to realize Beth Olam was, technically speaking, a section of Hollywood Memorial, now known as Hollywood Forever.
Hillside was founded in 1882, and Mt. Zion, if anything, appears even older, and much smaller. You enter through a separate gate, drive down to the end, make a turn, and drive back up the other side. I drove through Mt. Zion once. I thought it was a perfectly nice, scenic and historic cemetery, but, like Hillside, I didn't think I'd be returning after taking my photos.
Then my birth mother located and contacted me. I started a relationship with my genetic family and learned that a majority of my relatives from both sides of my family were buried in Hillside. My birth father and paternal grandparents are buried in one section, and my maternal side is buried in the other. When my maternal great aunt (who was very nice and welcoming to me in the unfortunately short time I knew her) died, I came here to mourn. So too when my maternal grandmother, who I loved, died about a year ago.
And, on a less personally somber note, I came here when Joey Ramone died. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Ramones, but I appreciated their groundbreaking role in what became known as punk rock, their influence on subsequent generations of musicians, and the fact that...even though they seemed to hate each other...they always put on an energetic, entertaining show (I saw them in concert several times and met them once; I almost got into a fistfight with Johnny, but that's perhaps another story for another place and time...).
After Joey died, I visited his grave, which is hard to miss in unostentatious, low-key Mt. Zion. His gravestone is large, his name prominently displayed on it, and adorned with all sorts of memorabilia/paraphernalia. Once was enough for me, though. As much as I admired and respected Joey, I was more of a Stooges or NY Dolls fan, than I was a Ramones fan. I visited Hillside often, but not Mt. Zion.
My old friend, however, is a Ramones fanatic. He hung out with them and relates...constantly...how Dee Dee once tried to buy an old-fashioned leather jacket that my friend had borrowed from his father for a concert and was annoyed when my friend wouldn't sell it (although my friend was sorely tempted).
Recently, around the anniversary of Joey's death, my friend decided to make an impromptu visit to the grave, with me along as company. We parked on the edge of Hillside, walked across the grassy border area, and came to Joey's final resting place. A woman was standing alongside it and introduced herself as Judy. She'd been visiting the grave every day for a week. I've heard of dedicated, devoted fans, but that astonished me. Look, Legs Diamond was my childhood hero, but I've only visited his grave a handful of times over the years.
Like my friend, Judy knew the Ramones and said they had written a song that mentioned her (not "Judy Is A Punk" but a later one; I stopped buying Ramones records after "Road To Ruin" so it wasn't a song I'm familiar with). She was friendly, a bit of a character (in a good way), and we took pictures of each other standing by the grave and they (she and my friend) started exchanging stories. My friend is long winded under the best of circumstances, and as I've heard these stories a million plus times, I walked over to Hillside to visit the graves of my family members and paused to meditate on the beauty of the NYC skyline. Walking from one end of Hillside to the other took some time. When I returned to Joey's grave, Judy and my friend were still talking (she was complaining that she had left items at the grave that had been stolen).
At that point, it was getting late. A Hillside employee in a cemetery truck drove by several times, pausing at the edge of Hillside to watch us. He wasn't intrusive; I guess they're used to this sort of thing, given that Joey's grave has become a sort of shrine. But it was near closing time. Finally, we said our goodbyes and left.
For those with loved ones buried here, it's a peaceful, sedate cemetery with an aura of history and of families going back for generations. And for those searching for Joey's grave...it'll be easy to find. Just be respectful and remember where you are.
