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Mount Zion Cemetery encompasses an area of 78 acres. This cemetery is located in Maspeth, Queens near the Manhattan Border. When this cemetery was first established the surrounding area was considered to be rural. There was an ongoing need for burial spaces to accommodate the explosion of the immigrant population in not only Queens, but also the nearby neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Mount Zion Cemetery has more than 210,000 burials on its 78 acres making it one of the more interesting burial grounds. The monuments contained within our gates are a window to the past and a connection to the future. The inscriptions on these memorials tells us of relationships; Cherished Mother, Father, Beloved Aunt or Uncle. They sadly pay tribute to those who have passed on before us while leaving behind remembrances sometimes in the form of a sepulcher photo. The use of these miniature photos was popular in Eastern Europe and the custom was continued here by the Jewish immigrants. These photos were images burnt into porcelain and glazed. The monuments themselves are of a time when cookie-cutter and factory turned out stones were unheard of. The tree of life signifying a person's life cut too short and the infant graves with their sand stone markers topped off with images of little lambs are a small sampling of the way in which the dead were honored. This heritage alone would be reason enough to visit Mount Zion Cemetery and certainly to consider it a place for one's own resting place. You would be in good company as here there are buried some notorious people. Rabbi Isaac Friedman - Buried December 8, 1924. Rabbi Friedman died at the age of 39. He was the Sadagare Rabbi. Rabbi Friedman had a large following in Europe. Upon his arrival here, he founded his own congregation. He died three years later. Rabbi Friedman was descended from Israel ben-Eleazer who re-established the Chasidim rabbinate in Poland in 1770. Lorenz Hart - Buried November 24, 1943. Lorenz Hart died at the age of 48. He was the lyricist part of the songwriting team of Rogers and Hart. Lorenz (Larry) Hart was born in Harlem, New York to Jewish parents. He attended Columbia University where he met Richard Rodgers. Their partnership continued until Hart's death from pneumonia which occurred five days after their revival of A Connecticut Yankee opened. Hart's works included Blue Moon and My Funny Valentine. Nathaniel West - Born October 17, 1903, buried December 30, 1940. Nathaniel West died at the age of 37. His best known works included The Day of the Locust, Miss Lonleyhearts, The Dream Life of Balso Snell and Cool Million. He was born in New York City to German speaking, Russian Jewish parents. His name was Nathan Wallenstein Weinstein which he changed after spending a short time in Paris. West and his wife, Eileen McKenney died in an automobile accident. It was only after his death that his works were noticed.