Executions and body snatching: unusual walking tour tells the story of deaths in New York

New York locals and tourists alike can get a glimpse into the city's grisly history of death, disease, and burial. New York Post tells about an unusual excursion around Manhattan.

“This tour is about what the city doesn’t want you to see, over 400 years of municipal mismanagement,” explained Purefinder guide and journalist Kay Crombie, who created the 2022 tourDeath in New York».

History of epidemics

The unique, dark tour will take the curious through Battery Park, the Financial District, Tribeca, Civic Center, and Chinatown. It was conceived by Crombie during the pandemic lockdown due to the city’s emergency burial and sanitation process.

“During the pandemic, I was walking around Randall’s Island to get some fresh air. There were probably 50 or 60 refrigerated trucks there storing the dead,” Crombie said. “And it got me thinking about the history of epidemics. I just started writing about it.”

On the subject: 10 Best Walking Tours in New York City in 2024

The result was Death in New York: History and Culture of Burials, Undertakers and Executions, published in 2021. The book was turned into a unique tour of lower Manhattan the following spring.

Since then, the guide has expanded her offerings. She runs several more macabre tours: “The History of Psychiatry in New York City,” “Oppenheimer in New York,” “The Gates of Hell,” and “The Outcasts Who Built Manhattan.”

Debuts next week excursion "Central Park: Scandal and Vice" is dedicated to little-known crimes in and around the park.

"There are a lot of tours of Central Park, but nothing like this," Crombie noted.

Lessons from a Horrible History

The weekend walking tours are mostly attended by New Yorkers who want to see their city from a new perspective. Visitors from Russia, Switzerland and Thailand also rave about excursions Crombie.

Visitors can expect a nearly three-mile hike through 400-year-old looted African burial grounds, views of the island where the state's last public execution took place, the oldest existing Jewish cemetery in North America and Manhattan's only funeral row — complete with a flower shop and funeral supply stores.

"On my last tour, we saw a woman's leg hanging out of a body bag," Crombie said. "The group was so excited."

The seasoned guide says her lessons in creepy history will be of interest even to Manhattan veterans.

“We’re proposing something different: reconnecting with the city in a new way,” Crombie said. “It’s about figuring out why we are the way we are.”