Urban Cemetery Space Running Out

"[I]n the parts of town where a burial plot is still available, the cost has in some cases more than tripled in less than a decade; aboveground mausoleums can fetch upward of $3 million. Cemeteries are scrambling to create more space, and as plot prices have soared, the number of cremations has also risen, with a quarter of New Yorkers choosing the less expensive alternative.

Trinity Church Cemetery in Washington Heights, the last operating graveyard in Manhattan, has stopped selling plots, offering burial only in the most "extraordinary circumstances," or to people with long-held reservations."

Demand for burials plots remains high despite a growing number of people opting for cremation. Cemeteries in New York and other cities are looking at new ways to offer space up to those who still want their bodies six feet under.