Metal bandits raid Queens cemetery

The Columbia Journalist, 10 October 2008

Copper vents were allegedly stolen from these Calvary Cemetery mausoleums. (Photo: Devin Dwyer)

SUNNYSIDE, N.Y. — Ten-foot walls topped with coils of barbed wire may be enough to protect Calvary Cemetery in Queens from teenage grave-tippers, but they haven’t stopped metal bandits from raiding gravesites for plunder.

Police say thieves have stolen dozens of molded copper air vents from the sides of mausoleums in each of the cemetery’s four divisions south of Queens Boulevard.

The thefts are believed to have occurred on three separate occasions during the past month.

Maro Youssef, Community Affairs Officer for the 108th Precinct, said metal theft has become a common crime in Queens and in cities across the country. “It’s likely that the vents were sold at a junkyard,” Youssef said.

Copper prices have reached historic highs in recent months, trading at around $8 per pound. Youssef estimates the value of Calvary Cemetery’s missing air vents, which each weigh roughly five to eight pounds, at several hundred dollars.

Joe Giulietti, superintendent of the cemetery, said family members notified him about missing air vents several weeks ago. Closer inspection of other mausoleums revealed dozens of the handcrafted decorative fixtures were missing.

“We’re unsure how many exactly [were stolen],” Giulietti said. “They’re so old, we can’t tell if they fell off or what.”

Investigators believe the vents were stolen because groundskeepers probably would have found them if they had simply fallen off, said Giulietti.

Wayne Smith, who’s been the gateman at the Queens Boulevard entrance to Calvary Cemetery for more than 14 years, speculated that thieves could easily have evaded watchmen during the day or night. “To me, the best time to do a job like that would be in daylight,” he said. “You’d have to work fast, you know. But on a Sunday, with lots of people here, these guys could pretend they’re praying and you just can’t tell.”

Police said they plan to conduct more night patrols around the cemetery and have not ruled out the possibility that thieves were aided by a cemetery staff member.

Deputy Inspector Thomas Kavanagh said detectives may have a lead in the case, but he declined to offer details.

Kavanagh also said police are investigating a potential link between the cemetery thefts and the disappearance of gutters and piping off neighboring residents’ homes.

“We are not sure whether or not it’s the same person doing the gutters [and the cemetery],” Inspector Kavanagh said. “We did have a report of a white jeep involved in some gutter thefts. We’re looking into it.”

In general, the number of burglaries in the 108th Precinct is up 23 percent over last year.

Calvary Cemetery, one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in the United States, has over 3 million plots in Sunnyside, Queens. It has been managed by the Trustees of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral since its opening in 1849.