Though you're probably overdosed on haunted mansions and terrifying police precinct basements this week, Halloween has not yet passed us by. Enjoy your last few SpOoKy days by checking out one of this city's many, many ghost-frequented haunts, because GHOSTS ARE REAL, no matter what your co-workers try to tell you—our favorites are below, and be sure to list yours in the comments.
MOST HAUNTED PARK: Washington Square Park
Long before Washington Square Park was plagued by pigeon kidnappings, it was a public burial ground, serving as a final resting place for as many as 20,000 slaves and impoverished New Yorkers in the early 1800s. Naturally, some of these dead folks—a large chunk of whom succumbed to yellow fever around the turn of the 19th century—stuck around post-expiration, and park visitors have long since spun tales of hanging out with otherworldly spirits after sunset. There's also an old tree dubbed the "Hangman's Elm" that may or may not have been an execution spot back in the 1800s, though that's potentially an old wives' tale meant to scare off unruly NYU students.
Washington Square Park is located at Fifth Avenue at Waverly Place in Greenwich Village.
MOST HAUNTED CEMETERY: Green-Wood Cemetery
Half a million specters await you at this Gothic graveyard, which boasts 478 acres of graves and mausoleums just waiting to tickle your ghost-hunting senses. Those lucky enough to have scored a ticket for one of the cemetery’s Halloweekend “Spirited Strolls” (this year's is all sold out, sadly) will get to visit the catacombs, which are usually closed to the public (Gothamist got a special tour in 2013). If you’re trying to hedge your haunting bets this Halloween, Green-Wood’s not a bad choice: in addition to the 560,000 graves, it also served as the site of the 1776 Battle of Long Island, so it’s seen its fair share of bloodshed. (Miranda Katz)
Green-Wood Cemetery is located at 500 25th Street at Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn (718-210-3080, green-wood.com).
MOST HAUNTED BANISTER: Edgar Allan Poe House
Obviously anything touched by horror writer Edgar Allan Poe is forever haunted by his ghost, and this Greenwich Village building, which served as his residence between 1844 and 1846, is no exception. Though the majority of the house was demolished in 2001 to make room for NYU Law School's Furman Hall, the university kept a facsimile of the building's facade and left one original banister in place—though that banister doesn't lead to any additional floors in the building, it's been said that Poe's spirit likes to climb it from time to time.
The Edgar Allan Poe House is located at 85 West 3rd Street between Sullivan and Thompson Streets in Greenwich Village.
MOST HAUNTED DORM: Brittany Hall
This NYU dorm at 55 East 10th Street has got its own ghost roaming the halls: legend has it the residence is haunted by a young girl named Molly, who supposedly fell down the elevator shaft during the then-hotel building’s construction in 1929. Eerie, perhaps—but heed the advice of this residence hall resource manager, and you’ll be just fine: “You have to be playful with Molly, not afraid. Say, ‘Don’t play with me, Molly!’ and you’ll be fine.” The building was investigated by the Paranormal NYC crew in 2005 and diagnosed with a case of “residual haunting,” which could explain the mysterious force knocking Buddha statues off of students’ shelves. (Miranda Katz)
Brittany Hall is located at 55 East 10th Street between Broadway and University Place in the East Village (nyu.edu).
MOST HAUNTED RESTAURANT: One If By Land Two If By Sea
One If By Land, Two If By Sea is two things: 1) An incredibly tasty restaurant in the West Village and 2) Haunted AF.
Before it was a lavishly appointed dining room serving up some of the best Beef Wellington in the area, One If By Land was Aaron Burr's carriage house, dating back to 1767. His is just one of a passel of ghosts said to haunt the restaurant's grounds, with as many as 20 restless spirits looming over diners as they enjoy their tasting menus.
Aaron may be the most famous Burr said to walk the halls, but he's also reportedly joined by his daughter, Theodosia. Though she died at the hands of pirates on her way from South Carolina to New York, she nevertheless managed to complete the journey—albeit without her body. That may sound sweet, but Theodosia is a temperamental bitch with a penchant for pulling the earrings off of female guests.
One maître d' quit after she was shoved down the stairs one too many times by invisible hands, though it's unclear whether Theodosia was to blame, or the woman in the black gown often seen walking down the staircase, the one who apparently broke her neck after taking a messy tumble.
Another spirit, believed to be a long-dead Ziegfield follies girl, inhabits the back office. The staff used to light a candle for her, though the maître d' told me during a recent visit that they had to end that practice after it burned down part of the restaurant a few years back. Then there's the guy who chills by the fireplace, and the one who favors the front door.
On any given night, One If By Land enjoys a high ghost-to-human ratio, but let me tell you this: It's one thing to flee in terror if an unseen entity runs its fingers through your hair or puts on your jacket. But if it tries to make off with your seared foie gras, fight back. No one—not beloved dining companion nor mischievous poltergeist—has the right to deprive you of a single bite. (Lauren Evans)
One If By Land is located at 17 Barrow Street between 7th Avenue South and West 4th Street in the West Village (212-228-0822, oneifbyland.com).
MOST HAUNTED APARTMENT BUILDINGS: The Dakota, 14 West 10th Street
Years after John Lennon was shot outside The Dakota, where he lived, Yoko Ono supposedly saw his ghost sitting at the piano that turned to her and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am still with you.” But Lennon himself reportedly had his own paranormal experiences in the building while he was still alive. He claimed to have seen a ghostly figure, who he called The Crying Lady, wandering the halls—though maybe that was vision was thanks to a tab of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Back in the super-haunted Village, 14 West 10th Street is pretty innocent-looking—way more innocent than its nickname, “House of Death,” would imply. According to a plaque by the doorway, the building was once home to Mark Twain, and he’s certainly the most famous of the 22 ghosts that haunt the place. But he's not the only one—not long after Jan Bryant Bartell moved into the brownstone in 1957, a “monstrous moving shadow...loomed up behind” her, and she could never shake the sense that the place was haunted—and she herself came to haunt the place, dying mysteriously in 1973 upon completing her memoir about the paranormal occurrences in her home. (Miranda Katz)
The Dakota is located at 1 West 72nd Street at Central Park West on the Upper West Side. 14 West 10th Street is located between 5th and 6th Avenues in Greenwich Village.
MOST HAUNTED BAR: White Horse Tavern
This 135-year-old West Village bar was poet Dylan Thomas's preferred drinking spot during his stint in New York in 1952 and 1953, and he even ended up boozing himself into an ultimately fatal coma there in November of the latter year. The bar's since served as a favorite watering hole for fellow writers, but it's said Thomas's ghost still hangs out at his favorite table, where bartenders say beer and shot glasses randomly appear from time to time.
White Horse Tavern is located at 567 Hudson Street between 11th and Perry Streets in the West Village (212-668-9046).
(Scott Heins/Gothamist)
MOST HAUNTED MANSION: Kreischer Mansion
130-year-old Kreischer Mansion's got a pretty gruesome past. A number of members of the Kreischer family that built and first lived in it came to untimely ends in the early 20th century, and visitors say their ghosts, along with the ghosts of a German cook, small children, and other ethereal spirits have been spotted there over the years. But even if you don't believe in otherworldly beings, the eerie Victorian mansion's more recent history might put you on edge—in 2005, the house was the setting for a grisly mob hit in which a mobster was unsuccessfully drowned in an outdoor pool, stabbed in the basement, then chopped up and burned in a downstairs fireplace. His ghost is probably around somewhere, too.
Kreischer Mansion is located at 4500 Arthur Kill Road in Charleston, Staten Island.
MOST HAUNTED CHURCH: St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery
For fans of both ghosts and early New York City Dutch history, this 200-plus old church is the burial site of New Amsterdam governor Peter Stuyvesant, whose spirit is said to still haunt the space. Along with Ol' Silver Leg, visitors and church workers say they've interacted with ghoulish women, experienced mysterious noises and banging, and felt strange and inexplicable chills while inside.
St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery is located at 131 East 10th Street in the East Village (212-533-4650, stmarksbowery.org).
(Photo by Katie Sokoler/Gothamist)
MOST HAUNTED MUSEUM: The Museum of the Moving Image
Ghosts of filmmakers past aren’t the only ones on display at Astoria’s Museum of the Moving Image. There have long since been rumors of disembodied footsteps and a man’s deep voice echoing down hallways, and some visitors have reported seeing the ghost of a black woman in a white dress behind the security desk after hours. (Miranda Katz)
The Museum of the Moving Image is located at 3601 35th Ave in Astoria, Queens (718-777-6888, movingimage.us).
(Rachel Pincus/Gothamist)
MOST HAUNTED POOL: McCarren Park Pool
Though most of McCarren Park Pool's recent horrors seem limited to bouts of diarrhea, violence, and long lines, legend has it the Greenpoint spot is haunted by the ghosts of small children who drowned when the pool first opened in the 1930s. Some swimmers say they've heard the ghoulish screams of a little girl and paranormal investigators say they can confirm ethereal activity, which is just one more reason to avoid it forever.
McCarren Park Pool is located at 776 Lorimer Street between Bayard Street and Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (nycgovparks.org).
MOST HAUNTED HISTORICAL SITE: The Merchant's House Museum:
The Merchant's House is regarded as exemplary of the late-Federal and Greek Revival period during which it was built, but more importantly, it's also crawling with ghosts.
The stately Noho row home has been a museum for nearly 80 years, and is one of just 117 locations in the city that enjoys both exterior and interior landmarked status. That means the home still looks very similar to the way it did back when it was inhabited by the Tredwell family, who lived on the property for nearly 100 years...and still do.
Of the family, Gertrude Tredwell was the most committed to the residence, having been born upstairs in 1840 and stuck around for the duration of her life, never fleeing the coop to marry or explore the world or...neighborhood. She died essentially where she started at the age of 93, and was the last Tredwell to occupy the house. It seems ineluctable that she's still there, pattering around and terrifying museum visitors, staff and even casual passersby.
“It’s safe to say that each year we average roughly a half-dozen documented reports of occurrences to staff, workers, or visitors,” museum board member Anthony Bellov told the Villager, adding that more than 100 incidents total have been reported since staff began "seriously archiving" them 15 years ago. Gulp.
While the house is often the site of strange smells and sounds, it's also one of few locations where some claim to have witnessed full body apparitions during the day. One notable instance occurred in 1995, in which an official with the state's Judicial Department claimed to have had a lengthy conversation with a "tattered and musty" gentleman in an upstairs room. In the middle of a discussion about objects in a display case, the man vanished. She told museum staff about the odd encounter, and together they determined that she wasn't speaking with an aging beatnik at all, but the long deceased son of Samuel Tredwell. That's just the sort of thing that happens in the Merchant's House Museum. Tredwell carefully. (Lauren Evans)
The Merchant's House Museum is located at 29 East 4th Street between Cooper Square and the Bowery in the East Village (212-777-1089, merchantshouse.org).
(Courtesy of Scouting NY)
MOST HAUNTED STORE: COS
Amongst all the clothing items in COS, a SoHo shop located at 129 Spring Street, you'll find one out-of-date piece: a well from the 18th Century, which sits right there amongst the mannequins in what used to be a back room basement, and before that, a meadow. It was also a crime scene hundreds of years ago.
As Scouting NY once told the story, the well is part of one of "the most infamous unsolved murder cases in New York City history." The story goes like this: "a young woman named Gulielma Elmore Sands left her Greenwich Street boarding home on the evening of December 22nd, 1799, to meet Levi Weeks, a fellow boarder. The two had a secret romance and were planning to elope that night." Not even two weeks later, however, Sands body—which had clear suffocation marks—was found in this very well, which at the time was located in Lispenard's Meadow (which may have also been a sex prison until 1783). The press called it "The Manhattan Well Murder," while Weeks was tried for murder, he was acquitted. The true killer was either never found... or acquitted.
Lispenard's Meadow. (Drawn by A. Anderson, 1785)
In our time, no one knew the well was even there until 1980, when it was uncovered during work on the building. Ever since, strange things have occurred, and many believe Sands is haunting the property, which was even named one of the top 10 haunted places in the country. — (Jen Carlson)
The ghost of Gulielma Elmore Sands can be found at 129 Spring Street, btwn Greene and Wooster Streets.
