New Yorkers are not at all embarrassed by conversations about meetings with the otherworldly. Many locals claim that ghosts often visit old buildings and parks in New York - in some more, and in some less obvious, of course, in cemeteries (for example, Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn), in hidden crypts (for example, the little-known crypt behind the Baueri Hotel) and unique burial grounds (the ship graveyard in Staten Island).
There are plenty of celebrity ghosts in New York. John Lennon often visits the Dakota, the building in which he was killed. Poet Dylan Thomas and Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious's girlfriend, are rumored to have an afterlife at the Chelsea Hotel, where they met their demise. While some of these rumors may remain just rumors, New Yorkers quite often report their actual encounters with a poltergeist. The manifestations of the paranormal range from the ominous slamming doors in a New York University dormitory to the utterly bizarre, such as the ghost of Dorothy Parker, frightening young children at the Algonquin Hotel. Even Aaron Burr and his daughter made their contribution to the horror story of New York.
St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
131 E. 10th St., 212-674-6377, East Village, Manhattan.
Did you know that the street name in Manhattan, Bowery, comes from the Dutch word bouwerij, meaning farm? This linguistic specter leads us to the story of Peter Stuyvesant, one of the pioneers who discovered the New World.
Stuyvesant was the governor general of the New Netherlands colony and lived on a farm in its capital, New Amsterdam (the name of New York until 1664). Stuyvesant's farm was located along the road; in its place is now the Church of St. Mark. In 1672, Stuyvesant was buried in a crypt, which was finally sealed in 1953. Who knows, maybe it wasn't sealed tight enough?
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According to the book Haunted Places: The National Directory, there are four ghosts in St. Mark's Church, and one of them has a wooden leg. It is said to be Stuyvesant himself, whose right leg, after being wounded by a cannonball in 1644, was replaced with a prosthesis.
Church ministers have repeatedly reported that they heard the sound of the footsteps of a man with a wooden leg. This character disrupted service in 1884 (singing hymns in Dutch) and in 1995 (vociferously commenting on the number of bottles of rum left over).
So to go to the East Village is to risk facing an old 17th century politician. Basically, he wanders in centuries-old Dutch vestments through the streets that surround the site of his former farm. Some even claim to have seen Stuyvesant in the good company of Edgar Poe, Washington Irving and Harry Houdini, who also frequent the East Village.
Bridge Café
279 Water St., 212-227-3344, Financial District, Manhattan.
The Gangs of New York movie features several scenes filmed in exuberant drinking houses. In one bar, in particular on the shelves, there were cans of canned body parts. This is a reference to the real-life Bridge Café.
Since its opening in 1794, this establishment has been a brothel, a pirate bar, a Hungarian restaurant, a seafood restaurant and much more.
Body parts? Ask Ms. Gallu Mag, the six-foot Irish bouncer who has bitten off or cut off the ears of disturbers. She then marinated the trophies and put them on the shelf above the bar for clarity.
Although Mrs. Mage ran the show in the early 19th century when the place was called The Hole-in-the-Wall, many argue that she still roams his rooms. Chef Joe Kunst said that one night while he and his daughter were in the office on the second floor, they heard heavy footsteps in the apparently empty dining room below.
Belasco Theater
111 W. 44th St., 212-239-6200, Midtown West, Manhattan.
Next time you pass the Belasco Theater, look out for the large metal shuttered windows on the right side of the building. Behind them is the apartment of the eccentric impresario David Belasco, the self-proclaimed Bishop of Broadway, who lived here until his death in 1931.
True to his nickname, "Belasco even wore a clerical collar," says Reagan Fletcher, a former Schubert organization archivist who now owns the theater. “The apartment fits his personality. It is full of dark wood and Gothic nooks and crannies. His phone booth looked like a confessional."
Actors, stage workers and doormen saw Belasco, who was a famous ladies' man, on the balcony during the show; he often appears there accompanied by a woman in a blue dress.
"Presumably, this is the statistician who fell into the elevator shaft," Fletcher continues. “There are, of course, many versions,” he says about various ghost stories, but he himself remains convinced that there are no ghosts in the theater. "For me, it's just an old building that creaks sometimes."
The Belasco Theater underwent a major renovation in 2010, but the apartment is still pending. “We'd all kill for this apartment,” Fletcher says with a sinister grin.
Washington Square Park
Greenwich Village, Manhattan.
Tell a New Yorker that Washington Square Park is plagued by, um, mysterious visions and the paranormal - and most likely he will just laugh at your naivety.
But jewelry designer, Nancy Valentine, once had no laughing matter.
“About 30 years ago, my friends and I were standing under an arch, and suddenly one of my friends felt as if a hand was sliding along his back. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground."
Valentine seriously added, “I will never go there again. When I participate in outdoor fairs, I get the organizers to place my tent at the other end of the park."
She is not the only one who has experienced supernatural powers in this place; it is rumored that if you walk in the park in the middle of the night, you will see gallows ghosts hanging from the trees. This will not seem like an empty invention if you are familiar with the history of the park.
Al Rosario, the doorman at 29 Washington Square West, explains: “In the past, the police were required to first hang and then bury criminals. Later, when it was decided to open a park here and construction began, guess what they found? Bones. But the construction of the park continued."
The public hanging described by Rosario (who, incidentally, had never personally encountered extraterrestrial forces during his work) took place on a particular tree known as Hangman's Elm, in the northwest corner of the park, a few steps from Rosario's house.
Including criminals and victims of yellow fever epidemics in the early 19th century, who were also buried in the park, there are an estimated 20,000 bodies under Washington Square. Think carefully before your next picnic.
Brittany Hall at NYU
55 E. 10th St., 212-995-3090, Greenwich Village, Manhattan.
Just a few blocks north of Washington Square Park is the New York University Freshman Dorm, which is also no stranger to ghost encounters. Moreover, it abounds in them. For example, the story of Andy Ackle, who once stayed there for the night: “My friend and I were watching a movie, and suddenly the door suddenly opened and, almost immediately, slammed. Was there a draft? No, besides, the doors are very heavy."
Another former resident of Britain, Philip Ward, even knows the name of the otherworldly guest. “Her name is Molly and she died at the beginning of the 20th century. You can hear it in the middle of the night. She spends most of her time in elevators. I think [Molly] fell into the mine and died, and for some reason just flies around the building."
In fact, no one in the dorm is afraid of Molly; she is treated as an urban legend and students are ready to meet her from the first day in the hostel.
And she seems to be a friendly ghost: at least Molly was not annoyed when there were no air conditioning in the hall and the air was stale (but the students were very nervous). During the recent renovation, an air conditioner, fire doors were installed, and some old-style windows were replaced with modern energy-efficient ones; Molly hasn't said a word yet.
Algonquin Hotel
59 W. 44th St., 212-840-6800, Midtown West, Manhattan.
When the roaring 20s were in full swing, Dorothy Parker and her literary contemporaries known as the Round Table Algonquins drew crowds for daily dinners in the Pink Room (later renamed the Round Table Restaurant). Parker, who is revered for her wit, literally took him to her grave with her. The epitaph “Forgive my ashes” that can be seen on a plaque in the garden of the NAACP headquarters in Baltimore actually speaks.
Some argue that after her death in 1967, Dorothy continues to make fun of, not adults, but children.
“Dorothy Parker didn't like children,” recalls former restaurant concierge Daniel Ute. - They start to roar when they are in this room. Sometimes they even run away."
One if by Land, Two if by Sea
17 Barrow St., 212-255-8649, West Village, Manhattan.
It will take a lot of effort to find a deserted street in Greenwich Village, but this tiny stretch of Burrow Street between South 7th Avenue and West 4th Street is worth any search.
Earlier, on the site of the restaurant "One if by Land, Two if by Sea" there was a guest house of Aaron Burr, and now the ghost of Burr's daughter, Feodosia, remains from it. In December 1812, she returned to New York from South Carolina on the schooner Patriot, which disappeared into the sea.
“Her spirit probably came back here because she wanted to be close to her father. We have freaky things that happen sometimes,”says former canteen manager Tom Kirk. Glasses fly off the tables, and paintings inexplicably fall from the walls.
“The staff saw spirits coming down the stairs late at night. - he continues, adding as a joke - I do not solder my workers."
It is understandable why a ghost from the 19th century wanted to stay here: a hitching post in front of the entrance, a fireplace and rugs make this place truly cozy and warm, while live music and 200-year-old paintings add elegance to the atmosphere (not to mention the private banquet hall, in which the actor Steve McQueen literally lived).
Kirk admits that he believes in ghosts, although he himself has not seen anyone in the restaurant.
“We called in a paranormal expert a few years ago. And you know what? He said there were ghosts here."
Morris-jumel mansion
65 Jumel Terrace, 212-923-8008, Washington Heights, Manhattan.
Oh, Aaron Burr. We don't know if we should pity him or reproach him for the ghosts filling the city. Burr and Alexander Hamilton defended the man accused of murdering the bride and took him off the hook at trial; according to legend, after the sentence was lifted, the victim's cousin placed a curse on both of them.
This might explain Burr's presence in modern New York, where he occasionally joins his daughter Theodosia in One if by Land, Two if by Sea. Or maybe the former vice president is not leaving because he is simply bitter to leave these places. Some believe that he died in disgrace for the murder of Hamilton in a famous duel that took place just a few years after the trial.
Burr's other scandal revolves around the old Morris-Jumel estate, which served as George Washington's headquarters during the Revolutionary War. It was later home to a wealthy married couple, Eliza and Stephen Jumel. A romance broke out between Burr and Eliza, and soon after that Stephen was found dead. He fell out of the window onto the pitchfork.
If this sounds suspicious, then subsequent events only reinforce this feeling: Eliza and her lover were immediately married. Burr, then 77, was rumored to need her money. They divorced three years later, and Burr died the day after the divorce was filed.
Eliza is rumored to have lost her mind. Her behavior became eccentric: for example, she required an armed garrison to accompany her during her daily walks. After her death in 1865, she was often seen wandering around the mansion in a white dress.
The most famous precedent came in 1965 - 100 years after her death, when Eliza's ghost shouted at a group of schoolchildren. The children said that she was wearing a purple dress. Some people still claim to have seen Burr in the house.
Aaron Burr. Even from his name goosebumps appear.