Frank Borzellieri Presents…

“My Ten Favorite Haunted Locations in New York City”

Full Disclaimer and Disclosure: I have never had a haunted or paranormal experience. Regrettably (at least for me) I have not enjoyed the presence of ghosts or other entities from the great beyond or other dimensions. I say “regrettably” because I really love this stuff. Horror is my favorite genre in literature and film. Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Moreover, I have close friends whom I respect and trust, who have said they have experienced hauntings. While I have no way of knowing the truth, let me say out front that I certainly believe that they believe what they say. So while I am not a true believer, I would not call myself a skeptic either. Let’s just say I’m agnostic about the whole thing and I do hope hauntings are real.

Today, anyone can do a web search and find “haunted places in New York City,” so the locations I discuss here aren’t anything you can’t read about elsewhere. Those websites are usually authored by journalists or tourism companies. What makes my list different is that 1. I live here in New York City; 2. I have visited all these places; and

I went with the hopes that I would experience something paranormal. Although I didn’t, I still like the idea and very much enjoyed the visits. In fact, a few of these places are close to where I live and work. But all are within a short subway ride or drive.

Frank Borzellieri with a good friend, at Seaview Terrace in Newport, Rhode Island.

1. Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx)

Located: 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx

What the web says about Woodlawn Cemetery: Woodlawn Cemetery is one of New York City’s largest cemeteries and is also a Natural Historic Landmark. Although the cemetery is located in the Bronx, it seems as if it’s located somewhere in the countryside. Spanning over 400 acres, the cemetery is forever home to quite a few famous people, including Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. However, this cemetery is also very haunted, as you might guess. Some people have reported that they've heard voices whispering when no one else is around. Others have reported what appears to be a ghost with a flashlight running around at night flashing it in all directions. Sometimes he even screams and yells. One of the cemetery's most famous ghosts is silent film star Olive Thomas Pickford. She died at just 25 years old under mysterious circumstances. This cemetery is spooky, historical, and beautiful. It's absolutely worth a visit and is a Bronx attraction that should not be missed. If you're looking for haunted cemeteries in New York, you've found a majorly memorable one!

What Frank Says about Woodlawn Cemetery: I worked as a teacher at St. Barnabas High School in this neighborhood, the Woodlawn section of the Bronx. Whenever I took the MetroNorth to work, I would have to walk past the cemetery. Definitely creepy looking, the kind of place where they would shoot a horror film. I went there after dark and strolled around inside. If you enjoy this kind of thing, maybe you will be more fortunate than I was, and actually experience a spook.

2. Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village (Manhattan)

Located: Base of 5th Avenue between MacDougal Street and University Place

What the web says about Washington Square Park: We know the idea of a city park being haunted because it was built on a burial grounds. Sounds like something you might read on the back of a horror story book, but this is the real deal. City planners threw caution to the wind and built the recreation area on top of 20,000 dead bodies. New Yorkers now tell tales of ghostly goings on, like a spirit that watches silently in the Northeast corner.

What Frank Says about Washington Square Park: I once lived in the neighborhood and walked through the park many times. Unlike Woodlawn, it doesn’t give vibes of being haunted, but you will enjoy the park nonetheless, either to spend a few hours or just stroll through.

3. Machpelah Cemetery (Queens)

Located: 82-30 Cypress Hills Street, Glendale, Queens

What the web says about Machpelah Cemetery: Machpelah Cemetery is located in Queens and is the final resting place of Harry Houdini. At the time of his burial, there were rumors that there was a secret compartment inside his grave. It’s yet to be proven. There were also many seances that occurred at the grave after his death, and local police are known to still patrol the site on Halloween.

What Frank says about Machpelah Cemetery: This one is near and dear to my heart, and my childhood. Having grown up in Ridgewood, Queens, Machpelah was legendary in those days, especially to kids. At Halloween a bunch of us were taken by our teacher to visit the grave of Houdini. It’s located right near the Brooklyn border, and my Little League baseball games were played right next door in Highland Park.

4. The Algonquin Hotel (Manhattan)

Located: 59 W. 44th Street, Manhattan

What the web says about The Algonquin Hotel: Many say The Algonquin Hotel still reigns supreme as one of the spookiest hotels left in NYC, where legend has it that poet Dorothy Parker, performer Harpo Marx and playwright George Connell still posthumously hang out. Some have even said that a photo of Ms. Parker has fell off the wall and that children could hear her shushes for being too noisy.

What Frank says about The Algonquin Hotel: Well, I’ve never stayed at the Algonquin, but I have gone inside and loitered outside. If there really is such a thing as a haunting, this would be a great place for it. I’m not really sure the ghost of Groucho Marx would actually scare me (I’d rather have a drink with him) but, man, that would be a hoot.

5. White Horse Tavern, West Village (Manhattan)

Located: 59 W. 44th Street, Manhattan

What the web says about White Horse Tavern: This bar was a regular haunt (pun intended) for poet Dylan Thomas, who one day decided it’d be worth seeing what would happen if he drank 18 shots of whiskey. Can you guess what happened? The ghost of Thomas is said to sit at his regular table where empty glasses appear from time to time.

What Frank says about White Horse Tavern: I have gone inside, sat at the bar, and had several beers. They play sports on the TVs. The workers knew of the haunted reputation and said, yes, it’s part of the allure. I’m not sure you’ll experience a haunting there, but it’s a fine place to throw down a few.

6. St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, East Village (Manhattan)

Where: 131 E. 10th Street, Manhattan

What the web says about St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery: Churches can be pretty spooky places at the best of times. So, a church with the spirit of a one-legged Dutchman is not somewhere we’re really psyched to go on a Sunday. The building rests on the burial ground (when will people learn?) of New Amsterdam governor Peter Stuyvesant, who is said to disrupt Sunday services by ringing bells, singing hymns in Dutch, and hearing the sound of his peg-leg walking throughout the church.

What Frank says about St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery: This is truly one of my favorites. There is just something about a church that lends itself to the aura of being haunted. I lived walking distance to St. Mark’s, so I’ve been on the grounds and inside. The ghosts are rumored to lurk around on the outside, so if you go after closing, you might still get the spooky vibe.

7. The Dakota, Central Park West (Manhattan)

Where: 1 W. 72nd Street, Manhattan

What the web says about The Dakota: Famously the place where former Beatle John Lennon was shot dead by Mark Chapman, the Dakota actually has a longer history of the paranormal. While Lennon was reportedly seen by Yoko Ono playing the piano, the musician himself reported seeing a crying lady in the building. After John Lennon was shot in front of the building on Central Park West, Yoko Ono said she frequently saw his ghost sitting at his white piano. Also, have you seen Rosemary’s Baby, one of the creepiest horror movies in history? It was obviously filmed there for a reason.

What Frank says about The Dakota: Well, by far the most famous things about the Dakota are John Lennon’s assassination in front, and the filming of Rosemary’s Baby. It’s the perfect place to shoot a horror movie, and man, do I wish I could afford to live there. If you make slightly above minimum wage, you may be able to afford the one of the multi-million dollar apartments. I enjoy walking around the whole building, which is quite a hike.

8. Wollman Rink, Central Park (Manhattan)

Located: 830 5th Avenue, Manhattan

What the web says about Wollman Rink: Go ice-skating in the park this winter and you might see the spirits of Janet and Rosetta Van Der Voort, two reclusive sisters who played there together as children. Their parents were so overprotective that the sisters barely left their Upper West Side apartment (except to do triple axels, apparently), and they both died there as spinsters. For years, New Yorkers have reportedly spotted two women skating in Victorian clothing in the middle of the night.

What Frank says about Wollman Rink: OK, I am a big ice hocky fan (Islanders) but no, I do not ice skate. Nevertheless, it’s fun standing around the rink watching people fall and slip-slide on the ice. I don’t know about hauntings, but the most famous thing about Wollman was way back when the City of New York was in charge and couldn’t get the place fixed. Donald Trump, a private citizen, took over, and had the place up and skating in record time.

9. Merchant’s House Museum, NoHo (Manhattan)

Located: 29 E. 4th Street, Manhattan

What the web says about Merchant’s House Museum: National Historic Landmark, the Merchant’s House Museum is housed in an 1832 Federal-style brick townhouse in the East Village often referred to as the “Most Haunted House in Manhattan.” The dwelling is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a miserly spinster named Gertrude Tredwell, who rarely left the house from her birth in 1840 until she died in 1933 at the age of 93. In addition to witnessing Gertrude wander around the house in a shabby brown dress, visitors have reported unexplained sounds, lights and smells throughout the Merchant’s House Museum.

What Frank says about Merchant’s House Museum: This is not the kind of museum I would normally like – it features furniture, clothing, art, household items, etc. I much prefer the Museum of Natural History with all those cool dinosaurs. But Merchant’s is an awesome place if you like what it offers, and if you want to see if you can catch the sight of a spook.

10. House of Death, Greenwich Village (Manhattan)

Located: 14 W. 10th Street, Manhattan

What the web says about House of Death:

The “House of Death” is one of the most famous haunted houses in New York City. Located on 14 West 10th Street, this brownstone is said to be haunted by at least 22 ghosts. The brownstone was also once home to the author Mark Twain and his ghost has been said to still wander throughout the stairwell of the home.

What Frank says about House of Death:

You would think in a place with 22 ghosts that I would be able to see just one. No such luck. I walked by many times in the neighborhood and it looks somewhat menacing, but no spooks that I can vouch more. I’ll keep trying.

Honorable Mention… Two “haunted” places not located in the City of New York.

I would be remiss if I did not include my two favorite “haunted places,” which I frequent almost every Halloween. Though not located in New York City, they both have connections to Dark Shadows, the great supernatural Gothic soap opera with its various vampires, ghosts, and witches.

Village of Sleepy Hollow (Westchester County, New York)

What the web says about Sleepy Hollow: Just 30 miles north of New York City lies the tiny village of Sleepy Hollow and adjacent Tarrytown, the area where author Washington Irving (1783-1859) set his acclaimed gothic short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which features the infamous ghost known as the “Headless Horseman.” Considered one of the “Most Haunted Places in the World,” Sleepy Hollow hosts an annual Halloween event called Horseman’s Hollow that boasts 15 days of “haunted mayhem.” Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery serves as the final resting place of Irving and also was a filming location for the Ramones’ 1989 “Pet Sematary” music video.

What Frank says about Sleepy Hollow: So Sleepy Hollow is a town, not a specific building, and it is iconic for Halloween. The photo is of Lyndhurst Mansion, itself rumored to be haunted, and a place where I took my students on a road trip. It was at Lyndhurst that the two Dark Shadows movies were filmed. I have spent many Halloween weekends in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow where there are numerous Halloween activities throughout. I attended every Dark Shadows fan convention there, staying at different hotels. My lucky friends have experienced hauntings there.

Seaview Terrace (Newport, Rhode Island)

What the web says about Seaview Terrace: Seaview Terrace, one of Newport, Rhode Island’s historic cliff-side mansions, has 43,772 square feet of living space on 7.64 acres. The estate has an abundance of space for an adventurous buyer — just so long as they don’t mind sharing with a ghost or two. The property boasts 29 bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, 10 fireplaces and an unknown number of spirits haunting its halls. Amy Bruni, ghost hunter, author, podcast host and star of the reality television show “Kindred Spirits,” has visited the mansion multiple times she said in an email, and can confirm the presence of the paranormal.

What Frank says about Seaview Terrace: This place is the Mecca, my favorite, the location of the fictitious Collinwood Mansion from Dark Shadows. Along with many close friends and throughout many years, I have stayed overnight inside this great mansion many times, mostly at Halloween, but also for Memorial Day weekend and Fourth of July week. Several friends have been accosted by ghosts in their rooms. Seaview is privately owned, so the public is not allowed on the property, but you can see it from the street. If you are a Dark Shadows fan, this is the place.

Ghosts of New York City

There are several books about ghosts and hauntings in New York City. The one I enjoyed most is “Ghosts of New York City” by Therese Lanigan-Schmidt. I have not visited all the places referenced in this book, but it is a good guide if the topic interests you.

Frank Borzellieri is a libertarian blogger, author, and essayist from New York City. Frank has two advanced degrees, a Masters in Education from St. John’s University, and a Masters in Communications and Mass Media from Fordham University. He has worked as a journalist and editorialist and was a columnist for the Leader Observer newspaper chain in New York.