NYC: The Haunted Pt. 1

Photos by: David Y.

With October coming to a close and Halloween just around the corner, i have decided to base my last two posts of the month on "The Haunted" NYC. One of the main reasons i love living in NY is the endless amount of history this city keeps. i've heard it said, "LA has a good vibe, but NY has soul." This is such a true statement, on so many levels, and i feel the "Souls" of NY can best be found, and seen, in the many buildings around us. Some of the best known places to find the ghosts of past are on the west side of the city. i took a ride up Chambers street heading over to my friend Amy's place off Reade. While i was riding i noticed some of the old Architecture that paves the way near City Hall. The ornate buildings, door's, lamps, and appendages that make up the Gothic Revival and Art Deco of our downtown. The copper has just the right patina to make it feel cold, lifeless, and yet alive. We took off immediately making our way up Greenwich St. passing the many warehouses that make up Tribeca, and finally coming to our first stop on Spring St.. Nestled between two buildings is the "Ear Inn".

The Ear Inn is a bar/house built back in 1817 by (legend says) John Brown, aide to George Washington during the revolution. This is one of the last wooden bars in NY and stands 2.5 stories originally 5' away from the original Hudson river shore (since they have leveled the city, and dumped the soil along the bottom tip of Manhattan making up Battery park, and the west side of the Hudson Shore). History writes that a sailor, "Mickey", who was living at the Inn was leaving the bar after a long night of drinking and was struck by a car. Since the killing many people have seen Mickey walking around the bar, ordering his Corn Whiskey (which they used to brew and sell) which was kept above the bar. When we walked up to the bar we noticed the building had shifted a little, which is normal for most pre war buildings, the doors are still painted green (which was the original name of the bar "The Green Door"), and the dusty bottles of the past sitting above the bar were still intact. The low ceilings make the place a bit more cozy on this crisp day. The building originally was a men's only bar, consisting of sailors, traders, and of course Mickey. There was no music back then, just the songs of the sailors. The door to the original Inn was just outside which i took a photo of here. The bar was later named "Ear Inn" when someone painted of the letter "B" in "BAR" making it appear to say "EAR". The sign dates back to the 1940's and is still intact.

From here we made our way up Greenwich crossing to Hudson St. and making our way to the West Village. Again while we were riding i was looking for shots of old NY. The West village is one of the oldest places in the city, and one of the most expensive to live, even though it originally was one of the poorest to live during the depression. Many of the buildings are sought after treasures because of this illustrious past. We made our way up the Hudson and crossed over to Grove to find the oldest bar in the city "Chumley's" which is another haunted pub. We rode up Grove to find out that it had been torn down, and levled recently due to a chimmney collapsing. Chumley's is where the phrase "86" was coined (the address: 86 Bedford), and is now a piece of faded history.

We made our way up Grove to Christopher St. coming to our last stop of the day, "The House of Death". This house is located on one of the most beautiful streets 14 W. 10th st.. The house was built in the classic Gothic Revival style, and was home to Mark Twain who lived here from 1900-1901; he and his wife were leasing the house, which he reported as haunted. The place is haunted by 22 ghosts, one of which is Mark Twain that can be seen walking up and down the stairwell. This is the place of the famous Lisa Steinberg murder (where Joel Steinberg beat his 6yr. old daughter to death). There is a small Mark Twain plaque on the house which i took a photo of. This is one of the only homes on the block that is covered by trees, and is lit by one of the 'Bishop Crook' lamposts (circa: 1892). We rode up to 5th ave. and made our way to Washington Square Park where i will start next week.......