Halloween may be over, but it’s still Halloweekend — so it’s time to leave students with a far greater sense of dread than they felt while taking their last midterm. From busy gathering spots like Washington Square Park to the lesser-known Furman Hall of the law school, NYU‘s campus turns out to be much spookier than most people realize. If you’re looking for something to do this Halloweekend, visit these places and see if the ghostly rumors are true, or if the scariest thing about NYU is the cost of tuition.
The following stories are inspired by rumors that have been historically popular among the NYU community and are not 100% factual.
Chapter 1: Phantom of the Elevator
Long ago, Brittany Hall was a bustling hotel full of travelers, where people checked in and out of their rooms like any other lodging. However, there were some guests that never left.
The year was 1929 and the building was under construction. A little girl named Molly was blissfully going about her day, not knowing what a midterm was, when, by a cruel twist of fate, she fell down the shaft of the unfinished elevator — the same elevator students use today. Ever since that night, Molly’s ghost has remained lurking through Brittany Hall for nearly a century, left to watch students complain about difficult professors and stupid situationships.
But Molly is allegedly not the only ghost creeping around the first-year dorm. The penthouse of Brittany Hall, now a quiet study lounge, was once a lively speakeasy during the Prohibition era. Ghosts from that time supposedly linger, keeping the party alive and the lounge lights flickering. So now, if you’re a Brittany Hal; resident and the lights go off in your dorm, it’s not because they’re motion-activated and you haven’t moved from your bed for a minute — it’s Molly or her drunken friends.
Chapter 2: Fearful in Furman Hall
Once upon a midnight dreary, Edgar Allan Poe pondered, weak and weary, in Furman Hall. 85 W Third St. may be Furman Hall’s address today, but it was once the residence of the infamous goth poet himself.
A most bewildering writer, Poe created some of his most famous works while living at Furman Hall, including “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” Although both poems are about madness — one caused by a raven and the other by personal insult — the insanity surrounding them goes beyond just the stories’ text. While Furman Hall has undergone multiple reconstructions since Poe’s time there in 1846, his original papers still remain between the bricks. Everything else from the old building has been discarded over the years — well, all except the banister. Who knows, maybe as you hold that bannister when you go up the stairs to the second floor to avoid seeming lazy, it might have been where he held the bannister all those years ago.
Poe is forever watching the moves of NYU Law students — haunting the building, pacing the stairs, grasping the banister and experiencing the afterlife as unsettled as he was in the flesh.
Chapter 3: A Quiet Place
Looking for a quiet spot to study? Look no further than Jefferson Market Library. The library, once a fire tower lookout in 1833, was also a courthouse in 1877 –– the site of the infamous Harry Kendall Thaw murder trial. Though the building has changed in its time and a bit of a rowdy history, it still stands today on Sixth Avenue. The gorgeous library is the perfect place to get work done and a respite from the typical Bobst Library.
Despite the peace Jefferson Market can bring, the ghosts there might be a little distracting. People who have stayed until closing, when the library becomes darker and less inviting, have reported seeing figures. Many of the apparitions that have been spotted are said to be female, thought to have once roamed the small park, which was a women’s prison once upon a time. There isn’t any one specific ghost that haunts the stacks of the library, but some ghostly presences reside at the top of the bell tower, which is closed to the public.
The next time you want to escape Bobst’s monotonous energy and head to Jefferson Market Library, where instead of a sleep-deprived student sitting next to you, you might see a real ghost. But the spirits don’t care about your midterm or paper due at 11:59 p.m., so beware of what you might see if you stay after the sun goes down.
Contact Alessa Alluin at [email protected].
