The Irregular Guide to New York City

Kirsten Miller promo for KIKI STRIKE 1, 2, & 3

THE IRREGULAR GUIDE TO

NEW YORK CITY


TABLE OF CONTENTS

MEET THE DEAD

Introduction

1. A Picnic in a Potters Field

2. The Secret Cemetery

3. A Kidnapped Corpse

4. A Headless Ghost

5. The Land of the Dead

6. Other Cemeteries to Visit: Tiniest, African, Quaker

POOP

Introduction

7. Outhouses and Privies

8. Toxic Muck

9. The Newtown Creek Digester Eggs

10. The Houseboats of the Gowanus Canal

11. Bathing in Public

THE CITY BENEATH YOUR FEET

Introduction


12. Chinatowns Bloody Tunnels

13. Manhattans Underground Cow Tunnels of Doom

14. The Abandoned Subway Station

15. The Mystery of Track 61

16. The Rockefeller Escape Route

17. The (Almost) Invisible Stream

18. Other Underground Places to Visit: Atlantic Avenue

LOST AND FOUND

Introduction

19. The Town Brooklyn Swallowed

20. The Campbell Apartment

21. Scenic Stops on the Underground Railroad

22. The Secret of the Brooklyn Bridge

23. When Horses Ruled the Citys Streets

24. Hidden Houses

25. Other Hidden Places to Visit: Grove Court, Patchin and Milligan Places, and

Pomander Walk

HAUNTED HOUSES

Introduction

26. The Voice in the Clock


27. The Little Old Lady Who Refuses to Leave

28. The Girl in the Well

29. A Haunting in Hells Kitchen

30. Other Haunted Places of Note: The Ear Inn and the Belasco Theater

GETTING MESSY

Introduction

31. The Earth Room

32. Rat Watching

33. Urban Foraging

34. Guerilla Gardening

RANDOM WEIRDNESS

Introduction

35. The Secret Mail Delivery System

36. Manhattanhenge

37. Manhattans Bermuda Triangle

38. The Tugboat Graveyard

39. A Trip Through Time

40. Wormholes: Cobble Hill and Clinton Hill, South Street Seaport, Sylvan Place,

Historic Richmond Town


SPELLBOUND

Introduction

41. Manhattans Secret Magic Library

42. The Speakeasy Bookstore

43. The Treasure Beneath Bryant Park

44. The Library with a Criminal Record

45. The Best Place to Reboot Your Brain

BIZARRE BAZAAR

Introduction

46. A Cabinet of Curiosities

47. Witchcraft Supplies

48. Chinatown

SCAVENGER HUNT

Introduction

49. Rooftop Houses

50. Sewer Alligators

51. The Green Man

52. Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Caryatids

53. Ghosts of the Past


MEET THE DEAD

Millions of people call New York City home. While youre here, youll spend so

much time trying not to bump into the living that you may forget to pay your

respects to our dead.

In places like Brooklyn and Queens, graveyards are often easy to find.

However, if you visit Manhattan, you might not encounter a single tombstone.

Where are all the cemeteries? you will wonder. People have been dying here for

more than four hundred years. Where did they all go?

Dont fret. The dead are still here. Its just that most of their graves lie

unmarked. Should you want to pay them a visit, youll first have to know where to

look.

A PICNIC IN A POTTERS FIELD

Washington Square Park is the perfect place for a picnic, so grab yourself a hot

dog and hunt for an empty spot on the grass. Before you chow down, have a

moment of silence for your unseen hosts. Because even if the park looks empty,

youre not alone. Over twenty thousand people are buried beneath you.

Many of Manhattans public parks share the same dark history. Before their

trees were planted and playgrounds built, they were potters fields, where the

bodies of the poor or unknown were laid to rest.

Washington Square Park houses many such unfortunate souls (along with

at least one criminal who was hanged nearby*). Most of the parks deceased

residents were victims of yellow fever, one of the many nasty diseases that


ravaged New York in the nineteenth century. Today, the bodies beneath the grass

have been largely forgotteneven though their bones dont always stay buried. A

few years back, when the park was renovated, the remains of several people were

unearthed, along with the tombstone of a man named James Jackson, who died in

1799. (Jackson himself was never discovered.)

* Hangmans Elm stands on the northwest corner of Washington Square Park.

Its believed to be the oldest tree in Manhattanaround 250 to 330 years old.

Though there are no records of hangings taking place here, legends dating back

to the nineteenth century claim that the tree was the site of executions.

THE SECRET CEMETERY

Before it was discovered by a band of girl geniuses, the Marble Cemetery was one

of Manhattans best-kept secrets. Even now, few people realize that there is a

hidden graveyard right in the heart of the East Village. Its gate is usually locked,

so be sure to check the schedule on the cemeterys website (marblecemetery.org).

If youre lucky and the Marble Cemetery is open while youre in town, you

definitely wont want to miss it.

The first thing youll need to do is find the cemeterys gate on Second

Avenue between Second and Third Streets. (Dont get confused and go to the other

less interesting Marble Cemetery around the corner.) Past the graveyards

entrance is a long, narrow alley. At the end of this passage, youll find a large,

grass-covered lawn surrounded by an old stone wall (parts of which have

collapsed). But you wont find any tombstones. Why? Because the two thousand


people who were buried here in the nineteenth century werent given individual

graves.

Beneath your feet are 156 rooms. Each once belonged to a wealthy New

York family whose members intended to spend eternity side by side in a cramped

marble chamber. (The families names are inscribed on plaques set in the

graveyards walls.) In order to enter the underground vaults, youd have to lift one

of the stone slabs that are set in the grass. (Its not recommendedand probably

illegalbut if you do, be sure to say hello to Augustus Quackenbush.)

A KIDNAPPED CORPSE

On the corner of Tenth Street and Second Avenue, youll find St. Marks in the

Bowery, the second oldest church in Manhattan. Beneath the St. Marks

churchyards are stone burial vaults. One of these belongs to Peter Stuyvesant,

whose spirit is rumored to haunt the vicinity. (If you see a ghost with a wooden

leg, thats probably Pete.) Inside another vault lie the remains of a wealthy

businessman named Alexander Stewart, who was buried at St. Marks in 1876.

Three weeks later, his corpse was stolen and held for ransom.

Grave robbing was quite common in the nineteenth century. Back then, if

you paid a midnight visit to a New York cemetery, you were likely to spot groups

of shovel-wielding thieves tiptoeing around in the dark. These might have been

common crooks raiding coffins and pulling the rings off of skeletal fingers. Or they

could have been medical students searching for fresh corpses to dissect.

But the grave robbers who stole Alexander Stewarts body from St. Marks

in the Bowery were after a much bigger prize$20,000, to be precise. And they


got their ransom from his grieving widow. No one knows for sure if the body that

was returned to St. Marks actually belonged to Mr. Stewart, but rumor has it that

his family took special measures to ensure his remains would not be disturbed. It

is said that if the vault is ever opened, the church bells will ring, alerting the city

that grave robbers are on the prowl once again.

A HEADLESS GHOST

The oldest church in Manhattan is St. Pauls Chapel. There are many reasons one

might choose to visit this historic place of worship. However, I recommend a tour

of its graveyard. Lots of well-known dead people are buried therebut only one of

them is missing his head.

George Frederick Cooke (17561812) was a gifted actor with an

unfortunate addiction to alcohol. He died penniless and was buried in a paupers

grave in St. Pauls churchyard. Somewhere between his deathbed and the

cemetery, Mr. Cooke became separated from his head. Some say he sold his skull

to science before he died in order to help pay his medical bills. Others claim

Cookes doctor took the head as a souvenir. (He wasnt the only physician to keep

a piece of a favorite patient. The practice wasnt uncommon in those days.)

The actor may have been in the grave, but that didnt prevent his head

from returning to the stage. Over the next century or so, Cookes skull often

appeared in productions of Hamlet. Alas, Poor Yorick! Today, the skull is in the

Scott Library at Thomas Jefferson University. Perhaps someone should tell poor

Mr. Cooke. They say his headless ghost can still be seen wandering the St. Pauls

cemetery, searching in vain for its missing noggin.


THE LAND OF THE DEAD

As soon as you pass through the gothic gates of Green-Wood Cemetery in

Brooklyn, you will find yourself in the land of the dead. For almost two hundred

years, this is where many of New Yorks most famous (and infamous) citizens

have been buried. Take one of the paths that snake through the 478 acres of

woods and valleys and youll see bizarre marble tombs perched atop knolls,

forbidding mausoleums built into the hills, and countless ghoulish monuments to

the dead. You might even spot the entrances to Green-Woods underground

catacombs if you know where to look. The cemetery is lovely, peaceful, and

delightfully creepy. But few people seem eager to spend time with the dead. In

fact, if you visit during the week, you probably wont see another living soul.

What you will see, however, are large flocks of parrots. Smart, squawking

emerald-green monk parakeets. Decades ago, a few of the Argentinean natives

managed to escape from a container at JFK airport. Hundreds of their

descendants now call Brooklyn homeand many of them live in Green-Wood

Cemetery.

OTHER CEMETERIES TO VISIT

The tiniest graveyard in New York can be found on a triangular sliver of land on

Eleventh Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The cemetery was started in

1805 by the Jewish congregation of Shearith Israel, and was originally much

larger. In 1830, Eleventh Street was built, and many of the graves were dug up

and moved. (Or were they?)


In 1991, construction workers discovered the bones of over four hundred

people buried in Manhattans financial district. The site, which is now home to the

African Burial Ground National Monument (290 Broadway), was part of a 6.6-

acre unmarked cemetery where freed and enslaved Africans were laid to rest in

the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Some people (including me) believe that Brooklyns Prospect Park is the

most beautiful park in the city. Go through the entrance on Fifteenth Street and

Prospect Park West, walk toward the woods, and youll come across a rather

unexpected sight. Nestled between the trees is a twelve-acre Quaker cemetery

that dates from the mid-nineteenth century. Your mom might be interested to

know that Montgomery Clift is buried there.


POOP

I know what youre thinking. I can see poop anywhere. Whats so great about the poop

in New York? Nothingaside from the fact that we have an awful lot of it. So much,

in fact, that its played an important role in the history of this city. Before we

figured out how to deal with all the poop we produce, it poisoned our water,

befouled our rivers, and spread diseases that killed hundreds of thousands of New

Yorkers. Its the twenty-first century, and we still havent cleaned it all up. So grab

a pair of nose plugs, and lets take a look at how we got into this mess. I

promiseits going be fascinating.

OUTHOUSES AND PRIVIES

Go for a stroll through Manhattans Greenwich Village or Brooklyns Cobble Hill,

and youll find yourself surrounded by so many old houses that you may feel like

youve taken a trip back in time. Many of the buildings youll pass were

constructed in the first half of the nineteenth century. Lovely, arent they? Now

heres something to think about: most were built before indoor plumbing made its

way to New York. So where did people go to the toilet, you ask? Why, in the

backyard, of course!

Take a peek behind any old house or apartment building in New York City,

and youre likely to find a yard of some sort. Today, these little patches of ground

are used for gardens or barbecue grills. But not long ago, they would have held an

outhouse or privy. These structures came in all shapes and sizes. Some were


quite fancy. Others were little more than a shack. But no matter how nicely an

outhouse may have been decorated, it was still just an outdoor toilet built over a

pit.

If you were rich, your family would have had its own outhouse. If you lived

in an apartment building in a poor neighborhood like the Lower East Side of

Manhattan, you probably shared the same privy with more than fifty other people.

Even the deepest pits tend to fill up rather quickly when that many people are

making deposits. The filth would often overflow into the courtyard and seep into

neighboring basements.

Keeping an outhouse or privy (somewhat) sanitary was a nasty business.

Just like today, well-off New Yorkers hired others to do their dirty work. The pits

beneath their outhouses were emptied by necessary tubmen who worked the

nightshift. While the rich slumbered, the tubmen would fill their night carts with

sewage, which they later dumped in the citys rivers. On hot summer nights, even

the wealthy couldnt escape from the stench that followed the tubmen as they

made their rounds.

Want to visit a New York outhouse? Theres an original outhouse at the

Merchants House Museum and a reconstructed privy at the Tenement Museum,

located at 97 Orchard Street.

TOXIC MUCK

You may have seen a movie or two about old New York in which women glided

through the streets in beautiful, ground-sweeping dresses and gentlemen paraded

around in perfectly polished shoes. Now Im going to introduce you to a common


(but often overlooked) feature of New Yorks old houses that proves such scenes

were pure fantasy. Its called a bootscraper. Most nineteenth-century homes in the

city will have one. (Youll usually find them built into iron railings that lead up the

stairs to the front door.)

For most of the 1800s, bootscrapers were an absolute necessity. Why?

Because the streets were disgusting. If youd taken a walk through most parts of

town, your shoes would have ended up caked with rancid muck. Until the 1880s,

New York City didnt have a sanitation department to collect garbage or shovel

snow. So it stayed in the streets. Most neighborhoods still relied on privies that

often overflowedinto the streets. And then there were the horses that pulled all

those charming old carts and carriages. In 1900, horses left 2.5 million pounds of

manure on the streets of New York every single day.

So think about all those beautiful, ground-sweeping dresses the women

used to wear. And do remember that a proper lady would have never lifted her

skirts to get past a nasty stretch of sidewalk. (She couldnt risk a gentleman

seeing her ankles.) Now arent you glad you waited until the twenty-first century to

pay New York City a visit?

THE NEWTOWN CREEK DIGESTER EGGS

Located on the scenic banks of one of the most polluted bodies of water in the

United States is the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The largest of

New Yorks fourteen wastewater plants, this is where much of the citys poop

comes to be treated. If youre interested in sewage (and what explorer isnt?) the

plant is well worth the trip out to Brooklyn. Theres a Visitors Center where you


can learn exactly what happens to the stuff you flush down the toiletand a

Nature Walk that lets you explore the grounds. But the plants incredible sludge-

processing Digester Eggs are what make it a first-class destination. Take a tour,

and youll swear youre on the set of a science-fiction film. The Digester Eggs

earned their name because they resemble eight enormous steel eggs. On top,

glass-enclosed catwalks stretch from one egg to the next, and at night, the entire

facility is lit with blazing blue lights. In New York, we treat our sludge in style.

And the very best part? Once every month, the public is allowed to visit the

Digester Eggs. Make a reservation at [email protected].

THE HOUSEBOATS OF THE GOWANUS CANAL

In a city like Amsterdam, which is famous for its canals, living on a houseboat is

as good as it gets. However, as you may have already guessed, the canal in

Brooklyn is nothing like Amsterdams. And yet it too has its share of houseboats.

Heres an exercise that will help you imagine what life might be like for the

brave souls who choose to make a home on Brooklyns Gowanus Canal. . . . First,

get a little toy boat. Then locate the foulest, most disgusting public toilet around.

(Gas stations are always a good place to start.) Drop your boat into one of the

toilet bowls. Try to pretend that you call that boat home. Imagine the smells and

sights one would endure. Pretty horrible, right? Well, believe it or not, there are

worse places to live. Like the Gowanus Canal.

This is no exaggeration. Gowanus water is teeming with countless disease-

causing pathogens. Cholera. Typhus. Gonorrhea. And every time theres a big

rainstorm, New York Citys ancient sewer system releases raw sewage directly into


the canal, where it mixes with highly toxic chemicals left behind by the factories,

tanneries, and gas refineries that have lined the Gowanus for the past 150 years.

Take a dip in the water, and youd probably emerge with a little less skin. The

Gowanus is also rumored to have been a mob dumping ground. Some might argue

that such stories are pure fiction, but I honestly couldnt think of a better place to

toss a body or a bag of guns.

One of my favorite spots along the canal is the boat dock. (Look for the

boat-shaped sign that reads, Brooklyns Coolest Superfund Site.) There youll

find a warning that urges boaters to avoid coming into contact with the water or

sediment in the canal. Apparently the warnings havent dissuaded the canoe club

that meets at this site every Saturday from May to October. If youre interested,

members of the public are more than welcome.

If youd rather stay dry and hunt for houseboats, try walking over the

historic Carroll Street Bridge. Theres usually a houseboat or two moored

between the Carroll St. and Union St. bridges. And believe me, theyre well worth

a peek. (Especially if you like art involving giant octopi.)

BATHING IN PUBLIC

If youre exploring the Gowanus Canal, you should pay a visit to Public Bath #7 on

the corner of Fourth Avenue and President Street. Today, few such buildings

remain, but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, public baths like

this one could be found all over the city. In those days, few people were lucky

enough to have bathtubs in their homes. And only the wealthy had showers. If you


were poor, a public bath may have been your only way to get clean. What better

way to get to know the neighbors than to shower with them, right?

(Interested in learning more about what it was like to be poor back then?

Just visit the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side.)

Public Bath #7 is now known as the Brooklyn Lyceum, a multi-use space

with a gym, theater, and caf. These days, its swimming pool is empty, and its

showers were removed long ago. But look closely, and youll spot ample proof of

the buildings past. Grab a snack at the caf, take a peek under the benches, and

youll see exactly what I mean.

If youre staying in Manhattan, dont miss one of the most beautiful public

baths ever built in the city. (In fact you can even take a dip! The facility is still in

use as a recreation center.) The Asser Levy Public Baths (built 19041906) are

located on East Twenty-Third Street at Asser Levy Place.


THE CITY BENEATH YOUR FEET

If youve ever thumbed through one of my Kiki Strike books, then you know they

take place in a Shadow City under the streets of New York. You probably assumed

I made it all up. I didnt. Beneath your feet lies a subterranean world of secret

tunnels, abandoned train stations, and forgotten rivers and streams. Only the

bravest explorers would dare set foot in the real-life Shadow Citys dark, deserted

passages. If you count yourself among them, grab a pair of boots and some rat

repellent. I hope youre not afraid of the dark.

CHINATOWNS BLOODY TUNNELS

Long before Chinese immigrants began arriving in New York, the Manhattan

neighborhood we now call Chinatown was know as Five Points. For much of the

nineteenth century, it was the most notorious slum in the United States. Giant

pigs roamed freely, eating garbage right out of the gutters. Violent gangs with

names like the Dead Rabbits and the Pug Uglies fought to the death in the streets.

The air reeked of raw sewage and rampant disease sent countless residents to an

early grave.

While most of the people who called the slum home were honest working

folks, the Five Points had a reputation as a haven for criminals. Visitors who

wanted a glimpse of the dark side of New York would often take a tour of the

neighborhood. But only the bravest would have ventured into the tunnels beneath

it.


Most of the mysterious tunnels under Chinatown probably date to the Five

Points days. But by the late nineteenth century, Five Points had become

Chinatown, and when the Chinese gang wars erupted in the early twentieth

century, the subterranean passages were used by Tong Gangs to ambushor

escape fromtheir enemies.

Today, many of these tunnels still exist, but few people have access to

them. However, one passage is open to the publicand if youre heading to

Chinatown, you wont want to miss it. Go to 5 Doyers Street. (The street was once

known as the Bloody Angle because so many men died there during the gang

wars.) Youll find an ordinary door with a staircase behind it. At the bottom of the

stairs is the Wing Fat Shopping Mall.

This strange underground shopping center was once a dark, wood-lined

tunnel lit only by kerosene lamps. The locked doors youll pass all lead to other

tunnels. No one really knows how many there areor what purposes they serve

today.

MANHATTANS UNDERGROUND COW TUNNELS OF DOOM

Two hundred years ago, a strange parade took place in New York City almost

every single night. If you looked out your window, you would have seen hundreds

of cows trotting south to their doom. Then, in the mid-nineteenth century, New

York made it illegal to herd cattle through the citys streets. This presented a

problem because most of the livestock lived on farms north of the city, while most

of the slaughterhouses were located at the bottom of Manhattan island. The

solution? Cow tunnels. These underground passages made it possible for farmers


to drive their cows to slaughter without blocking street traffic. Eventually, the

slaughterhouses moved out of town, and over time, the tunnels fell out of use.

Construction crews have been known to unearth strange wood-lined cow

tunnels roughly ten feet wide and eight feet high. Theres one beneath Greenwich

Street on the west side of Manhattan. And there are said to be two beneath

Twelfth Avenueone at Thirty-Fourth Street and another at Thirty-Eighth Street.

The rest have been forgottenbut theyre probably still down there, just waiting to

be explored.

THE ABANDONED SUBWAY STATION

The City Hall Subway Station was built in 1904 and closed to the public in 1945.

And for the next sixty-five years, New Yorkers broke every rule trying to get a

glimpse of one of the city's lost treasures. Why? Because City Hall may be the

most amazing subway station in Manhattan, with arched ceilings, chandeliers, and

fabulous skylights.

Until recently, one of the only ways to see the station (aside from

infrequent tours) was to sneak onto a downtown 6 subway at the last stop on the

line (Brooklyn Bridge). The 6 trains use the City Hall stop to turn back uptown, but

for decades, passengers werent allowed to go along for the ride.

Fortunately, subway conductors stopped kicking people off the trains in

2010! Just stay on the downtown 6 after the last official stop, and you can ride

through City Hall station without getting in trouble. And no one wants to get in

trouble. Right?


THE MYSTERY OF TRACK 61

Underneath the luxurious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in midtown Manhattan lies a

mysterious train station. Few people have seen it, and even fewer know why it was

builtor who once rode in the private train car that still sits on the tracks.

Who was powerful enough to have a secret train station built beneath one

of the fanciest hotels in the world? And why did he need his own private car?

In the 1940s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was keeping a secret

from the country. Hed contracted polio decades earlier, and the disease had left

him unable to walk on his own. He didnt want the world to know about his

infirmity, so he kept it carefully hidden. The secret train station beneath the

Waldorf Astoria was constructed so that he could enter and leave the hotel without

being seen in a wheelchair.

A 1940s-era armor-clad train car (with bulletproof windows) remains

parked thirty feet below the New York streets, ready to whisk FDR out of the city

at a moments notice. Rumor has it that the station itself still serves as an

emergency exit for presidents and other dignitaries whenever they come to town.

THE ROCKEFELLER ESCAPE ROUTE

740 Park Avenue has long been considered the most prestigious address on the

island of Manhattan. Built seventy-five years ago, it has been home to Vanderbilts,

Bouviers, Rockefellers, and royalty. To purchase an apartment in the building, you

must be more than just wealthyyou must be among the worlds super-rich.

For decades, 740 Park Avenue has also been at the center of one of

Manhattans most beloved urban myths. According to rumor, shortly after the


building opened, John D. Rockefeller Jr. built an underground escape route

beneath it. The tunnel is said to have led from the basement to nearby

subterranean train tracks where the Rockefeller private train could carry John Jr.

away from the city.

Most people, including the Rockefeller family, claim that the story is pure

fantasy. Now, however, it seems that there may be more truth to the tale than

previously thought.

In 2006, members of the NYC Water Works were working fifteen feet

beneath the street outside 740 Park Avenue when they happened upon an old

vault. Inside, the plumbers discovered a series of hidden chambers connected to

the buildings basement. Each had an arched ceiling roughly ten feet in height and

walls composed of old bricks. No one seems to know what purpose the forgotten

chambers may have served, but some have suggested that they are part of a lost

tunnel built not by the Rockefellers, but by their neighbors, the Vanderbilts.

(Of course this underground discovery wasnt the first for the NYC Water

Works. They say theyve found everything from abandoned pools to forgotten

barber shops deep beneath Manhattan.)

THE (ALMOST) INVISIBLE STREAM

The next time youre in Greenwich Village, stop at the intersection of Minetta

Street and Minetta Lane*. Are you there? Great. Now take a look around. Believe it

or not, youre standing on top of a roaring stream.


Over a century ago, before Manhattan was flattened and covered in asphalt,

the island was a pretty soggy place. Much of downtown was marshland, and

dozens of creeks and small rivers trickled all over town.

As the city grew, ponds and swamps were drained, and New Yorks streams

were buried beneath its streets. But these subterranean waterways never dried

up. Theyre still there, flowing beneath our feet. (A good sign that youre near one

is the presence of a weeping willow tree.) Theres only one problem: very few

people today know where they are. And if you start building on top of a forgotten

spring, youre going to end up with nothing more than a damp pile of bricks.

Fortunately, theres a map that can tell you where to find all of Manhattans

invisible waterways. Over five feet long and remarkably detailed, the Viele map

shows all the rivers, streams, and ponds that no one has seen in over one hundred

years.

But theres still one place where you can see Minetta Creek. Inside the

lobby of an apartment building at 2 Fifth Avenue, theres a clear plastic pipe that

rises out of the floor. If you visit after a rainstorm, you may notice water bubbling

up into the tube. Minetta Creek flows under the building, and sometimes when the

weather is wet, it decides to make an appearance.

* Another interesting note about Minetta Street and Minetta Lane: at the end of

the nineteenth century, this might have been the most dangerous intersection in

New York. The author Stephen Crane called the Minettas two of the most

enthusiastically murderous thoroughfares in the city. The Minettas had a


dreadful reputation and were said to be home to killers and bandits with names

like Bloodthirsty and Apple Mag.

OTHER UNDERGROUND PLACES TO VISIT

Beneath Atlantic Avenue, one of the busiest streets in Brooklyn, lies an enormous,

abandoned railroad tunnel that was forgotten for over sixty years. It was

rediscovered in 1981 by a nineteen-year-old kid named Bob Diamond. Before

1981, few New Yorkers would have believed there was a tunnel to be found. Bob

proved there was. Few believed Diamond when he insisted that there might be a

perfectly preserved steam engine in an unexplored section of the tunnel. Now

there may be evidence that could prove him right. Unfortunately, you wont be

able to join the search. Until recently, Diamond led tour groups into the Atlantic

Avenue Tunnel. Then the city shut him down. But be sure to check online before

you visit. Its always possible that the authorities could have a change of heart.


LOST AND FOUND

In a city the size of New York, almost anything can be lost or forgotten. Wooden

legs have been left behind in taxi cabs. Pet boa constrictors slither out of their

homes and disappear into the sewers (only to emerge later on in somebodys

toilet). If you keep your eyes open while youre visiting, you may find more than

lost limbs and slippery snakes. A hidden town was once discovered in the middle

of Brooklyn. And if an entire village can vanish in New York City, who knows what

else you might find if you bother to look.

THE TOWN BROOKLYN SWALLOWED

Most people think that the greatest archaeological discoveries take place in

faraway deserts or rainforests. But even in the biggest, most populous cities on

earth, there are still hidden treasures waiting to be found. Case in point:

Weeksville, Brooklyn.

In 1838, a free African American named James Weeks started a small but

thriving community in the part of Brooklyn that is now known as Bedford-

Stuyvesant. Over the following decades, Weeksville served as a refuge for African

Americans fleeing persecution in other parts of the country. But as time passed,

Weeksvilles residents died or moved away. Though it was located in the heart of

Brooklyn, by the middle of the twentieth century, the little town had been

swallowed by overgrown weeds and was utterly forgotten.

Then, in 1968, a pilot flying over Brooklyn noticed several tiny wooden

houses in the middle of a large vacant lot surrounded by housing projects. An


entire town had been discovered in New York City. Since then, the four

farmhouses that were spotted from the air have been renovated and are now open

to the public. Not only are they an important part of American historythey

should serve as a reminder to never take the familiar for granted. (Who knows

what might be found in the vacant lots youll come across while youre in New

York!)

THE CAMPBELL APARTMENT

Grand Central Station in Manhattan is one of the most famous train stations in

the world, and like many of New York's historic buildings, it has its own share of

secrets. For instance, as millions of people hurry through the station every year,

most are unaware of the existence of a mysterious room called the Campbell

Apartment.

Tucked away in a hidden corner of the building, the magnificent space

features an unusual mix of medieval and Renaissance decor. Theres an enormous

fireplace, painted ceilings, and wood-paneled walls. This was once the strange and

wonderful office of John W. Campbell.

A wealthy businessman, John Campbell built his Grand Central office in the

early 1920s. He made sure his unusual workspace came with all the amenitiesa

kitchen, butler, pipe organ, and a Persian rug worth 3.5 million dollars in todays

money. Very little is known about the eccentric Mr. Campbell, and some have

suggested that he may have actually lived in the train stationa theory many

experts reject.


When Campbell died in 1957, his apartment became the Grand Central

Jail. In the late 1990s, however, the space was restored to its former glory and

used to house a bar. Finding it may require a little searching, but its well worth

the trouble.

SCENIC STOPS ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

When the building that houses the Bialystoker Synagogue at 7-11 Willett Street in

Manhattan was constructed in 1826, it was known as the Willett Street Church.

The churchs founders included a rather unusual featurea hidden door that

could be accessed from the balcony. Behind the door, a ladder led to the attic,

which was lit by two little windows. Many experts now believe that the church was

a stop on the Underground Railroad, and that the secret space was used to hide

runaway slaves as they made their way to freedom in Canada.

Another stop on the Underground Railroad was Duffield Street in downtown

Brooklyn. Hidden in the basements of six old houses were mysterious rooms that

might have concealed runaway slaves in the nineteenth century. Long-forgotten

tunnels linking the buildings have also been discovered. Unfortunately, only 227

Duffield Street has survived the wrecking ball, and organizers are trying to turn it

into a museum.

THE SECRETS OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

In 2006, workers inspecting the foundation of the Brooklyn Bridge made an

astounding discovery. Near the entrance ramp to the bridge on the Manhattan

side, they found a dark vault that hadnt been opened in over forty years. The


room was crammed, floor to ceiling, with food, blankets, drugs, and other medical

supplies. All of the items appeared to date from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

At that time, the men who ran New York worried that the city might come under

nuclear attack. When their emergency stash was discovered decades later, its

said that the crackers theyd stored were still perfectly crispy.

However, if Id just survived a nuclear attack, I think Id probably check out

the other vaults beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Many of these vast structures were

once used to store wine and champagne. (You can see their entrances from the

corner of Gold and Frankfort Streets.) And at least one of the vaults was briefly

used as an apartment until the authorities discovered its resident and gave him

the boot.

WHEN HORSES RULED THE CITYS STREETS

Imagine New York without any cars, buses, or trucks. A hundred years ago, horses

were the citys main form of transportation. And if you think that sounds

charming, think again. The sound of horseshoes on cobblestones was said to be

deafening. The traffic was even worse than it is today. And every time you needed

to cross an avenue, you practically had to wade through horse dung. (The smell

had to be nauseating.)

Those days are long gone, of course, but you can still see evidence of them

all over town. If youre especially sharp-eyed, you may discover a hitching post.

(Theres one on West Washington Street near Sixth Avenue.) But its the horses

old homes that are the easiest to spot.


Wander around one of Brooklyns older neighborhoods (Brooklyn Heights,

Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill), and youre bound to pass dozens of old carriage houses

and stables. But if youre staying in Manhattan, youll want to check out the

charming rows of stables known as MacDougal Alley and the Washington Mews.

In the 1830s and 1840s, if you were very rich, you might have lived in one

of the mansions on Washington Square Park. And if you were a rich horse, you

might have lived in MacDougal Alley or the Washington Mews. Cute little two-story

stables line both lanes. The horses would have lived below and servants would

have slept in the quarters above. (Thats how much respect servants got in those

days.) Once cars replaced horses among the fashionable set, artists moved into

the stables. A few may still be there today.

HIDDEN HOUSES

Theres a reason theyre called hidden houses. You cant see them from the street.

These remarkable dwellings are tucked behind other buildings, and most of the

time the only clue that youve found one is a door marked with an address that

ends in an A or 1/2 or the presence of a horse walk.

There are said to be around seventy-five hidden houses in the area

surrounding Greenwich Village. Most are former carriage houses and workshops.

There are even a couple that were once large privies! What they are now is

anyones guess. The best way to see many of them is by using the satellite view on

Google Maps. However, you might be able to get a peek of the hidden houses at

58A Charles Street and 7 Leroy Street. And if all that walking makes you hungry,


theres a hidden house in the courtyard of a restaurant located at 28 Cornelia

Street.

When youre done, make your way to the corner of Charles and Greenwich

Streets, where youll find a strange little house that served as the inspiration for

Kiki Strikes hidden house! Probably a barn when it was first built, its at least two

hundred years old, and until 1967 it could be found on the corner of York Avenue

and 71st Street (almost four miles from its present location).

OTHER HIDDEN PLACES TO VISIT

In 1848, a grocer on Grove Street decided to build housing for the people who

worked for him. Find the passageway between 10 and 12 Grove Street. Peer

through the gate and youll see what look like six fairy-tale cottages. Now known

as Grove Court, the cul-de-sac used to be called Mixed Ale Alley.

Milligan Place and Patchin Place (both near Tenth Street and Sixth

Avenue) were built in the 1840s, when the Jefferson Market neighborhood was still

noisy and foul-smelling. For the next seventy years, the buildings had no electricity

or indoor plumbing. So its hard to believe that these two little hidden places later

became home to some of the most famous writers in American history (E. E.

Cummings, Theodore Dreiser, Eugene ONeillheck, even Marlon Brando lived in

Patchin Place for a while!). Patchin Place also boasts the only gas street lamp left

in the city. Once all of New York was lit by flickering gas flames.

On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, you may stumble across Pomander

Walk, a block-long lane between Broadway and West End Avenue. The twenty-


seven miniature houses here look like they belong in a quaint English village. Its

been called the most charming street in New Yorka title it might well deserve.


HAUNTED HOUSES

Im about to introduce you to four New York ghosts youll be able to visit. But

there are hundredsif not thousandsof phantoms here that you wont get a

chance to meet. New York is an old city, and many of the buildings youll pass

while youre here are probably home to a spirit or two. My house in Brooklyn, for

instance, is haunted by the ghost of a woman named Anne. Her father bought the

building shortly after it was constructed in 1852. Anne was born a few years later,

and shes never really left. Shes a very playful ghost. She once threw a clove of

garlic at my butt. Sometimes after I leave a room Ive tidied up, Ill return a few

minutes later to find that Annes tossed a few items back on the floor. And late at

night, I often hear her walking up the stairs. A previous resident claims to have

seen Annes ghost. She hasnt appeared to me, but theres no doubt shes here.

And Im glad Annes decided to keep me company.

THE VOICE IN THE CLOCK

A few years ago, I was in Washington Heights (just north of Harlem), doing a little

research at the old Morris-Jumel Mansion. (The mansion and the surrounding

grounds are one of my favorite places in New York City. If you ever have a chance,

take a bag lunch and enjoy it in the garden. Its lovely, quiet, and just a little bit

creepy.) While I was there, I heard an interesting ghost story.

I was speaking with a woman who has worked at the mansion for decades, and I

asked her if the building had any ghosts. (According to the Internet, the place is

packed with spirits.)


She pointed to a grandfather clock on the first floor and said, About fifty

men have heard a woman speak to them from inside that clock.

One visitor told her that he had first come to the mansion on a school trip

when he was fifteen years old. His teacher had asked each student to pen a two-

hundred-word essay about an object in the mansion. This particular young man

chose the clock. As he was scribbling notes, the little door on the front of the clock

opened, and he heard a womans voice call, Come closer. Then the clock began

to vibrate. The kids teacher assumed that he was the one shaking the clock and

yelled at him from across the room. Thats when the boy heard the woman say, I

want you.

It took the young man twenty years to work up the courage to visit the mansion

again. He came with his wife, who refused to set foot inside the building. So he

ventured in alone and stood in front of the clock for over an hour, but he never

heard the womans voice again.

THE LITTLE OLD LADY WHO REFUSES TO LEAVE

Visit the Merchants House Museum, located in downtown Manhattan (29 E.

Fourth Street), and youll find yourself walking through a bizarre time capsule. In

1835, a wealthy businessman named Seabury Tredwell purchased the house for

his wife and seven children. His eighth child, Gertrude, was born in 1840. As her

parents and siblings died or moved away, Gertrude refused to leave her childhood

home. She expired in an upstairs bedroom in 1933.

Its an unremarkable storyexcept for one fact. Gertrude wasnt fond of

change. Over the years, she never altered anything about the house or its


furnishings. When the city purchased the building after Gertrudes death,

historians found that the house looked exactly as it had in the mid-nineteenth

century. There were no modern conveniences of any sortand an outhouse in

the backyard was still in use.

Now, Gertrudes house is a museum, with the Tredwells belongings

(including their undergarments) on display. But for many visitors, Gertrude herself

is the main attraction. They insist that shes still there, though perhaps a little

harder to see. Shes most often spotted descending the stairs or standing by the

fireplace in the kitchen. The piano has been known to play on its own, and guests

have detected the scent of flowers, even when there are none around.

THE GIRL IN THE WELL

Two hundred years ago, the neighborhood we now call SoHo was nothing but

countryside. And on the spot that now marks the intersection of Greene and

Spring Streets, there was a brick well. Three days before Christmas in 1799, the

body of a twenty-two-year-old woman named Elma Sands was found floating in the

water. Most people believed the young womans fianc had murdered her. His trial

was the talk of New York, and though there appeared to be ample proof that hed

killed poor Elma, he was eventually found not guilty.

Two centuries have passed, and it seems Elma still hasnt found justiceor

peace. The ghost of a young woman in sopping wet clothes has often been spotted

in or around the restaurant that now sits at 129 Spring Street. Neighbors have

reported seeing Elma through the windows. Garbage men have encountered her

spirit in the alley behind the building.


For years, no one could identify the dripping ghost of 129 Spring Street.

Then, in the 1990s, when the restaurant was being renovated, they found

something strange under the basement. It was the well in which Elma Sands had

drowned. In fact, its still there, if youd like a look.

A HAUNTING IN HELLS KITCHEN

Hells Kitchen is a neighborhood just west of New Yorks theater district. A while

back, it was a pretty wild place, but these days, the area doesnt really live up to

its name. However, there may be one little patch of evil left in Hells Kitchenin a

hidden courtyard known as Clinton Court.

Look for a wrought-iron gate at 422 Forty-Sixth Street between Ninth and

Tenth Avenues. Past the entrance, an alley leads to an old carriage

house/residence that was built around 1800 on the site of a potters field. One of

the bodies buried below is said to belong to a sailor who was hanged for taking

part in a mutiny. Known to Clinton Court residents as Old Moor, the sailors

ghost is so terrifying that a young woman died trying to escape from it. According

to legend, she tripped over her dress and fell down the stairs in front of the

building.

Later, a little girl named Margaret died in the very same manner, and now

all three spirits haunt Clinton Court together.

OTHER HAUNTED PLACES OF NOTE


The Ear Inn (326 Spring Street), a two-hundred-year-old house thats been a bar

for most of its existence, is said to be haunted by the mischievous ghost of a

sailor named Mickey. (He likes to pinch ladies, so beware.)

Many actors and performers claim that the spirit of the man who built the

Belasco Theater (111 West 44th Street) returns every night to enjoy the shows.


GETTING MESSY

New York has never been known for its cleanliness. Its stinky, rat infested, and

plagued by puddles that arent filled with rain water. As far as Im concerned

those are three of the things that make this city so darn wonderful. And anyone

who wants to experience the best of New York simply cant be afraid to get a little

bit messy.

THE EARTH ROOM

The Earth Room (141 Wooster Street in SoHo) is a 140-ton interior earth

sculpture created in 1977 by artist Walter De Maria. Whats an interior earth

sculpture, you ask? In this case its an enormous room filled with dirt.

Here are four reasons you might consider giving it a look:

1. Its really weird and wonderful in person.

2. Its worth over a million dollars. (If you can figure out a way to get it to your

house.)

3. Its free to visit.

4. Its worm free (for now, hint-hint).

RAT WATCHING

You can spot rats anywhere in New York, but if you want to see a whole army of

rodents, just head over to Manhattans beautiful City Hall Park. While your friends

or family marvel at the majesty of New Yorks two-hundred-year-old City Hall, have


a seat on a park bench and train your eyes on the ground. Youll see dozens of

foul little beasties frolicking about in broad daylight, just a few yards from the

mayors office. Watch as they scamper through the grass, weave between

unsuspecting visitors feet, and swipe food from innocent children.

According to rat experts, the abandoned subway station and tunnels

beneath City Hall Park offer the rats an ideal shelter. Though theyre usually

nocturnal, these fearless rodents emerge in the afternoon as people flock to the

park to enjoy their lunch. They steal whatever scraps they can, and then slink back

to their underground lairs.

URBAN FORAGING

Some people use the term urban foraging as a synonym for dumpster diving.

If youre into that sort of thing, youll have plenty of fun here in New York. (In the

summertime, you can literally dumpster dive when the city turns dumpsters into

swimming pools during the Summer Streets Festival.)

However, Im more interested in the brand of urban foraging thats taught

by one of New Yorks most beloved eccentrics, Wildman Steve Brill (the only

person in the city whos ever been arrested for eating a dandelion). Sign up for a

tour, and the Wildman will guide you through one of New Yorks parks, showing

you which plants, mushrooms, and fruits are edible, medicinal, dangerous, or

poisonous. Its just the sort of class that every explorer should take. And it might

prove particularly useful if you ever lose your way in Central Park.

GUERILLA GARDENING


While youre visiting New York, theres a simple way to make a lasting markand

leave the city a little more beautiful. Just keep your eyes open for a rather unusual

type of vending machine. The contents will be roughly the same size and shape as

a large gumball, but I wouldn't recommend chewing them. Instead of candy, these

machines dispense seed bombs. Pop in a quarter, and you'll receive a ball made

of clay, compost, and seeds. Toss it into any crack, crevice, or abandoned lot, and

soon tiny plants will begin to sprout. Each seed bomb is guaranteed to make the

world a little bit greener.

Interested? Go to greenaid.co for a map of seed-bomb vending-machine

locationsnot just in New York, but around the world.


RANDOM WEIRDNESS

Ive witnessed some pretty strange things since I moved to New York. And thats

one of the reasons Ive stayed. The unexpected is waiting for you around every

corner here. If you pay attention, youll see something new every time you open

your curtains or step outside. Why do you think so many writers live here? New

York is a constant source of inspiration. So take good notes while youre visiting.

With all the random weirdness this city has to offer, you might just stumble across

the subject of your own first (or next) book!

THE SECRET MAIL DELIVERY SYSTEM

Many old New York office buildings possess a curious feature. Fixed to a wall on

each floor is a small, oddly shaped box labeled MAIL. They dont look like

ordinary letter boxes. Each is connected to a metal or plastic tube that stretches

from ceiling to floor. None of them are still in use, but its clear that mail was once

placed inside. Then it was supposed to GO somewherebut where? And how?

Believe it or not, the boxes belong to a super-cool and mostly forgotten

means of mail delivery: the pneumatic tube system.

More than twenty-seven miles of pneumatic tubes lie underneath

Manhattan. The system, which is well over one hundred years old, was built at a

time when New Yorks streets were even filthier and more congested than they are

today. Aboveground mail delivery was difficult and time-consuming, so the


pneumatic tube system was built to deliver mail underground to post offices

throughout New York City.

Shot by air pressure, cylindrical canisters filled with mail would whiz

through the tubes at up to thirty-five miles an hour, arriving at their destinations

within minutes. At one point, roughly one-third of all the mail sent or received in

the city was sent via the underground system. In fact, it was so successful that

many office buildings adopted pneumatic tubes for their own internal mail.

Heres the best part. The system is STILL DOWN THERE. What would it

take to put it back into service? And what purposes (good or evil) might it serve? It

seems to me that a secret means of delivering information or objects throughout

New York could come in handy. Ill leave it to you to figure out how.

MANHATTANHENGE

When the Druids built Stonehenge (possibly with the help of extraterrestrials),

they arranged the rocks in such a way that the sun would put on a spectacular

show every solstice. But you dont need to travel to Britain if you want to be

dazzled. Twice a year, New Yorkers (and our guests) experience what we like to

call Manhattanhenge. On one date before the summer solstice and one date after,

the setting sun lines up with the east-west streets in Manhattan. The effect is

absolutely magical. Look west from any intersection on the island, and it will seem

as if the heavens have opened up at the end of the street.

Manhattanhenge takes place in May and July, but the exact dates change

every year. Be sure to do a little detective work before you plan your trip. If youre

here during the show, you should try to experience it.


NEW YORKS BERMUDA TRIANGLE

If you drive to New York, be sure not to park your car near the Empire State

Building. Its not the threat of pennies flung from the building by mischievous

touristsor the base jumpers who attempt to parachute from its upper stories

that should convince you to keep your distance.

According to news reports, the five-block radius around the Empire State Building

is a Bermuda Triangle for cars. Engines stall. Batteries die. Car doors refuse to

open. Over the past few years, hundreds of people have had their cars towed, only

to discover that they function perfectly the minute theyre out of the skyscrapers

shadow.

Are radio transmissions from the building to blame? Is some sinister force

at work in New Yorks greatest landmark? Or is it all just an urban myth? Its time

to find out for yourself!

THE TUGBOAT GRAVEYARD

Many New York visitors who want a cheap, scenic boat ride will hop on the Staten

Island Ferry at the tip of Manhattan, take a round trip, and return to Manhattan

without setting foot on Staten Island. They have no idea how much theyre

missing.

If you head to Rossville on the southwestern coast of Staten Island (take

the X19 bus to Arthur Kill Road), youll find an extraordinary graveyard. For over

one hundred years, the Witte Marine Equipment Company has been hard at work

dismantling old boats and ships that once sailed through New York Harbor. Its a


slow process, however, and dozens of boats (mostly tugboats) have been waiting

in the shallow waters for decades. Today, many are little more than ghosts of their

former selves, which makes the site incredibly eerie. Its as if the boats were lured

to the shore by some malevolent force, then damaged and left for dead. If youre

really adventurous, you might consider renting a kayak and touring the site from

the water. But be sure to take your camera along. Once you leave, you may find it

hard to believe what youve seen.

A TRIP THROUGH TIME

I love the Met and the Museum of the City of New York. But in my opinion, the

most fascinating museum around is the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn (at

the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street). Lets start with the fact

that the entire museum is located underground in a decommissioned subway

station. (If youve seen a movie set in the subway, theres a good chance this was

the station where it was shot.) Cool, right? It gets so much better.

The upper level of the museum has some great exhibits if youre interested

in the workings of the subway system. The bottom level of the museum will blow

your mind. The stations tracks are occupied by over eighteen perfectly preserved

old subway cars. There are cars (complete with ads) from every decade since the

subway first opened in 1904 (and a few that are even older than that). You can

step into an elegant car from the 1920s or a futuristic-looking car from the 1960s.

Have a seat and pretend youre on a trip through time.

The museum is quite inexpensive by New York standards. But even if they

doubled the entrance fee, it would be worth every penny. If youre looking for a


weird and wonderful experience, you cant get any better than the Transit

Museum.

WORMHOLES

If youve read any science fiction, you know that a wormhole is a shortcut through

time. Find one, and you can travel back to a different era in the blink of an eye.

There are quite a few wormholes in New York Cityspots that can make you

believe that youve stepped right into another century.

Cobble Hill and Clinton Hill are two neighborhoods in Brooklyn that

appear much as they did in the nineteenth century. Youll find carriage houses,

mews, and stately mansions that look like nothing else youll see in New York.

(Want fabulous? Check out the Charles Millard Pratt House at 241 Clinton Avenue

or the Caroline Ladd Pratt House just down the street at 229.) Some of the

mansions are even open for tours one day every spring.

South Street Seaport in downtown Manhattan is a major tourist attraction.

Skip the main drag (Fulton Street) and walk down the side streets. Youll get a

sense of what the New York waterfront was like in the days when sailors, gangs,

and pirates ruled the docks.

If you visit the haunted Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights, take

a peek at nearby Sylvan Terrace. Its a short cobblestone lane lined with perfectly

preserved houses from the nineteenth century.

If you want to see what the city looked like in its early days, Historic Richmond

Town is the place to go. The entire Staten Island town is a museum, with over


thirty historic buildings, some of which date to the seventeenth century, and

almost all are open to the public.


SPELLBOUND

Theres nothing I love more than libraries and bookstores. Without them, I

probably would have landed in jail a long time ago. (When I get bored, I start

causing trouble. Just ask my mom.) These days, every time I step into a library or

bookstore, my brain begins to tingle. I cant help but imagine that theres some

strange, magical book tucked away on the shelves, just waiting for me to discover

it.

I couldnt even begin to list all of the great libraries and bookstores in New

York. Many (like Books of Wonder at 18 W. 18th Street) are known to book lovers

all over the world. So Im going to introduce you to a few special spots you might

not have heard of. In fact, a couple are so secret that only the most persistent

explorers will even be able to find them.

MANHATTANS SECRET MAGIC LIBRARY

Hidden on the island of Manhattan is a library with over 11,000 books on the

subject of magic. Its called the Conjuring Arts Research Center, and if youre

clever enough to locate it, youre welcome to visit. (And if you cant, you can

always check out the website at conjuringarts.org.)

Enter the rare books room, and youll find dusty tomes that date from as far back

as 1480and mind reading pamphlets from the seventeenth century. Many of

the items collected are one of a kind. Theres even a book titled Valuable Secrets


that Id personally love to read. What kind of secrets, I wonder? And how valuable

are they? If you find out, please let me know!

THE SPEAKEASY BOOKSTORE

Somewhere on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, on the second floor of a

building in the East 80s, is a secret (and technically illegal) bookstore known as

Brazenhead Books. Its run by a man named Michael Seidenberg, who has turned

his own apartment into a wonderland of used books. The stores address is a

secret, but those who find it are welcomed warmly. Once inside, theres a chance

you could end up rubbing elbows with some of New Yorks best-known writers, but

youll definitely leave with something you cant wait to read.

THE TREASURE BENEATH BRYANT PARK

Bryant Park is a lovely public space adjacent to the main branch of the New York

Public Library at Forty-second Street and Fifth Avenue. Its a great place to have

lunch or watch one of the free movies they show every summer. But whenever I

visit, I find it hard to concentrate on food or films. Im too busy thinking about the

treasure thats buried below.

Hidden beneath the park are the librarys archivestwo vast floors with

120,000 square feet of space and well over one hundred miles of stacks. Every

single shelf holds priceless treasures: Babylonian tablets. The trunks Herman

Melville took with him to sea. Theodore Dreisers death mask. George

Washingtons recipe for beer. The archives contents are worth untold millions (if

not billions) of dollars. Id pay almost anything for a little more than a look.


THE LIBRARY WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD

At the intersection of Tenth Street and Sixth Avenue, on the site of a former

market and fire tower stands Jefferson Market Library. Built in 1877, the library

may look like a fairy-tale castle, but it was originally a courthouse where some of

the most famous murder trials in the citys history took place. (In the basement,

you can still see where the prisoners were held before they faced the jury!) Next

door, on a plot of land thats now a garden, stood a prison.

By the end of the 1920s, if you were a female criminal, this is where you

were sent. The courthouse was used only for womens trials. The actress Mae

West visited in 1927 when she was charged with (and convicted of) corrupting

the morals of youth.

THE BEST PLACE TO REBOOT YOUR BRAIN

The Housing Works Bookstore Caf (126 Crosby Street) sells used books and

coffee (the perfect combination). All proceeds go to help homeless people with

HIV/AIDS. (And if you browse through the donated books, youll probably find one

that once belonged to me.) The fact is, there are few bookstores like this left in

New York. The store itself is gorgeous, with sliding ladders, spiral staircases, and

mahogany balconies. The selection of titles is weird and wonderful. And the coffee

is pretty great too.


BIZARRE BAZAAR

You cant visit New York and not do a little shopping! But why come all the way

here only to buy things you can get back at home? Whatever strange, rare or

exotic item your hearts always desired, theres a store in this city that sells it.

(Seriouslytheres a shop here that sells nothing but mayonnaise.)

A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES

Theres one store in this city I never leave without a shopping bag in my hand.

Evolution (120 Spring Street in SoHo) is a one-stop shop for skulls, beetles,

taxidermy, and fossils. Have you been looking for a gorilla skull to decorate your

mantle? Theyve got it. Would a framed dung beetle delight your dad? Theres a

wide assortment to choose from. And if youre in the mood for a snack, I

recommend grabbing a box of the tasty barbecue-flavored crickets.

WITCHCRAFT SUPPLIES

On Ninth Street between First and Second Avenues, youll find Enchantments, the

citys largest witchcraft supply store. Ive never dabbled in witchcraft, but as a

direct descendant of one of the Salem witches, I take the subject quite seriously.

You should too if you intend to visit this store. Youll find a wide variety of herbs,

talismans, candles, and charms. If you have time, you can even sign up for

classes. Feel free to ask questions, but it might be wise to avoid any mention of

Harry Potter.


CHINATOWN

Chinatown, in downtown Manhattan, is the most wonderful place on earth.

Tourists often find their way to Canal Street, which is lined with little shops that

are famous for selling counterfeit Rolexes and Louis Vuitton handbags. If I were

you, Id save your cash and buy a few new experiences instead. Visit a fruit vendor

and sample the spiky, notoriously foul-smelling durian fruit (which I happen to

find quite delicious). Stop by an herbalist shop and cure whatever may ail you.

Pick up a few bags of dried squid for your friends back at home. (A good place to

go for snacks of all sorts is Aji Ichiban at 23 East Broadway.) Splurge on a few

yards of silk embroidered with dragons. Just wander around Chinatown for a

while. I promise, youll find a million things more interesting than a knock-off

handbag.


SCAVENGER HUNT

Odds are youre traveling with someone who has a few things shed like to see too.

Even if you end up being dragged to some terrible tourist trap, theres no reason

you cant have a little fun on the way. New York is filled with fascinating sites that

few visitors ever bother to see. Keep your eyes open and see if you can spot the

following. . . .

ROOFTOP HOUSES

If you live in New York, you know theres nothing more magical than a rooftop

house. Theyre incredibly hard to spot. Some can only be seen from certain

angles. Others can only be spotted if youre flying over the city in a helicopter. So

when you happen to see one, its a very special occasion.

Okay, okay, here are a couple of hints: Be sure to look up (to the east)

when youre passing the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue. Theres a

sweet wooden cottage with a pretty garden perched on top of one of the buildings.

And check out the apartment building on the northeast corner of First Avenue and

First Street. It looks rather ordinaryuntil you realize theres a Nantucket-style

beach house built on its roof.

SEWER ALLIGATORS

Most New Yorkers will laugh at anyone who asks if there have ever been alligators

in our sewers. That shows you how much most New Yorkers know. Seventy-seven


years ago, a teenager discovered an eight-foot alligator at the bottom of a

manhole in Harlem. The event was even written up in the New York Times.

According to a former superintendent of New York sewers (a man once

known as the King of the Sewers), that eight-foot gator wasnt alone. When the

gentleman went down into the sewers to investigate, he claimed to have found . . .

Alligators serenely paddling around in his sewers. [Their] length, on the

average, was about two feet. Some may have been longer. . . . [A]

colony appeared to have settled contentedly under the very streets of

the busiest city in the world.

Was he having a laugh at the citys expense? Only the King of the Sewers knows.

(And I don't think hes taking questions anymore.)

THE GREEN MAN

Looking for a way to amuse yourself while riding a city bus or strolling down the

street? Try searching the buildings above your head for the Green Man. (Not to be

confused with Little Green Men.) It doesnt matter whether youre uptown or

downtownonce youve spotted a Green Man, youll begin to see him everywhere.

All over the city, he looks down from windows, watches over churches, and peeks

out from garden walls.

Thought to be of Celtic origin, the mysterious Green Man is perhaps one of

the most ancient deities in the Western world. Some Green Man carvings in

Europe are more than a thousand years old. Usually depicted as a mans face

sprouting leaves or other vegetation (though there are a few Green Women too),

the Green Man represents the power and presence of the natural world. He comes


in thousands of shapes and sizes, and his personality can range from jolly to

severe.

Even on short walks through Manhattan, Ive counted dozens of Green Men.

Sometimes its a little creepy to spot him looking down at me. Hes hidden all over

the city, but unless you have a sharp eye, you may never know hes there.

GARGOYLES, GROTESQUES, AND CARYATIDS

Green men arent the only ones watching, of course. Wherever you go in New York,

devils and demons and fearsome creatures leer down at passersby. Giant stone

women (caryatids) hold up balconies and entrances. The city is filled with magical

creatures that are easy to findbut most people never even look.

GHOSTS OF THE PAST

All around New York, there are not-so-hidden clues to the citys past. You may

spot fading, century-old advertisements for stables, snake oil, or ladies corsets.

The ghostly outlines of torn-down houses can sometimes be seen on the sides of

neighboring buildings. Cobblestones and trolley rails peek through the asphalt in

older parts of town. And if you see something that looks ancient or out of place,

just do a little research. Even a rusty metal bootscraper may have a great tale to

tell!

The Irregular Guide to New York City

Documents

dead introduction

kiki strike

clock kirsten miller

past kirsten miller

messy introduction

spellbound introduction

haunted houses introduction

underground places