If you’re interested in feeling spooked year-round and not just at Halloween, there is no better place to be a renter or buyer than New York City. Since CityRealty can’t verify whether the following buildings are truly haunted, if you’re dead set (no pun intended) on buying or renting a haunted property, you may want to team up with an experienced real estate broker and a paranormal investigator to ensure you’re investing in a property where there is no guarantee you’ll be able to live without paranormal company.
In this article:
Experience UWS Luxury with Multiple Resident Ghosts at the Dakota
The Dakota (Compass)
One of New York City’s most well-known haunted addresses is the luxurious Dakota at 1 West 72nd Street. Designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh in 1884, it is known for its gables, arches, and courtyard. It also appears in the classic horror film Rosemary’s Baby. In real life, it was also the scene of John Lennon’s murder in 1980.
According to Ephemeral New York, the Dakota is bustling with ghosts, including two children, "the man with the wig" who may be Edward Cabot Clark, developer of the Dakota, and even John Lennon. If this sounds like enough paranormal activity to meet your expectations, two Dakota apartments are currently available: Residence #74, a four-bedroom, is listed for $12.95 million, and Residence #84, a five-bedroom, is listed at $12.5 million. Both units have been on the market for an extended period and have already experienced price cuts.
The Dakota, #84
$12,500,000 (-34.2%)
Central Park West | Cooperative | 5 Bedrooms, 6+ Baths | 6,000 ft2
The Dakota, #84 (Douglas Elliman Real Estate)
The Dakota, #74 (Douglas Elliman Real Estate)
Explore a More Affordable Haunted Upper West Side alternative at the Ansonia
If the prices at The Dakota are out of reach, don’t worry—not all haunted properties come at a premium price. Just a few blocks north of The Dakota, The Ansonia has also gained a reputation for being haunted. Over its extensive lifespan, The Ansonia, which first opened in 1904, has been an apartment hotel, a rental building, and since 1990, a condo. In addition to housing many famous New Yorkers over the years, the building has also allegedly been the site of paranormal activity for decades. In 2015, The Real Deal reported that both residents and retailers occupying the building have reported paranormal activity.
The Ansonia, #1592 (Compass)
The Ansonia, #354 (Corcoran Group)
Rent in Greenwich Village’s “House of Death”
14 West 10th Street (Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)
While there are no current listings available at the so-called “House of Death” in Greenwich Village, 14 West 10th Street is another notoriously haunted house in New York City. As 6sqft reported in 2018, 14 West 10th Street is mostly known for sightings of author Mark Twain: “Sightings of the author in a white suit have been reported on the first floor and near the staircase. In the 1930s, a mother and daughter said they saw a ghost resembling Twain sitting near a window. Allegedly, the spirit said, ‘My name is Clemens, and I has a problem here I gotta settle.’”
Dare to Live on Roosevelt Island at the Octagon
The Octagon (Greystar)
Over the centuries, Roosevelt Island has played many different roles for New Yorkers. Originally established as a military base and briefly occupied as a private residence, by 1839, the island was home to the New York City Lunatic Asylum, which at one point held as many as 1,700 residents. Over time, the island has also hosted many other institutions, including a workhouse, smallpox hospital, tuberculosis hospital, and a prison.
Even as the island has been revitalized, most recently with a state-of-the-art university campus that has also brought new housing and services, it remains one of the city’s spookier destinations. If haunted is one of your housing requirements, however, it is certainly a destination worth exploring, and there is no better place to start than The Octagon.
Once home to the New York City Lunatic Asylum, The Octagon, named after the original iconic octagon watchtower that still serves as the building’s main entrance, is a full-service building that marries nineteenth-century design with modern-day luxury. CityRealty describes The Octagon as “a luxury rental,” noting that “all apartments feature soaring ceilings, abundant natural light, hardwood floors, open kitchens, generous closet space, and in-unit washer/dryers.” An extensive amenity package includes a fitness center, pool, courtyard, adjacent tennis courts, playroom, game room, co-working space, bike room, and shuttle service.
CityRealty’s description stands in sharp contrast to writer Charles Dickens’ description of The Octagon. After visiting the building in 1842, the writer wrote, “Everything had a lounging, listless, madhouse air, which was very painful. The moping idiot, cowering down with long disheveled hair; the gibbering maniac, with his hideous laugh and pointed finger; the vacant eye, the fierce wild face, the gloomy picking of the hands and lips, and munching of the nails: there they were all, without disguise, in naked ugliness and horror.” Today, units at The Octagon range from $3,4,36/month for a studio to $7,564/month for a three-bedroom unit, with prices net effective to reflect a concession of up to two months free rent on a 12-month lease.
Octagon Leasing Office
(212) 888-XXXX
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Contributing Writer
Cait Etherington
Cait Etherington has over twenty years of experience working as a journalist and communications consultant. Her articles and reviews have been published in newspapers and magazines across the United States and internationally. An experienced financial writer, Cait is committed to exposing the human side of stories about contemporary business, banking and workplace relations. She also enjoys writing about trends, lifestyles and real estate in New York City where she lives with her family in a cozy apartment on the twentieth floor of a Manhattan high rise.
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