Left adrift by the flood of gentrification, abandoned to the ravages of time, ghost houses hide among the perfect facades of million-dollar brownstones, only to catch the innocent passer-by unawares with their ghastly faces.
So in the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve, we visited houses from Brooklyn Heights to Dyker Heights (cue the horror-movie music).
PARK SLOPE
Like a witch’s nose, Park Slope has lots of ugly warts. There is, of course, the decrepit former home of the Landmark Pub and the ghost house on Berkeley Place — but most Slopers are obsessed by a brownstone on Third Street near Seventh Avenue that has been abandoned for nearly half a century.
“I knew someone who grew up here who said it was abandoned when he was a kid 40 years ago,” said Michael Elliott, the owner of the new Tempo Presto restaurant next door. “I think it’s an eyesore.”
He’s not the only one.
Loretta Agro has lived nearby for 11 years and has actually seen inside the mysterious shell of a building.
“All the floors are gone,” said Agro. “Once a year, some guys come here with a dump truck and fill it, as though they are starting a renovation, but nothing ever happens.”
Even creepier, neighbor Kirk Linden said that the building is the victim of a bitter family dispute.
“I heard a story that some woman owned it and wanted to give it to her son and daughter, but there was infighting, so she just cemented over the front door,” said Linden.
Who knows what lies buried inside?
The building, with its nine boarded-up windows, graffiti-covered fence, and 10-foot-tall weeds is best avoided.
“There’s a headless cat who lives there,” warned Agro, apparently in jest.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
Not all ghost stories have scary endings. Nestled between two brick buildings worth millions, the abandoned, 178-year-old wood-framed house on Joralemon and Sidney Place that has long haunted tony Brooklyn Heights is finally getting renovated.
“I am restoring the interior and keeping the exterior that is landmarked,” said the house’s owner. “I’m not sure if I’m going to sell it or keep it.
“The last restoration to this house was in the 1930s,” he added. “It was previously abandoned — no one has lived here since December, 2004.”
Neighbors say the renovation couldn’t come soon enough.
“I absolutely hope they can restore it because it’s really a beautiful house,” said a woman who lives across the street. “It’s a shame it wasn’t taken care of properly. It’s such a gorgeous house with a lot of character. I’m looking forward to seeing it once it’s finished.”
The curse of 133-135 Joralemon Street, it seems, has lifted.
DYKER HEIGHTS
On an otherwise pristine block of 84th Street, near 10th Avenue, lurks a coven of three houses, all owned by the same man, all withering.
To the neighbors, who use the same breath to extol the owner’s kindness and condemn his property management, the houses are a fright.
“There are bugs and flies from still water — and who knows what else — around,” said a woman who lives across the street.
She’s not the only nerve-racked neighbor. The houses have, over the years, generated a flurry of scary stories.
“When I moved into my house, I put all the old broken appliances out on the street,” said another neighbor named Jim. “Lo and behold, [the owner] came right out and took them to his house.”
His unkempt property has caused discomfort both psychic and physical.
“Once someone got poison ivy just from walking past the overgrown bushes by his house,” said another neighbor.
The bushes have since been cut back, but the front porch and rooftop are still littered with detritus, from barbecues to furniture.
Trick-or-treaters, beware.
