St. Paul's Chapel has survived a lot of tragedies since its opening in 1766, and its graveyard, which dates to 1697, is said to be haunted by many of its occupants. One of the 17th-century graves belongs to the English actor George Frederick Cooke, who loved to gamble. When he lost all of his money, he sold his head for research, and a headless ghost has been seen wondering the graveyard and a nearby alley where there used to be a theater.

William “Boss” Tweed left tales of terror across the city, but ironically, it's the eponymous courthouse where he was sentenced for his crimes that his spirit reportedly likes to revisit. He was sentenced in 1873 and died five years later in prison. Tweed has been spotted in the courtroom where he was sentenced, and in one instance, the night watchmen became so frightened by noises and ghostly figures in the corridors that they refused to enter the building.

In the winter of 1800, the body of a young woman named Gulielma Sands was found at the bottom of the Manhattan Well, located at what is now 129 Spring Street. The ensuing trial was one of the great scandals of 19th-century New York, with Levi Weeks (brother of influential builder Ezra Weeks) accused of her murder after he reportedly impregnated and promised to marry her. Weeks retained the city’s top attorneys (including Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton) and was acquitted, despite growing public outrage. In 1817, the Manhattan Well was filled in and built over, but it was rediscovered in 1980, and is now home to an outpost of Swedish clothing brand COS.

Right across the street from 85 West 3rd is another haunted building: a disused fire station converted into a private residence (and home to Anderson Cooper!). The building is apparently haunted by the ghost of "Firefighter Schwartz," who hanged himself from the rafters after learning of his wife’s infidelity in 1930. Over the years, firefighters have reported strange noises coming from the attic, and have even seen his hanging corpse.

While some haunted houses might attempt to shed their notorious reputations, the Merchant’s House Museum in the East Village revels in it. Built in 1832 and later bought by wealthy merchant Seabury Tredwell, the museum is an immaculate look into the personal domestic lives of the 19th-century cultural elite, but the ghost of Tredwell’s daughter, Gertrude—a lonely, sheltered spinster whose life was supposedly the basis of Henry James’ Washington Square Park—reportedly still haunts the place.

Today it's overrun with NYU students and street artists, but long before any New Yorkers moved in, the land that’s now Washington Square Park was used as a burial ground. During yellow fever outbreaks from 1791 to 1821, the city used the land as a mass grave. The park was established in 1827, a year after human remains were accidentally dug up during a parade. Archaeologists recently uncovered more human remains below the park.

Gay Street is arguably one of the most picturesque blocks in New York, and the quaint brick townhouse at No. 12 is no exception. The building served as a speakeasy called The Pirate’s Den during Prohibition and was purchased by the corrupt (yet wildly popular) Mayor Jimmy Walker as a home for his mistress, Ziegfeld girl Betty Compton. Neighbors insist that ghostly flappers and the Gay Street Phantom—a dapper gent in a cloak and top hat—still lurk late at night; if that’s not creepy enough, the property was later bought by Frank Paris, the creator of notorious hell-puppet Howdy Doody.

This beautiful townhouse has been called the most haunted building in New York, with as many as 22 ghosts calling it home, earning it the sobriquet “The House of Death.” Mark Twain lived here from 1900 to 1901 and claimed that he himself had experienced supernatural incidents. Throughout the 20th century, 14 West 10th Street was the site of several gruesome incidents, including a murder-suicide and the beating death of six-year-old Lisa Steinberg at the hands of her adopted father, prominent attorney Joel Steinberg, in 1987. The specter of Twain himself—white suit and all—has been seen ascending the staircase.

This storied Chelsea building has played host to a number of iconic artists throughout its more than 100-year history, including Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Mark Twain, Allen Ginsberg, and Dylan Thomas. But it's probably known more for its creepy stories: There's the murder of Nancy Spungen, allegedly by her boyfriend, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious; there's also a ghost named Mary, a passenger on the ill-fated Titantic who survived, though her husband died in the tragic accident. Supposedly, she can be seen staring at her reflection in mirrors throughout the hotel.

A few years ago, our friends at Eater reported on the supposed haunting of the Campbell Apartment, the lavish commuter bar in Grand Central Terminal that was once the office and salon of financier John W. Campbell, who died in 1957. (It reopened in 2017 as the Campbell.) According to owner Mark Grossich, employees have felt strange presences, including something pushing them from behind and bursts of cold air, and some have even reported seeing “an old, fashionably dressed couple sitting and having a cocktail on the balcony when the place was completely closed.”

One of the oldest theaters in New York is supposedly haunted by a woman named Olive Thomas, once called “the most beautiful girl in New York.” She died in 1920 under mysterious circumstances in France—some think her husband murdered her—and she began appearing to stagehands shortly after her death. Even after Disney bought the theater in 1995, she has kept up her startling appearances, but she only shows herself to men.

Midtown's Belasco Theatre is not only an architecturally notable; it’s also garnered attention for its most spirited resident, the ghost of its namesake David Belasco. Multiple sources claim that there have been consistent sightings of a spirit in Belasco's image and likeness wearing a clerical collar and cassock, garb he frequently wore when he was alive and that led to his nicknames, the "Bishop of Broadway" and "the monk."

The Dakota is known for its featured role in Roman Polanski’s 1968 horror classic Rosemary’s Baby and as the site of John Lennon’s assassination, but the legendary Central Park West building has a long history of supernatural encounters in its own right. Over the years, workers and residents have reported seeing a friendly little girl dressed in turn-of-the-century clothing, an adult with the face of a small boy, and even the ghost of Lennon himself.

One of the oldest houses in Manhattan, this stately Georgian mansion in Washington Heights was built by Roger Morris—a colonel in the British army—in 1765. It served as military headquarters for both sides of the Revolution, with George Washington retreating here after the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. In 1810, the house was bought by Stephen Jumel and his wife Eliza, and after his suspicious death, she remarried Aaron Burr, the former Vice President and killer of Alexander Hamilton. Since at least the 1960s, rumors of the supernatural have persisted, when a group of rowdy schoolchildren allegedly saw the ghostly visage of Eliza Jumel, who told them to quiet down before gliding away.

This Brooklyn townhouse was built in the 1840s and is now both an individual city landmark (designated as such in 2001) and part of the Wallabout Historic District, comprising several blocks near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This particular house is routinely referred to as one of the most haunted residences in New York, thanks to a bout of paranormal activity that plagued its former owner, Edward F. Smith, in the late 19th century. It’s currently for sale for $3.6 million.