Ghosts and Murders of Manhattan

Book excerpt: Manhattan's past whispers for attention amongst the bustle of the city's ever-changing landscape. At Fraunces Tavern, George Washington's emotional farewell luncheon in 1783 echoes in the Long Room. Gertrude Tredwell's ghost appears to visitors at the Merchant's House Museum. Long since deceased, Olive Thomas shows herself to the men of the New Amsterdam Theatre, and Dorothy Parker still keeps her lunch appointment at the Algonquin Hotel. In other places, it is not the paranormal but the abnormal violent acts by gangsters, bombers, and murderers that linger in the city's memory. Some think Jack the Ripper and the Boston Strangler hunted here. The historic images and true stories in Ghosts and Murders of Manhattan bring to life the people and events that shaped this city and raised the consciousness of its residents.