Walking tour explores Village haunts

With Halloween looming this weekend, Uncle Sam's New York Walking Tours will offer a haunted walking tour to showcase the Village's scariest spots, including several NYU buildings and campus landmarks.

The Brown Building of NYU, former site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory (then known as the Asch Building), is the third stop on the tour. In 1911, a fire began in the building and many of the female factory workers, who were locked in the building, couldn't escape and they died. The fire began on the 10th floor and traveled to the ninth and 11th floors. Many students say they can still smell smoke.

Washington Square Park is also the site of several historical haunts on the tour. The park was once a potter's field, a place where poor and unknown people were buried in shallow graves.

Also, on the northwest corner of the park, the oldest tree in Manhattan (known as Hangman's Elm) served as a place to hang robbers and criminals, according to legend.

Near Hangman's Elm is an apartment building where Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife used to live. Some people say they can see and hear his ghost running with his dog in the park.

The Greenwich Village Halloween Ghost Tour begins under the Arch in Washington Square Park and continues with stops at Alexander Hamilton and Edith Wharton's former homes, both of which are located directly across from the Arch.

The tour is offered every day at 2 p.m. Students interested in purchasing tickets can go to unclesamsnewyork.com or call 212.888.8769.