21 Dec 2007
http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2007/12/haunted_hoboken.html
Haunted Hoboken
by Carly
I know, I know, Christmas isn't exactly the season for spooky tales and ghost stories. But Hoboken Now loves a good tale o' the supernatural, so when self-proclaimed "paranormal investigator" John Cifarelli contacted us, we just couldn't resist.
Cifarelli is the founder of New Jersey Paranormal Research and, according to his research, Hoboken is home to at least two scary spots - Arthur's Tavern and The Brass Rail. Scary as in "I see dead people," not drunk New Jersey frat guys.
Side of specter with your prime rib? Arthur's Steakhouse.
Arthur's Tavern is supposedly haunted by three ghosts. There are reports from employees of footsteps, lights going on and off or flickering, doors opening by themselves, a clipboard flying off a desk, whispers, and someone's hair being pulled (eeeek!). Parapsychologists have recently stopped by to investigate. One of them was quite shaken by what she'd seen upstairs, and said the upstairs ladies' room was haunted.
The Brass Rail on Washington Street.
The Brass Rail is over 100 years old. Waiters and waitresses have seen the ghosts of a bride, groom and wedding parties walking down the spiral staircase of the two-story restaurant, late at night, when they're cleaning up.
As the legend goes, on their wedding day in 1904 the bride tripped at the top of the stairs on the second floor. She fell, broke her neck and died. Later that night, the husband was reported to have been drinking heavily and writing a letter at the bar area, a suicide note saying "Now that my wife was taken from me, there is no reason for me to live." So he took his last drink and hung himself in a room that night by the staircase where they both now haunt. Cifarelli says the current manager believes The Brass Rail to be haunted and photographs, and equipment show a presence at the bar that is "not of this world."
Cifarelli said he may be conducting seances and further investigations at the two restaurants in the future (we are so there, by the way). What do you think - is he some quack looking for publicity or....is Hoboken kinda haunted?
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