NYC Mayor: Official Residence Is Haunted

Eric Adams says he sees things moving 'all the time'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 12, 2022 11:54 AM CDT
NYC Mayor: Official Residence Is Haunted
The exterior of Gracie Mansion in New York City is shown.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is afraid of ghosts. Questioned Tuesday about why he doesn't live in the mayor's official residence—the 223-year-old Gracie Mansion—Adams denied that the place was too cool for him. "I don't care what anyone says, there are ghosts in there, man," he told broadcaster Michael Kay on YES Network after throwing out the first pitch at Tuesday's Yankees game, per the New York Daily News. Kay asked if Adams sees "stuff moving there," to which the mayor replied, "All the time." He was then asked if he hears footsteps. "Listen, they're creeping around," the mayor said.

The discussion follows criticism of Adams' living situation. He was accused of actually living in New Jersey, rather than his Brooklyn apartment, during the mayoral campaign, per the New York Post. He has also faced scrutiny for his travels outside of the city, including to Washington, DC; Los Angeles; Miami; and New Orleans during his four months in office, per Gothamist. "Adams should be at City Hall and Gracie Mansion implementing plans that should have been implemented months ago," former Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the Post in a recent interview. But Adams, a Democrat, is not the first person to raise such concerns about the home on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Chirlane McCray, wife of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, said she heard that the ghost of Elizabeth Walcott-Gracie—a daughter of original owner Archibald Gracie—inhabits the place. "I've never seen her but there are times when doors open and close by themselves, and the floorboards creak as though someone is walking through the rooms," she told Metro in a 2017 interview. Walcott-Gracie died from apoplexy at the residence in 1819, 20 years after it was built, per the Post. Robert Gonyo, co-founder of the Haunted Manhattan tour company, tells the outlet that he'd gladly check out the place on Adams' behalf. (More Eric Adams stories.)

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