A Ghostly Presence At NYU
Part I. Who’s Haunting Brittany Hall?
Many of the dorms at NYU used to be old hotels. This provides a sort of welcoming feeling to every individual dorm. But, some forget that these hotels can come with long and eerie pasts. Brittany Hall, a first year residence hall built in 1929 was originally a hotel. Since its opening, many guests have gone in an out of the building, but one young child never left. That guest is Molly, a young old girl who, nearly 90 years ago, lost her life in that very building that now holds about 500 college freshmen.
Allegedly, during construction in the hotel Molly was playing in the hallway with her dolls when she lost her balance and fell down an elevator shaft and died. Her body was never recorded to be found, leaving the haunting question of whether or not her spirit ever passed over. Many residents throughout the years have had experiences that say she is still in the dorm haunting the halls and looking for playmates among the new herd of college freshmen each year. Being a young girl stuck in the same building for decades can get lonely, even for supernatural beings.
Amelia, a current resident of Brittany Hall shares an eerie story about her scariest encounter with Molly. While her roommates were gone, she had her friends over to hang out. The door was closed, when “all of a sudden the door [flew open] like a foot wide and [they] all just stared at it for a second in disbelief”. Prior to moving to Brittany, Amelia researched about Molly and how the little girl looks for people to play with, especially at night. From her prior knowledge, Amelia said “we don’t want to play right now, Molly”, when at that very moment, the door abruptly slammed shut, leaving just an echo of the bang and the gasps of the girls in the background. Amelia believes Molly heard the girls enjoying themselves and wanted to join in on the fun. But Molly seemed pretty upset when Amelia told her to go away. So what actually happens when you make a ghost upset?
Another freshmen named Deana shared stories about fairy lights in her room turning on and off at random times. It’s as though someone is switching them on to get her attention, but there is no one there. Was it Molly playing with the lights to get Deana’s attention or does Molly have a special interest in her suite mate? Deana’s suitemate had quite an interesting encounter with little Molly while she was taking a shower before bed.
Deana told me the story: “my roommate had just taken a shower and purposely did not wipe the mirror so she wouldn’t get her hands wet. My other suite mate immediately went into the shower [after her].” Midway through the shower she thought she heard giggles through the sounds of the running water, so she poked her head out when she noticed there was a wiped spot on the foggy mirror placed at the height of a young child. Trying to ignore that spot, Deana’s roommate went back to showering and the next song that came on her phone was ‘Dead Girl Walking’ from the musical Heathers: a song about a girl trying to find how to spend her last few hours on Earth before she is hunted down, killed, and “stuffed” like an animal. Could it have been Molly paying a visit to her old hotel room? Though this could all just be a coincidence, it’s hard to deny there was a ghostly presence in that bathroom when so many other similar experiences have occurred.
Other reports about Molly include hearing knocks on dorm room doors in the middle of the night, taps on the walls, and a quiet humming heard throughout the building late at night. The floors creak when no one is there, and cold breezes rush through the halls though the windows are closed.
Many people, including building inspectors, say that the noises in the walls or in the floors are just due to the fact that the building is old. They say the pipes are just loud and clanky, or that the vents are just tattered and rusty. But, to some point, it’s hard to believe that is all.
If this is Molly, does she really just want to play?
