Murders, ghosts and more: NYC landmark Kreischer Mansion has a haunted past — and present
In the forgotten borough, ghosts remember this place.
Kreischer Mansion in Charleston has a haunted past — and present, with employees hearing crying and furniture moving — and even seeing faces in photos they take of the historic house.
In 2005, it was also the site of the mob murder of a Bonanno crime family associate, Robert McKelvey, who was stabbed there by Mafia hitman Joseph Young, who was then working as a caretaker at the mansion.
“Then they cut his body up and burned him in the furnace,” said current caretaker Rick Rispoli, 63, who now runs haunted house and Halloween events there.
The gabled manse on Arthur Kill Road was built around 1885 by German brick magnate Balthasar Kreischer, who constructed twin homes for his sons, Charles and Edward.
One burned down, but Charles’ still stands today on 4.8 acres.
In 1894, Edward was found dead behind his father’s brick factory across the street.
His widow, Frieda, is said to haunt the house.
“They don’t know if [Edward] was murdered or committed suicide, so Charles takes him into his house, does seances to try to communicate with him,” Rispoli said. “The story goes he opened up all these portals and never knew how to shut them and that’s why the house is haunted.
“When I was in the basement a few times, I heard a woman wailing and howling upstairs, and we think it’s Edward’s wife,” he said.
“On the first floor, we’ll all be sitting and all of a sudden we’ll hear some furniture moving upstairs. I’ve seen a black shadow come down the staircase.”
Apparitions have also been seen in its windows, appearing in photos taken of the mansion.
“A photographer was going around taking pictures . . . and she got a full body apparition that looked just like Balthasar Kreischer and a woman sitting next to him with a big bonnet hat on,” he recounted.
“And my business partner’s father took a picture of the mansion and we had seven faces in seven windows.”
The sprawling property was granted landmark status by the city in 1968 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
