Every city has places that serve as a reminder to some of its darker points in history and New York City is no exception. Untapped Cities regularly features parts of the city that could be considered “dark tourism” – or visiting places associated with death, suffering or disaster.
On Wednesday, October 26th, join Untapped Cities founder Michelle Young and bioethicist Elizabeth Yuko in the panel discussion “Let’s Get Ethical” on dark tourism at Q.E.D. in Astoria, Queens at 7:30 p.m. The event will begin with a brief lecture on Lizzie Borden and her former home, which is now a museum and bed & breakfast, followed by a conversation on the ethics of dark tourism. Tickets are $6 and on sale now.
To get a taste of what is considered dark tourism, here are a few places previously featured in Untapped Cities that fall under this category:
1. Hart Island
Hart Island isn’t just home to New York’s potter’s field (mass burial ground for the city) maintained by inmates from Rikers Island, but is also home to an array of abandoned buildings. We recently had a chance to step on the island – check out that experience here, then read about 10 of the island’s secrets.
2. Park Slope Plane Crash
On December 16, 1960 a United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation, likely collided over Staten Island resulting in a plane crash in the residential neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. 135 people were killed, including passengers, crew and people on the ground. Untapped Cities shows you where to find remnants of the crash in plain sight.
3. The House of Death
“House of Death,” located at 14 West 10th Street is supposedly haunted by 22 ghosts, the most famous of which is Mark Twain, who resided there from 1900-1901. In the talk tomorrow, we’ll discuss the ethics and implications of perpetuating myths, particularly by the New York City government.
4. Former Cemeteries Beneath NYC’s Most Famous Parks
Photo by Chrysalis Architecture
There are not only millions of New Yorkers living in the city today – there are many more who have been buried in current or former cemeteries across the boroughs.Untapped Cities walks you through some of city’s graveyards of the past, which have largely been repurposed since.
5. Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island was essentially where the city of New York stuck its undesirables for a significant period in its history. With everything from a smallpox hospital to a psychiatric hospital to a prison, the island’s dark past is everywhere.
Photo by Chrysalis Architecture
