Triangle Fire’s Haunted Brown Building

Brown Building

The Brown Building is a 10-story historic structure located in New York’s Greenwich Village. I wrote about the terrible fire that occurred in this building when the Shirtwaist Triangle Factory occupied it in 1911. *

In this post, I talked about the famous sighting of a guardian angel that helped woman jump out of the building --this death preferable to death by fire.

This fire damaged the top three floors of the building which is where the factory part of the business was located. It spread quickly and took the lives of 146 people--mostly young women. The Shirtwaist Triangle fire was the worst industrial disaster in New York City’s history.

If you want to read more about this disaster and the guardian angel read my post entitled, The Guardian Spirit of the Triangle Fire.

After these top floors were refurbished in 1916, New York University used the eighth floor for classrooms and a library. A local philanthropist, Frederick Brown then purchased the building in 1929 and donated it to the University. The building was renamed the Brown Building in his honor.

Makeshift morgue dubbed
Misery Lane

Today the Brown Building is a National Historic Landmark and the University’s Silver Center for Arts and Sciences is located here.

In the years since the Shirtwaist Triangle Fire, many students and faculty members have stepped forward to state they feel the building is haunted by some of the victims of the 1911 fire.

It is said that activity occurs throughout the building, but the top 3 floors where the fire raged is where most of this activity is noticed.

On the 9^th floor, which houses the University’s Center for Developmental Genetics strange noises are heard. Some have reported whispers and others have heard female voices crying for help.

Yet other witnesses in this area have reported smelling smoke. This smoke aroma is noticed in other parts of the building as well--this is unusual because no smoking is allowed in any of the buildings used by the university.

Many students, respectful of what happened still state that the building makes them feel uncomfortable.

In the late evening hours on the top three floors female apparitions and dark figures have been seen that then just fade away.

Phantom footsteps are heard throughout the building, and one elevator always goes to the upper floors even when the buttons have not been pushed.

* At this time the building was called the Asch Building.