"Spooky score: ???????????? The river was once just five feet from the door of this Hudson Square building—in operation as a bar since 1817. As at McSorley’s, the walls bear layer upon layer of objects, which feel like the kind of personal effects you’d bring to a seánce. Many are nautically themed: a life preserver, a life jacket, some oars. The story goes that their resident ghost “Mickey” was a seaman in life. In death, he apparently harasses women, and takes sips from people’s drinks. The tables are covered in butcher paper, and patrons equipped with crayons. When we scrawled a greeting to Mickey, the EMF meter flashed orange—the highest rating we’d yet to observe. And then, when we tried to take a photo of it, our phone froze for a full minute. Our server, who claimed Ear Inn was “absolutely” haunted, told us she once had a guest who wanted to be moved to another table. That woman, who claimed to be a medium, sensed that something terrible had happened under the stairs—right where, as it happens, we were sitting." - molly fitzpatrick
