Goosefeather Restaurant
Just up the street from where the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow lived, the Goosefeather Restaurant is now a fancy upscale Cantonese restaurant housed in the famous King Mansion. Located right by the water and surrounded by the towering trees of upstate New York, it’s hard to imagine a more mysterious spot.
Why is Goosefeather Restaurant haunted?
The restaurant is haunted by a storied history of tragedy and sorrow, and visitors from all over the world come here looking for good food and adventure.
Itching to learn more about the unique spirits of New York? Join us for a hauntingly fun and historically accurate New York ghost tour!
The City That Never Sleeps
Ah, New York. The trains are always running, and the people are always going somewhere. With a vibrant nightlife and rows of bodegas open late into the night, New York City never sleeps –– and neither do its ghosts. You can probably imagine why such a place is so haunted, with ghost-infested locations all over the city.
Located a few miles from Manhattan is North Brother Island. The Riverside Hospital was once located here in great part because its isolated location allowed for the treatment of highly contagious diseases. The hospital saw everything from smallpox, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and even typhus. You’ve probably heard of its famous resident, Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of the virus that causes typhoid fever. The poor thing was locked in the hospital for 30 years, and it is rumored that you can still hear her screaming to this day.
There is also the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, where patrons can hear disembodied footsteps, bangs, bumps, and other bizarre sounds. As if that weren’t enough, some people also reported seeing a woman wearing a white dress, who some believe is a former starlet stuck here. A museum dedicated to the preservation and study of film and television is certainly the hangout spot for distressed celebrities. Chances are she might give you a tour herself if you come to learn more about movies.
The Goosefeather’s Early Days
Before being a popular Cantonese restaurant, the Goosefeather was just the King Mansion, home to railroad executive Thomas M. King. The King family was not the only one with money in the area. Tarrytown was a popular town among the country’s richest people, including John D. Rockefeller, who lived in the famous Kykuit mansion, where labor activists and police officers often clashed in violent tussles.
In a similar incident, a bomb was once hidden in the estate of John D. Archbold, president of the Standard Oil Company. Such violent confrontations hopefully set the stage for what we’re about to tell you. Nothing good could possibly come out of all that aggressive energy.
Not much is known about the King family, which adds to the mystery and suspicion surrounding this loaded family. Why did they keep their lives so secret? Or, more importantly, what were they hiding? We will probably never get a clear answer to any of these questions. The only thing we know for sure is that Thomas M. King had a daughter named Sybil. The Goosefeather Restaurant is very much entangled with its opaque history.
Haunting the Public
Patrons of the Goosefeather Restaurant certainly get to enjoy an experience. If they are lucky –– or cursed, depending on how you choose to look at it –– they can catch a glimpse of something truly spooky in between dishes. Many people have come forward over the years to share stories of seeing the ghost of Sybil King dressed in white and looking directly at them. It’s not clear what she wants, which only makes her even more intimidating. With ghosts that send flying things your way, for example, you at least know to stay away. But poor Sybil just looks on.
If you want a close-up, you can stay at the King Mansion, which is now known as the Tarrytown Estate House and is open to visitors. Legend has it that room 293 is seriously haunted –– maybe by Sybil’s ghost herself. People who have stayed there report seeing a woman trying to climb into bed with them and feeling a chill unlike any other. Some people brush off the experience as a very vivid dream, but it’s really hard to say. After all, not everyone can admit the horrors of waking life.
There are plenty of other ghosts in the area. For example, there is the story of a woman who ate green apples. She was supposedly suffering from unrequited love and retreated to the forest for solitude, where she ate nothing but green apples and passed away. Her ghost is said to haunt the area longing for a love that has never been hers.
The Women of Tarrytown
Sybil King and the women who ate green apples are not our only female protagonists in this wacky town. There are quite a number of stories about witches who were hunted down over the years –– but as anyone will tell you, you can’t always get rid of a witch. For one, there is Hulda the Witch, who is said to have helped the colonists by killing many British troops. The redcoats eventually got her, however, and killed her without mercy. Her spirit lives on and is felt throughout the woods near the Goosefeather Restaurant.
There is also the story of the mad monk who killed five young women for no clear reason. One of their lovers retaliated by killing the monk and sealing his body behind his manor’s walls, where it is said he haunts from the other world to this day. The ghosts of the five women are also believed to be nearby.
Haunted New York
The Goosefeather Restaurant…come for the Cantonese food, stay for the terror of a ghostly woman! No one knows for sure why Sybil’s ghost continues to haunt the property, which doesn’t make things any less scary. If you want to keep her company, make sure to book a night at the hotel, her former home, and let her surprise you in the middle of the night!
Sources:
https://nyghosts.com/hauntings-of-north-brother-island/
https://nyghosts.com/new-york-citys-haunted-museums/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarrytown,_New_York
