The Empire State Building Ghost

For years after the Empire State Building was constructed, its observation platform was the site of many spectacular suicides. But gradually the protective barriers were built higher. Today the barriers, plus sharp-eyed guards, make the top of the Empire State Building virtually suicide-proof.

But there were no thoughts of suicide in Lucy Brenner's mind that afternoon. She just didn't want to go too near the fence, because she was afraid she would become dizzy. "I'll just stand here for a while, and then go back down," Lucy thought. "At least then I can say I have been to the top of the Empire State Building."

Lucy contented herself by observing her fellow visitors, many of whom, she noticed with some satisfaction, were hanging back from the edge, just as she was.

In the crowd of tourists one distinctly stood out. There was something definitely odd about this young woman, Lucy thought. In the first place her clothes were all wrong. The gloves, the blouse, the little suit jacket and skirt, the bright red lipstick and hairstyle made her look as if she had stepped out of a very early episode of I Love Lucy. There was something distinctly "of the fifties" or even earlier about her appearance. The woman was extremely pale and obviously distracted. She said something to Lucy, or was she just talking to herself?

"My man died in the war," she said softly.

Lucy didn't know how to respond, so she tried to look sympathetic and said nothing.

"We were childhood sweethearts," the woman continued. "We were going to be married when he got home, but he was killed in Germany."

"In Germany?" thought Lucy. "This woman can't be more than twenty-five years old. What war is she talking about?"

"I don't know what to do," the woman went on, quite oblivious to Lucy's obvious discomfort. "They tell me I'm still young, that I'll find someone else, but I can't. I've cried so much over the past few years that I can't cry anymore. I feel so lost I decided to come here. This is where he first stole a kiss from me."

"Stole a kiss!" thought Lucy. "Nobody talks that way today."

Lucy decided that it was time to leave, but as she turned she caught a glimpse of the strange woman out of the corner of her eye. The woman had rushed forward to the wall at the edge of the observation platform, climbed up to the metal fence on top and somehow managed to get through it and throw herself over the edge.

Lucy was horrified, but no one else in the crowd seemed to notice a thing. A few stopped to stare at Lucy's obviously horror-stricken expression. "That's it," Lucy said to herself. "The altitude is giving me hallucinations. I'm getting out of here."

First she went into the ladies' room to throw some cold water on her face and prepare for the long elevator ride down to street level. The splash of cold made her feel better, but when she opened her eyes she nearly fainted, for the strange woman with the bright red lipstick was standing at the sink next to her.

"How did you do that?" said Lucy. "That trick with the fence."

"My man died in the war," the woman said to nobody in particular. "We were childhood sweethearts É"

Lucy rushed from the ladies' room and joined the crowd waiting for the down elevator. As the elevator arrived and disgorged its passengers, Lucy could see the woman with the bright red lipstick among them. She was talking to herself, and Lucy could just make out the words.

"My man died in the war. We were childhood sweethearts É"

Lucy somehow managed to keep her composure until she got to the building lobby, where she fainted. Must have been an attack of vertigo, the doctor told her. Avoid heights. Lucy didn't have to hear that twice. She has never returned to the Empire State Building.

The ghosts of other suicide victims have occasionally been reported at the skyscraper, usually at night.