THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Ear Inn, housed in the historic James Brown House, is one of Manhattan's oldest bars and is said to be haunted by the spirit of a sailor known as Mickey. Patrons and employees have reported unexplained touches, glasses moving on their own, and apparitions near the bar. Mickey is generally described as a mischievous but harmless presence.
The Ear Inn, once known as the Green Door (its nickname during the Prohibition), was a late-18th-century home originally constructed for James Brown, an African-American and George Washington’s aide during the Revolution. Over the years after that, the building housed a bar, dining room, Prohibition speakeasy, boarding house, smuggler’s den and brothel. Witnesses have reported many ghosts here, the most often seen perhaps being Mickey, a sailor’s apparition. The name Ear Inn comes from a neon sign that said BAR but was painted to read EAR instead.