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Abandoned Office Building Ghosts

 

We work in the garment district of midtown Manhattan, where many generations of office workers have come and gone and accidents have happened over the years. Directly across from my boss's office is an abandoned floor space which has not tenants since we moved in here 5 years ago.

Every once in awhile when I'm in meetings with him I notice workers shuffling across the empty office space, some in clothes that look dated. They are flesh and blood, nothing ethereal or otherworldly about them. Move and take up space the same as colleagues on the floors above and below them. I had always assumed they were contractors or construction workers looking to remodel the space. I was usually too busy with what my boss is saying to think anything about it.

The other day when I was in my morning meeting I noticed that one of them, a young gentleman seemingly in his 20s or 30s, had an appearance that looked off. As I looked directly at him staring out the window I thought for a split second I could see through him.

Then it just hit me like a ton of bricks: I've been seeing ghosts every day for the last 5 years. Since the building is prewar and likely industrial, if I'm a ghost that's likely to be a place I want to hang out in.

Is it possible that ghosts can be shuffling around an office working like they did in life and appear like that all day every day?

Could this have been an industrial accident or disaster that is somehow leading them to keep haunting the space? What could I be seeing and is it possibly paranormal? This has been weighing on my mind all weekend.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, sherm784, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

Spiritual_Paganist (15 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2018-04-03)
The area where you are seeing ghosts and the fact that a section of the building is abandoned could lead to a possible result of you seeing entities there. My explanation at least in experience is that some ghosts do tend to remain in a area which is linked to their past, reason why is because they haven't properly moved on, or they are almost in a loop and continue to do the same activities as they used to do day in day out because some may not even notice that they are dead in the first place. Because this is visible to you and possibly to others is because of the high residual energy that has built up over the years therefore allowing it to be visible to a few just because of the constant activity. Yet this may not be present activity, it could be the energy playing a loop.
BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
 
6 years ago (2018-03-30)
I thought of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory as well. Like their modern third world counterparts, even child laborers in the garment industry worked long hours near deadly machinery in inadequate facilities where they were literally locked in the building. She said "Sisyphean rat race" which seems like a level of hell, and I agree with Augusta.
Perhaps, though, the spirits remaining were of that last generation of fine craftspeople who studied and excelled in the textiles industry? Pre-industrialization, textiles was considered among the traditional skilled manufacturing guilds or "trades"-which point supported the demands of those workers who went on strike for better treatment and premises, after the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Thanks to them, most U.S. Workplaces require emergency exits.
sherm784 (19 stories) (27 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2018-03-29)
that is brilliant and insanely helpful. I might have to talk to the building management and tell them what I'm seeing, although there is a chance i'll be laughed out of there. Thanks for the tips and taking the time to help to all!
AugustaM (7 stories) (996 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2018-03-29)
Before jumping to any conclusions, do some research first. Google the address, see what comes up. Keeping in mind how cities change and how streets can be renumbered - do a general search for the neighborhood using key words like "tragedy, accident, fire, etc" and possibly even dates based on their clothing styles. If there are other very human tenants of the building ask them if there is ever anything happening on the floor in question.

Just from a quick Google here are a few possibly helpful pages:
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire:
Https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

Historic Photos of the District - helps in dating buildings:
Https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-13/new-york-city-s-garment-district-photos

Historic NYC Disasters:
Https://www.google.com/amp/s/ny.curbed.com/platform/amp/2014/9/15/10047076/these-9-disasters-forever-changed-new-yorks-infrastructure

Podcast of the district's history:
Https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-The-Bowery-Boys-New-28372878/episode/196-ready-to-wear-a-history-28373552/

Granted if you find nothing dramatic in the site's history but your conversations with folks in the building make it fairly clear that there is no earthly activity on that floor - you could still be seeing residual energy simply replaying itself. That's what I'm rather leaning towards anyway - just a sisyphean rat race.

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