"Spooky score: ???????????? It’s easy to imagine mysterious spectral footprints appearing in the sawdust on the floor at McSorley’s, because history feels so palpable here. They say none of the many tchotchkes and memorabilia at this 1854 institution have been removed from the walls for more than a century, but the single most haunting artifact within the saloon is the row of turkey wishbones hanging on a lamp over the bar. Legend has it that they were hung up by soldiers heading off to WWI, who retrieved them once they were safely back home. The 20 or so bones that remain belong to the men who never returned. (The health department finally ordered McSorley’s to dust them in 2011.) Our raspy-voiced bartender said he’s met “a dozen” ghosts in the 50-odd years he’s worked at McSorley’s, but when we asked the Ouija board if we should get light or dark beer, the results were inconclusive—so we ordered a pint of each. Later, our EMF meter went off in the ladies’ room. Maybe because women were banned here until 1970, and their designated restroom was only installed in the ’80s?" - molly fitzpatrick
