ST. MARK’S CHURCH IN THE BOWERY

The church stands tall in New York City’s East Village. It’s stone structure looming over the everyday hustle on the surrounding streets. The oldest church in the city, St. Mark’s has a history far more complex than it lets on, and the proof lies underneath the ground it sits on. Today over 200,000 people live on top of New York’s original settlement – New Amsterdam and it’s footprint lost, under the city that never sleeps. The only indications of the old colony lie in a few architectural remains, and street names.
On May 11, 1647, a man named Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam. The peg legged man was titled the Dutch Director General of the settlement, and he was disliked from the moment he stepped foot on this land. In 1664, New Amsterdam quietly became New York. Peter finished his life on his 62 acres of land which he called the Great Bouwerie and at the age of 80, he died. The body of Peter lies in the floor of his private chapel, in what is now St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery. Before the fire that destroyed his home, Stuyvesant’s servants reported seeing his ghost roaming his estate. It was later reported that a peg-legged figure was there inspecting the mess after the fire.
In the 1800’s it was reported that loud sounds were coming from Peter’s grave. This continued during and after his estate was sold. In 1865 a man in the church heard a figure approaching him. When he turned to look behind him, he saw a menacing figure walking towards him with a cane. Stuyvesant apparently interrupted mass in 1884 by singing hymns in Dutch. In 1930 it was reported that a man and woman were seen at mass in full old Dutch clothing. Again, In 1995, mass was interrupted by a voice counting an inventory of rum by a man in old Dutch costume who later disappeared into the wall.
My interest in the location stemmed from my personal disbelief in the supernatural. I wanted to experience for myself what all the talk of paranormal entities stemmed from and to become familiar with the not just the church, but the land it is built on. I visited at a range of times. Since the churchyard is open almost all the time, there was always a way for me to access the building and the graves (Peter’s tomb). I would bring a blanket and sit among the tombs while intently watching to see if i could spy anything abnormal. But, each time I went, I experienced nothing strange. Yes, I got chills a few times and maybe I was a little paranoid, but that was only because every second I was sat there I was expecting an angry 17th century man to give me the scare of a lifetime. I will admit, I am a bit disappointed. There’s something inside me that wants to keep going back to the church and to see Peter. Nevertheless, the spooky stories will have to suffice. Though the short film I made about the church doesn’t feature any dead people, I think it leaves the viewer with a sense of mystery, and that’s exactly what attracted me to the church in the first place.

Atteberry, Todd. “Peter Stuyvesant: A Citizen Of Old New Amsterdam, Carrying On Nearly 400 Years Later In New York City”. A Gothic Curiosity Cabinet. N.p., 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.