New York Dakota Building

New York is one of the most important and imposing cities in the world. For this reason, every year millions of people come to American territory to enjoy its incredible and countless tourist attractions.

In New York there is everything: the tallest skyscrapers, the best hamburgers, impressive museums, but you can also find emblematic buildings full of curious stories. Without a doubt, they are peculiar places to visit the most peculiar side of NYC.

The truth is that the more than 400 years of history of the city bring with it an innumerable number of stories in each of its corners, full of stories and mystery.

The Dakota building is an emblematic building in New York that holds many mysteries. It is located at 1 72nd Street West of Central Park. It is famous for housing famous people, and because at its main entrance, John Lennon was shot to death on December 8, 1980.

The musician had lived in the place since 1973 and one of his most fanatical followers, Mark Chapman, stood guard in front of his doors that afternoon with the aim of shooting him. The creator of ‘Imagine’ (this is how the area of ​​Central Park in front of the building is called, in his tribute) died in the hospital a few hours after being shot by that crazed fan. Sometime later it was Yoko Ono herself who said that she often saw the ghost of her husband sitting at his white piano.

Paranormal occurrences in the mysterious building have been reported for generations and horror novels and short stories have even been written about the Dakota Building.

Mysteries and legends have been forged around the building, which was built from 1880 to 1884 by architect Henry Hardenberg (he also built the Plaza Hotel). It has a German Renaissance style, with a bit of 19th century French flair. At that time, it was so far from the city that it was said that it seemed to be in, hence its name. Also, it had no electricity, but the entire building was still rented out.

The story tells that there was a person named Aleister Crowley who was a black magician and poet who, at the beginning of the 20th century, stayed there, where he would have performed satanic rituals that led the building to be filled with curses and bad luck to those who lived there. there once, it is also known that at the same time the actor Boris Karloff also resided, who is said to have held seances. Upon his death, the tenants of the building began to speak of poltergeist phenomena. They say that his ghost appeared, which is why some inhabitants fled the place. But these two people were not the only ones who charged the place with a strange energy. The Wiccan Sorcerer, Gerald Brossau Gardner, stayed in the Dakota and also performed magical rituals that invoked hidden powers of nature. The French film director Roman Polanski was inspired by this man to create the character of the evil sorcerer in Rosemary’s baby and the massacre led by Charles Manson in which Sharon Tate, the filmmaker’s wife, was murdered among others. Part of the filming of the film took place outside the building and was chosen by Polanski precisely because of the stories of black magic that were about the building. They say that even during the filming of the film there were altercations with groups practicing black magic and satanic sects, who gathered to threaten the director and his team.

The building has been the residence of many other famous personalities. From Lauren Bacall to Mia Farrow, going through Judy Garland, Roberta Flack, Jack Lemon, Bono from U2 and Alec Baldwin.

The biggest problem in getting one of the coveted Dakota apartments is not only being able to pay the high sums of money, but also having the possibility of accessing it. The demand to live there is so high that there is a notable waiting list. In fact, during the first 45 years of the property’s life, there were no vacancies in the building: from 1884 to 1929 all the houses remained occupied.

At the same time, not everyone can live in the Dakota Building, but they must go through a meticulous selection process. It is a board that specially decides which applications to accept or reject. It was something very commented when they rejected, for example, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Cher or Madonna. In fact, lately the cooperative is not accepting celebrities among its tenants.



Unfortunately, you cannot access the building, but it is worth enjoying the exterior, taking pictures, and trying your luck to see if someone famous enters or leaves.

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