My idea of a fun activity doesn’t include riding around in the backseat of a hearse. But when Downtown Traveler was contacted by the director of Dead Apple Tours with an invitation to “Take the Ride of Your Life in a Hearse,” we jumped at the chance.
On a sunny Friday morning in February, Leslie and I piled into a vintage hearse and embarked on our first death tour of Manhattan.
As we passed famous landmarks– the Empire State Building, Washington Square Park and the Brooklyn Bridge, among others– we heard lurid tales of death and carnage that spanned from the colonial era to the present day.
Some might consider this morbid, but we discovered that a death tour is a fascinating and original way to learn about the city.
“It’s not just about the death, it’s about the moment in time,” explained Drew Raphael, the owner of Dead Apple Tours and the creator of this unique New York City tour.
Drew’s comic style and knowledge of local history makes this a fun excursion for both tourists and locals.
Pimped-out hearse
Our tour began in midtown Manhattan, where Drew, dressed in a black suit and hat, sat in the driver’s seat of a 1960 Cadillac Superior Crown Royale. This combination hearse, known as Desdemona, is one of only 468 ever produced.
Desdemona has undergone a full restoration and has a leather interior, comfy red velvet seats, and flat screen videos. (The monitors flash historical photos of the sites and have details on each crime).
Adding to the experience, pipe organ music plays in the background, and a gold-plated box of tissues is available in case your emotions get the best of you.
A word of caution: when you ride around Manhattan in a glossy black hearse, be prepared to be gawked at and photographed by wide-eyed travelers. We enjoyed feeling like celebrities as we became a tourist attraction in our own right!
Classic landmarks
The tour starts on East 36th Street near the Empire State Building. The famous skyscraper is a classic New York landmark and is now the city’s tallest building. However, the focus here is on the three dozen people who’ve plummeted to their deaths from the upper floors.
** WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW **
One of the more famous “jumpers” was Evelyn McHale; a photograph of her landing on the hood of a car below inspired Andy Warhol to create a print called Suicide.
After proceeding south down Fifth Avenue, we stopped at Madison Square Park. Famed architect Stanford White was killed by the husband of a jealous former lover at this site. Drew noted that the spurned gal pal was the “Megan Fox of her day.”
Other stops included the Chelsea Hotel, the site of the grisly murder of Nancy Spungen, allegedly by Sid Vicious. Later we passed the Village brownstone where Sid himself overdosed and died just a few months later.
We learned as well about the notorious past of Washington Square Park, formerly a burial ground and execution site where over 10,000 bodies remain to this day.
Additional highlights included mafia hits in Little Italy, theater patron riots in Astor Place, suicides at the Brooklyn Bridge and a cannibal who handed out soup made from human body parts in Tompkins Square Park.
The story of Samuel Morse was a rare miss. We pulled over in Chelsea outside of the building where Morse found out his wife died. Since this was not an actual death location, the stop seemed a bit forced.
Overall, we really enjoyed learning the secret history of landmarks we pass every day. As long-time New Yorkers, it was surprising to find out how many crimes occurred right outside of our doorstep.
Local flavor
Drew’s attitude and sense of humor make the death tour a classic New York experience. A native New Yorker, he interrupts his script to mumble at jay-walking pedestrians and cabbies who dart in front of the hearse.
Drew deftly navigated a series of obstacles– closed streets, bike messengers and potholes– without missing a beat. He was a wealth of knowledge and always had “fun facts” on hand when we got stuck in traffic jams.
You never know what you might see when you crisscross New York City on a weekday. As we traveled through the narrow streets of Chinatown, we passed a couple of butchers carrying pig carcasses on their shoulders!
History and humor
A Manhattan resident, Drew knows a great deal about the city and his subject matter. When discussing rock’s most tragic duo, Sid and Nancy, for example, he revealed he was a punk in the Sid Vicious era and frequented CBGB’s.
He also offered suggestions for local lunch spots and bars when we finished the tour in South Street Seaport.
Despite having a background in sales, Drew is a natural comedian. He labeled a tough-to-kill Mafioso “the 50-Cent of his day” and he deemed the sale of Manhattan to the Dutch “the first of New York City’s shady real estate deals.”
In the near future, Drew plans to add a second route covering midtown and upper Manhattan. Eventually, he hopes to expand Dead Apple Tours to cover the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn.
Details
What: Dead Apple Tours visits the sites of Manhattan’s most famous deaths
Where: The ride begins at the corner of East 36th Street and Madison Avenue, near the Empire State Building, and ends in lower Manhattan near the South Street Seaport.
When: Tour times are 11:00am Monday-Thursday, 11:00am & 7:00pm Friday, and 10:00am & 7:30pm Saturday.
Cost: The tour costs $45 per person and lasts approximately 2 hours. Private events and car rental are also available upon request.
Tour size: The hearse can seat up to 7 people.
For more information: Visit the Dead Apple Tours website and Twitter feed (@deadappletours).
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Interesting tour! Haven’t heard of this before.
Hey Cam! Check out the NYC death tour when you’re in town– it’s a unique experience. Perfect for Halloween 😉
Very cool tour! I got the chills reading this post so I can’t imagine what it would have been like to actually see all of the places!
Definitely going on my list of things to consider when I’m in NYC!
Thanks for the comment! Yes, def check out this tour when you make it to the Big Apple 🙂
Well, that’s different! Interesting concept mixing death, humor and a tour!
Have to say that Evelyn McHale’s suicide is an iconic photo. I wonder if it would be allowed today? As in be published in a magazine etc?
Good point. I doubt they would publish the photo today in a NYC newspaper– you never see photos of dead people in the mainstream press.
What a weird and hysterical idea- we should do one in Santa Fe- the town is littered with bodies- a lot of old burial grounds- plus a few lurid deaths.
I remember when there was a big Mafia shooting at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy. I was working in the at the time. Put a damper on going out to lunch!
Wow, the clam house is actually a stop on the tour! You’re a part of NYC history 🙂
This was an amazing post, I would love to do this tour this Halloween! Very creepy and spooky to ride in a hearse more than once in your life! That photo of Evenly is so hypnotic, she looks so beautiful and peaceful, so sad….
Alyson, you would love it!
Wow, what a unique piece of article! Death tour! Definitely a first for me.. and you made it sound sad yet humorous at the same time. Well done! 🙂
a very cool tour. you will be my personal tour guide when I come visit OK? and food.. lots of food.. u need to feed me too.. hmmm 😛
But of course! I just discovered a Chinatown takeout joint that sells 6 dumplings for $1. They’re delicious! You might actually save money when you visit NYC… 😉
Cool tour…Never heard of it before. Will consider checking it out the next time I’m in NYC.
Wow, never knew this tour existed. Also never knew all those bodies were below the arch in Washington Square Park – kind of grisly, I use to walk through that park a lot!
Yes, very creepy! The most interesting part of the tour was finding out about shocking crimes that happened right in our neighborhood.
Very interesting. Not sure if I’d do it, but it’s a fascinating read nonetheless.
Thanks for the comment! As a New Yorker, I never go on tours of the city, but I learned a lot from this experience. Sometimes it’s good to be a tourist in your hometown 😉
Really interesting tour- love that you drive around in a hearse! Will have to let my NYC friends know about this one.
Corey Craven did this in the 90’s with Crypt Keeper Tours – did you get her hearses?