Kreischer House

Kreischer Mansion
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 0391
Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the United States
Location	4500 Arthur Kill Rd., Staten Island, New York
Coordinates	40°31′57″N 74°14′18″W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	ca. 1885
Architectural style	American Queen Anne
NRHP reference No.	82001199[1]
NYCL No.	0391
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 29, 1982
Designated NYCL	February 20, 1968

Kreischer House, also known as Kreischer Mansion, is a historic home located in Charleston, Staten Island, . Built by German immigrant Balthasar Kreischer about 1885, it is a large, asymmetrically massed 2+1⁄2-story, wood-frame house in the American Queen Anne style. The rectangular house features spacious verandas, gables with jigsaw bargeboards, decorative railings, posts and brackets, tall chimneys, and a corner tower. It was one of two mansions built by Kreischer for his sons. The surviving house belonged to son Edward Kreischer; the other, to his brother Charles.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1]

History

On June 8, 1894, Edward B. Kreischer allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself in the right temple near his place of business,[3] although murder is an ongoing theory. (Reportedly, his wife had an affair with a doctor, Kreischer found out, and his wife was poisoning him with the doctor's help.)[2] Since then, there have been claims that Kreischer has haunted the property.[2][4] Along with other local stories of the house's violent history, this has given the house a supernatural reputation, leading it to be used as a location on television shows including Boardwalk Empire.[2]

In 1998, the Kreischer Mansion was bought with the intention of restoration and eventual sale by Isaac Yomtovian.[2] In 2008, then caretaker Joseph "Joe Black" Young was revealed to be a hitman for the Bonanno crime family, more specifically serving under Bonanno soldier Gino Galestro.[5] He was convicted of the murder of rival mob associate Robert McKelvey, committed three years earlier on the property.[5][6][7]

See also

• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Staten Island
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond County, New York

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Lehto, Steve (February 3, 2015). American Murder Houses: A Coast-To-Coast Tour of the Most Notorious Houses of Homicide. Penguin. ISBN 9781101593011.
3. "With a Bullet in His Skull". New York Tribune. New York. June 9, 1894. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
4. Schellmann, Hilke (October 24, 2012). "Spirits moving on S.I." The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
5. Sietsema, Robert (December 3, 2010). "Killmeyer's and the Kreischer Mansion: Meat and Murder in Staten Island". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
6. "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2016. Note: This includes Anne B. Covell (September 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Kreischer House" (PDF). Retrieved April 1, 2016. and Accompanying three photographs
7. Rashbaum, William K. (May 12, 2006). "Grisly Mob Killing at S.I. Mansion Is Detailed". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved April 9, 2016.

External links

• "The Kreischer Mansion" (archived)