Savvy Brooklyn residents cry ghost in hopes of avoiding a rent hike

In case you haven't heard, it's an expensive endeavor to live in Brooklyn, New York. And with city rents heading further north of astronomical all the time, it's no surprise residents in New York's hippest borough are willing to get creative in their fight to keep prices (sort of) affordable — employing out-there tactics like, say, claiming a building is haunted in order to drive away would-be renters.

The New York Post reported Monday that 123 On The Park, a luxury development near Brooklyn's Prospect Park, is plagued by "strange voices and mysterious footsteps." The high-rise occupies the former Caledonian Hospital, which closed in 2003, and the supernatural amenities "are being blamed on the ghosts of former patients," the Post writes. Three doormen have reportedly abandoned their posts within the last six months.

But before you get too spooked, Gothamist is blowing out the pillar candles on the whole thing, writing that employees manning the door at the building Tuesday said the rumors of a haunting were conceived by "neighbors concerned that the new high-end development would raise their own cost of living." With any luck, they'll save enough on rent due to decreased demand to spring for some Ouija boards and really get this ghost party going.

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