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Nicholas Bayard and John Lorimer Graham never met in real life, but their ghosts meet everyday as the streets named after them intersect in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. All around us are streets and public spaces named after local landowners, real estate speculators, politicians, artists, and activists - people we aspire to be, people we forgot long ago. What does it mean to be surrounded by all these names, these stories, these ghosts?
The Cripplebush Ghost Tour leads participants through the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint by the names of their landmarks. Who was Edmund Driggs of Driggs Avenue? Patrick McCarren of McCarren Park Pool? Harry Van Arsdale Jr. of Harry Van Arsdale High School? Through both guided and self-guided experiences, participants directly engage with local history, explore spaces in new ways, and interact with friends and strangers in an area originally called "Cripplebush" for the dense thickets that once dominated the landscape.
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In September 2007, I worked with a small group of cohorts to create an interactive ghost tour for the Conflux Festival.
We called ourselves the CB Crew and our Cripplebush Ghost Tour provided an educational and entertaining walk around Williamsburg complete with a chalked path to follow,
automated text messages, a ghostly tour guide, historic tid-bits about the people behind the names of streets and other "official" sites, bocce ball,
hidden boom boxes, and a bloody man in a trunk.
http://www.cripplebush.org
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