An accurate re-imagining of an old Carman hallway

Staff writer Mia Lindheimer takes us back to a day that will forever live in infamy as the day Carman housed not just almost-dead college students, but also an actual dead body.

One cold winter day– January 30, 1984, to be exact—three Carman roommates were strolling back to their room when they spotted a rug sticking out of the dumpster on the corner. Just as any frugal college student would do, they pounced on the opportunity, lifting the rug from the dumpster and carrying it to their dorm.

The roommates didn’t even hesitate to wonder why such a nice carpet was thrown in the dumpster, tied up rather tightly on either end and in the center, or why it was so heavy when they picked it up. They gave the carpet the benefit of the doubt.

They took the elevator up to the 8th floor of Carman and started to pick up the carpet again when one roommate noticed a deep red stain soaked into the carpet. What could a maroon spot be? He noticed another one on the other side, and dismissed any wetness he felt as regular trash liquid. Assuming the red was a wine stain, he leaned down and lifted the bottom of the carpet.

A pair of feet slipped out the bottom.

We imagine at this moment, the roommates begin to freak out. The gears in their heads probably all clicked into place: normal people don’t throw away perfectly nice rugs, and normal people also don’t pick up any old rug they find in a dumpster.

They call the police (or maybe public safety). The area around the Carman 8th floor elevators was curtained off so that students can’t see the body.

The body, which remains unidentified today, was a roughly 20-year-old black male with two bullet wounds in his head. The police department determined the man was killed just a few hours earlier that day, and “the situation [is] serious, but no one is [in] trouble.”

While the RAs held a meeting to ensure all the residents were feeling alright after the incident, most of the residents handled it like the true New Yorkers we are, even in our MoHi bubble. “I didn’t see anyone shaken by it that badly,” said Lofrumento, the Carman 10th floor counselor at the time.

If something this spooky can’t shake us, the Morton Williams Halloween decorations got nothing on us.

And you thought the current hallways were bad via Shutterstock