In the 1950s Bayport was home to a nightclub that was the highlight of its time. Known as the 'IT' place to be, people would come from all over to experience the nightlife hidden away on the south shore of Long Island. A local girl, a few people have referred to her Linda, had been hanging around the club for a while when she accepted a job as a dancer there. One night she met a man while working and agreed to meet him in the parking lot after she got off. She said goodbye to one of the other girls as she got into his car later that night. The two of them drove to the ice cream factory, a secluded spot that lent itself easily to doubling as a make-out spot. It's here where the legend splits a little - one version says she rejected him, so he attacked and killed her, leaving her body there and taking off. Another says they were making-out when someone attacked them. The man was murdered, the girl raped and then tortured to death. Her body was found on the factory's property while her lover's body was never found. Stories of screams and crying started surfacing not long after the crime. There have even been reports of sightings of a young woman being seen walking the property and then vanishing into thin air.
Sometime in the 70s a little boy was playing in the factory, which had been abandoned by this time. Climbing on an old piece of machinery, he fell to his death onto the factory floor. Since then sounds of giggling and singing have been reported as emanating from the inside of the factory. There are even reports of the sound of small feet echoing through the main room.
A fire was supposedly responsible for destroying the original building. Rebuilds were planned but more fires followed each time the rebuild was set in motion. The fires were mysterious, seemingly coming from no where. The owners eventually gave up plans to rebuild, they boarded up the factory and abandoned it to time.
The legends associated with Reid's seems to be myriad but these three have been reported the most. While the stories are fairly typical for legends associated with hauntings, long-time residents assure me there is at least some truth to the first legend. As for the later two, no one can say for sure. The legends seem to have existed for as long as the factory has been around. However, contrary to popular belief, the factory may be boarded up but it was not abandoned. In a local newspaper report, dated in 1992, the factory was reported to be owned and cared for. There was even mention of plans for construction permits, which seems to have been stalled for several years. In December 2002 'For Sale' signs went up on the old factory and by January demolition was finally set in to motion. As of the time of this article, plans have been set into motion for the construction of several new building and the demolition of the old ice cream factory is seemingly complete. One reader wrote in to share the latest information with us and she asked an interesting question. If there is anything to the stories, what happens to the ghosts in all the demolition and construction? It may be all these changes may help the stories fade into legend. Or, it may be we will be back revisiting these legends in a new form sometime in the future.
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