Here is the scariest house in Greenwich Village.
81 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, New York City, was used by the CIA as a safe house for LSD research and mind-control experiments as part of the secret Project MKUltra (specifically a subproject known as Operation Midnight Climax). They ran it as a workhouse and the women were instructed to put LSD in their “John’s” drinks.
The safe house was run by a federal narcotics agent and CIA contractor named George Hunter White, who used the alias “Morgan Hall”. Beginning in 1953, White posed as an artist or seaman to lure unsuspecting individuals back to the apartment, where they were given LSD and other drugs, often without their knowledge or consent. The apartment was outfitted with two-way mirrors and recording equipment, allowing White and other agents to secretly observe and record the subjects’ behavior while they were under the influence of the drugs.
The goal of these experiments was to study the effects of LSD and other substances for potential use in interrogations, psychological warfare, and developing a “truth serum”.
workhouse = whorehouse
Darn spellchecker!
I believe it was merely dosing people at the 81 Bedford location. When rumors about unexplained activity happening to random people started, the location and operating techniques were changed, rumors which unintentionally gave us the comic book character, Dr. Strange.
By utilizing the illicit activities with prostitutes at the California location, it was probably hoped that there would be less conversation about getting dosed.