The New Victory Theater, opened by Oscar Hammerstein, in 1900, was the first theater on West 42nd Street at 209. It was the first theater to claim a ghost sighting in the Times Square neighborhood. On December 21, 1909, the audience clapped enthusiastically for the opening night of “The City”, a play, written by Clyde Fitch, the most popular playwright of the time. Fitch had been the first American playwright to publish his plays. As the cast took final curtain calls, the playwright emerged from the wings, strode to center stage, took a deep bow – and vanished. He had died the summer before. Ever since people wonder if he will ever make another appearance.