Posts Tagged ‘ Bronx ’

North Brother Island- Exteriors

One of the things I tend to focus on every time I go to North Brother Island in the East River is documenting the buildings throughout the seasons, as best I can. This has been evidenced in my previous posts on the island, though in this particular one I will be posting shots from the outside of all the structures on the island (except for the morgue, gantry and physical plant, as I’ve already made individual posts on these ). It really is amazing how over the last several decades, despite the Parks Department’s efforts, nature has slowly overtaken most of the remaining structures.

Continue reading

North Brother Island- Morgue

The morgue building on North Brother Island was originally built as a chapel, and its original construction purpose is shown in the Gothic yellow stained glass windows, most of which have since fallen out or been smashed apart. Located right beside the ferry gantry, the building was repurposed as an easier way to transfer the bodies to the mainland for being laid to rest with minimal interaction by other patients, thus preventing stress among the patients remaining on the island. A new, wooden chapel was built further south on the island, and barely even a superstructure remains.

Continue reading

North Brother Island- Gantry

Located on the far west side of the island, facing Hunt’s Point in the Bronx is the original ferry gantry for Riverside Hospital. Run several times a day, the ferry was used to get patients to and from the island, typically only on their entrance and release . By the days of the island as a drug rehab center, some patients had privileges to leave the island, though this was one of the many reasons the island was eventually closed, due to a high recidivism rate and escapism. There’s many accounts of staff bringing drugs and other illegal substances on the island as they crossed on the ferry. Continue reading

North Brother Island- Physical Plant

I’ve spent the last several years visiting the quarantine island known as North Brother, documenting the slow change and decay of the buildings over the years. Located in the middle of the East River off the Bronx in New York, the island is a nesting sanctuary for herons and rarely seen by anyone outside of the NY Parks Department.

Continue reading

Spiral Stairs

A few more themed posts should work for the moment. I always love finding such intricate architectural details in buildings, especially after so many have undergone later renovations to become more utilitarian. The first shot is from a hospital on a quarantine island, the second from a forensic psychiatric facility.

Spiral staircase in the nurses' building, North Brother Island, NYC

Spiral staircase in administration building, southern state hospital, Virginia