NYC's Little Secret

 

Hard to imagine prime estate just outside of New York City completely abandoned..  but it's exists.  North Brother Island is 1/2 of a pair of islands (North and South Brother) located in New York City's East River between Rikers Island and the Bronx.    It is an abandoned hospital that is now home to a wild bird sanctuary.

The island is about 20 acres in total and was once home to Riverside Hospital used to treat patients with Small Pox and other patients needing isolation (heck, it might gain be needed in the near future!).  Typhoid Mary was confined to the island for 20 years until she died in 1938.  It is also the site of a ship wreck (the General Slocum), a steamship which unfortunately burned in 1904 leaving 1000 dead from fire or drowning. 

In the 1950s, the island was used to treat adolescent drug addicts and herion addicts were confined to the island and locked away in a room until they were clean.  This facility finally closed it's door in the 1960s,  Today, birds enjoy the island and it's off-limits to the public.  The building are unsafe and at risk for collapse and a dense forest conceals the hospital buildings..