New York City
New York City is the most populous city in the United States, with buildings disappearing into the sky, city streets filled with diversity, and lights twinkling at all hours of the night.
It’s the city that never sleeps — it’s magical. But there’s a dark island awaiting in the shores of Manhattan...
The East River
The abandoned island lies in the East River. The 16-mile-long river is far less traveled nowadays, and only the ghosts of a once lively waterway remain.
Here we can see a waterway that used to be teeming with maritime trade as the city’s main sea lane and port.
Abandoned For More Than Five Decades
There is an island where nature has been slowly eating away at the structures that used to house thousands of people every year.
The mysterious island is called North Brother Island. In 1885, Riverside Hospital used the island to quarantine and treat patients who contracted smallpox. It turns out there was only one way off the island.
Only Cured Patients Were Allowed To Leave
You were forced to stay at the hospital as long as you were contagious. Patients who couldn’t be cured would be forced to spend the rest of their lives there.
And their remains were required to be buried there.
It Is Said Ghosts Haunt The Derelict Buildings
Vines extend up the sides of the buildings and consume the brick structures that are spread out for more than 20 acres. Windows are shattered, both by vines and unwanted visitors sneaking onto the island.
The only way to visit the island is to get explicit permission from the Parks Department. They’ll usually only grant permission to people conducting research, and then getting there is an ordeal...
Remote and Inaccessible
Since the island lacks docks or ports, getting there is somewhat of a challenge... Visitors have to take a small motorboat or rowboat and essentially beach themselves just to step foot on its shores.
But that hasn’t stopped explorers from visiting over the years.
The Island Has An Eerie Reputation
Countless dark stories plague the island, and the stories continue to multiply.
Get ready to read the most terrifying stories. First, the PS Clocum tragedy...
The PS Slocum
On June 15, 1904, PS Slocum, a side-wheel passenger ship, was hosting a boat ride for the St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
They sailed from New York City to the North Shore of Long Island, but soon things would turn into a nightmare.
There Was A Fire
The fire that broke out on the ship spread quickly throughout the boat.
But instead of turning back to port, Captain William Henry Van Schaick headed towards North Brother Island instead.
Many Passengers Didn't Survive
Fire engulfed the boat —it was either drown or burn. Only 321 of the 1,358 passengers on board could swim to the shore and survive.
In the aftermath, hundreds of corpses washed up on the shores of North Brother Island.
Another Island Legend
Since North Brother Island was successfully containing the smallpox outbreaks, they expanded the quarantine quarters to other diseases. Among them, typhoid.
Typhoid is a bacterial infection. It can cause high fever, diarrhea, and vomits but also, it can be fatal. The infection is often contracted by the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
Typhoid Mary
Mary Mallon, A.K.A. Typhoid Mary, was a cook in New York City and an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, meaning that she carried the disease inside her, but it never infected her.
As we explained earlier, Typhoid is contracted by the ingestion of contaminated food or water, and the disease seemed to follow Mary throughout her cooking jobs over the years.
Suspicion
A researcher became suspicious and launched an investigation. It was believed that she infected over 50 different people, three of whom died.
She was forcibly taken to North Brother Island, where she lived in isolation for three years. She was later released with one simple rule: no cooking! But Mary didn’t listen.
Mary Was Forced To Return To The Island
She changed her name and continued working as a cook. When outbreaks started occurring, she just moved on to the next job.
She was able to keep it up for five years until she was finally caught and forced to return to North Brother Island.
She Was Reckless And A Threat To The City
She spent the next 23 years of her life on that island. Massive amounts of typhoid bacteria were discovered in her stool samples, which indicated that the infection was in her gallbladder.
She refused to let them take out her gallbladder because she didn’t believe she was a carrier of the disease.
The Famous Patient Died
In 1932, she had a stroke that left her completely paralyzed. She never fully recovered, so she spent the next six years lying in bed.
This was until November 1938, when she contracted pneumonia and died at age 69. Her ashes were buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.
Rehabilitation?
Following WWII, the island welcomed war veterans and their families, but it was abandoned again until the 1950s. The hospital became a cruel drug rehabilitation center.
At first, the facility claimed to offer treatment, rehabilitation and education for young addicts. In reality, drug addicts were locked in cells with just a mattress and a waste bucket. Some didn’t survive.
The Island Was Abandoned In 1963
Eventually, the rehab center also shut its doors. Everything was left in place, but all of the buildings and other items left behind have since been reclaimed by nature.
NYC mayors proposed several projects to make the most of this island. For instance, Ed Koch thought it could be a good place to offer housing for the homeless.
The Haunting Began
Visitors have reported hearing strange sounds, seeing malfunctioning electronics, and feeling sensations of being touched during their urban explorations.
Others recall feeling an overwhelming sense of misery as they roamed through the wasteland.
Abandoned By Its Inhabitants
Its remote and abandoned state seems to be permanent now, and it will continue to erode and crumble to the ground.
Left to slump into obscurity and ruin, all that will remain are its secrets and ghosts.