The Haunting Abandoned Island In The Middle Of NYC

Not Just A Sanitarium

In the last years of its existence however, North Brother Island became more than a treatment facility; it became a home to service people and their families like this attic room that still remains in tact.

World War II had taken its toll on many people and war veterans often found themselves struggling. As the diseases that North Brother Island was built to defend against went into decline in America, the island was used to assist those in need of housing. It would have been an attractive place dotted with roads, lawns and buildings and families would have thronged the streets, enjoying the facilities of their new New York home.

The End Of An Era

North Brother Island began to fall into disuse in the 1950’s. The residents felt that it was impractical to live on the island and work in New York, which required an irregular ferry service to shuttle them back and forth.

The city, on the other hand, was more concerned about the costs of maintaining North Brother Island. There was plenty of cheap real estate on the mainland back then and the city was subsidizing the ferry service. It was decided to relocate the remaining families and heroin rehab patients back to New York proper and to abandon the island to nature.