Abandoned Farm Colony of Brooklyn State Hospital
Also, an Idiot’s Guide to Safe Urban Exploration
January 7, 2020
First, embrace that you need to have some level of idiocy and foolishness to embark upon many a fruitful and rewarding venture. And understand just how unbecoming trying to appear unfoolish is, you–but a peon in this massive Universe. I mean really now. We’re all fools fiddling about– isn’t that just so lovely? At least this is part of my personal philosophy, which aligns almost exactly to Heart‘s. There, now that you have accepted your foolishness, you are liberated to partake in your whims. But don’t be too foolish.
On that theme, I am sharing with you some tips to safely explore abandoned places. But warning! Even though I just encouraged you to be foolish and now offer you ways of getting away with your foolishness, I am not liable for any heat this might bring upon you. I mean, goodness, think for yourself. Second to how unbecoming those who try in vain to appear unfoolish in this mad world is how unbecoming not thinking for yourself is! And with that, 90% of the general public falls out of my good graces. Oh now, what to do?! Go explore an abandoned place and take pictures, that’s what.
Today I explored the sprawling decay of the Queens’ Creedmoor State Hospital, formally known as the Farm Colony of Brooklyn State Hospital, established in 1912. Because this area was then… “pastoral.” The place has a very sorted past, but now sits in limbo–an expansive complex of vine-covered brick, a city of decay overrun by a wicked feral cat colony and several community service organizations who don’t mind the many piles of avian fecal matter in the adjacent buildings. It was the best kind of creepy. But you won’t see much of it here on this post.
You won’t see any of the hundreds of great pictures I took with my trusty camera as I walked about like the fool I am. Because the State Police made me delete them all. And my disappointment became the inspiration for this post. A post sprinkled only with the few pictures I took on my phone. So for the safety of your pictures and the safety of your body… some tips (for entertainment purposes only).
Tip 1: Ms. Many Memory Cards
You know all of those little memory cards you’ve acquired? Ones you realized would just not cut it considering the quantity of pictures you take. 16GB, cha right! Well load one into your camera and put the rest of them in your left jeans pocket, out of their little plastic cases. Snap away and get quick at loading a new one, securing those at capacity in your right pocket or in a secret compartment in your camera bag. Hopefully, if encountered by “the law,” you can have a slew of shots safe from deletion. Relatedly, for the shots you really love, snap a version on an alternate camera (like a phone camera) and tuck that camera out of site. Also relatedly, adjust the size settings of your camera. They don’t have to be tremendous… unless you want to blow them up into large prints. And though I want raw form and jpegs on a star shoot, I don’t want to manipulate urban exploration photos in LightRoom. I want to get better at getting the light right in my originals.
Tip 2: Don’t be an a**hole.
The super troopers and po-po are doing their job. Think about how annoying it is when you are doing your job and someone is giving you a hard time. They took oaths to serve and hold peeps accountable of the law. Your want for artistic abandoned shots is not above that. And it’s not a time to attempt to manipulate or argue ethics and mores. Understand you stepped over a boundary and don’t make it more unpleasant than it has to be. Also, think about how often an officer gets bullshitted to. If you are respectful and amiable then the encounter is much more likely to be short and to the point. It goes without saying that you should not be up to no good. You just want to take pictures, right?
Tip 3: Do some recon.
When visiting a site for the first time, understand that you may not even photograph it. You want to see the lay of the land, see where the access points are, see where the exit points are, see the potential hazards, determine if you need anything special to explore (rain boots, face mask, etc), and–most importantly–determine if it’s a site you can explore alone. This is after you already read about it on the interweb, the intel from those who’ve already visited. The determination of whether or not a site would be okay to explore alone is one no one can make but you. I have a criteria, but you’d have to make your own mind up.
Tip 4: On encountering a person.
Sometimes you encounter a person. Avoiding eye contact or demonstrating your complete vulnerability is not the way to greet him or her. More often an acknowledgement of mutual vulnerability with a reassuring glance (the glance of humanity) and a slight smile can be helpful. It is both parties’ duty to tacitly ease the other’s mind. If this subtle communication is not reciprocated, be on alert. But I have found I am far more friendly to folks I encounter while I am exploring, as if I am attempting to deliver a quick shot of just how worthy I am to remain safe and sound. Gosh, I hate to type something like that out as it is filled with a cautious presumption and the kind of foolishness I’d hate to learn the hard way from. And now I have opened a whole can of “psychology” worms that’d make a far better in-person conversation if we ever have the chance. But carry mace in the meantime. I do. Notice I mentioned encountering a “person” (singular). If I encounter a group, I would likely leave promptly. Group psychology is a whole other ballgame. And too many variables tip the scales to it being my time to leave.
I loved how the vines attack.
Digressing from my tips for now, I had to look up what these symbols on the doors meant. Though the red X could be assumed, I wasn’t sure about the green X. Here’s what the internet said:
Red X: shall signify that there are significant structural deficiencies within the building, limiting firefighting to exterior operations only, “…with entry only occurring for known life hazards”. (source) But I couldn’t find anything regarding the difference between a red or a green X. Does anyone know?
Before this gets to be “TLDR,” I’ll stop. Trust me when I say that my pictures would have been fantastic additions to this post… but what would have I gone on about? Be safe, vv
[…] this is a different sign on the door. I’ve wondered about this before. I found this building materials website that clarified. The X in the red box alerts emergency […]