NYC Island Hopping From Afar
The Eerie Islands of the East River

Roosevelt Island (Manhattan)

Formally Blackwell’s Island, nicknamed Welfare Island, was the historic home for New York City Lunatic Asylum–whose deplorable conditions would prompt the construction of massive asylums in the farm lands of Long Island, one of which I am visiting today! But from afar on a boat you can still see the registered historical structure on Roosevelt Island. You can see it a little closer by exploring the small island yourself or checking out this post.

Rikers Island (The Bronx)

Rikers Island houses New York City’s main prison. The tremendous complex has a terrible history, a terrible reputation. Violence, riots, drug use, poor conditions, scandal, etc. It was originally sold to the City in 1884 to serve as a garbage dump. That is was its life until the 20’s when construction started on a prison to replace the one on Blackwell’s Island. The island got larger and larger as landfill expanded its boundaries… along with incarceration capabilities. The years after filled fear into the words Rikers Island. Now, it looks as if it will be closing soon. It is unclear what will become of the island once this happens.

A very thorough history of the island is here, my source for the info above.

North Brother Island (The Bronx)

Now a protected bird sanctuary, North Brother Island used to be a Quarantine Island for those with infectious diseases in the late 1800’s–the most famous patient being Mary Mallon–Typhoid Mary. The eerie lure of the island does not end there. After a 1904 steamship accident in the East River, over a thousand bodies of drowned passengers found their way to the shore of North Brother Island in the days after the accident. Finally its Riverside Hospital was utilized as a drug rehab for teens in the 1950’s, closing with rumors of corruption. But since 1963 the hospital–and the island–sits abandoned. It is now a bird sanctuary managed by NYC Parks & Rec. Though you can attempt to request access to both North and South Brother Islands–if you are doing valid bird research or volunteering with New York City Audubon Society–it was shot here by Opacity in 2005 prior to its designation as a Forever Wild Preserve.