The Long Island Farm Colonies:The Abandoned Central Islip State Hospital -

My report on Long Island’s Farm Colonies continues with an introductory visit to the former grounds of The Central Islip State Hospital. Like Kings Park State Hospital, Pilgrim State Hospital, and Edgewater State Hospital (not yet explored though mostly demolished and captured on video), the sprawling colony was intended to alleviate the overcrowding in New York City asylums on Blackwell’s (Now Roosevelt), Ward’s (Now Randall’s), and Hart Islands.

With 1,000 acres purchased in 1887, Central Islip State Hospital began receiving patients from New York City. But by 1896 The State had taken control of all NYC’s asylums, prompted by the deplorable overcrowding and horrid conditions in the NYC asylums, closing some or parts of them and transferring all patients to the farm colonies on Long Island, Kings Park and Central Islip. The city’s population growth continued and so did the the populations of these two state-run hospitals on Long Island, paving the way for the construction of Pilgrim State Hospital.

The end of The Central Islip State Hospital is much the same as the other farm colonies. A shift in treatment and care for the mentally ill and de-institutionalization made the expansive complexes no longer necessary. As time marches on and the need for the land these institutions sit on continues to alter their fate, my ability to capture them in photographs dwindles. The Central Islip buildings have experienced varied means of repurposing, including a shopping mall, a county court complex, an industrial park, a baseball stadium for the Long Island Ducks, and housing, but many buildings have been demolished. The buildings which remain had a second life as New York Institute of Technology‘s Suffolk County campus, but all operations at the college ended in 2005. The buildings I explored were part of their campus, which is easily accessible and explorable by foot and surrounded by a public golf course (Gull Haven Golf Club) and all the aforementioned businesses. This makes them open and more safe to explore in my view, though there were some day mayors wandering about. Most building’s entrances seemed secured and all had No Trespassing signs. The land and the buildings were purchased in 2018, so expect changes soon. I will return for a more thorough exploration soon, as I wasn’t expecting so many buildings to still be standing. Here are my favorite shots.

Signs of cat lovers

This window was actually painted with that black detail. I got a hoot out of that.

So board

Now 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 responders that the building is a confirmed hazard: unsafe building placard to identify vacant buildings with significant structural deficiencies that can limit fire fighting to exterior operations, with entry occurring only for known life hazards, per IFC Section 311 (source).

The Diagonal in the red box (below) alerts emergency responders that the building requires extreme caution upon entering: unsafe building placard to identify vacant buildings with interior or structural hazards that require extreme caution for interior fire-fighting or rescue operations, per IFC Section 311 (source). I suppose that is very good to know.