Abandoned Island in the Middle of NYC
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Back in September 2012 a friend and I kayaked from NYC to my place in Connecticut.
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Along the way, we stopped on an island called North Brother.
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Located in between Queens and the Bronx, in 1885 the island was used to build a hospital complex to quarantine and treat people suffering from smallpox and typhoid fever. In the 1950's it was turned into a rehab center. The entire island has been abandoned since 1963.
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After the city closed down the hospitals they tried to sell the island to private investors in the 70's but the cost of construction, transportation to the island, installing a sewage system, and the noise from Laguardia airport discouraged anyone from buying it. In the 80's they tried to build a prison on the island but scrapped the plan because it was cheaper to build in upstate New York.
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Abandoned for 50 years now, Mother Nature is slowly reclaiming her territory.
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We spent 3 hours on the island taking photos, hope you find the place as interesting as we did!
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