The Haunting Abandoned Island In The Middle Of NYC

Damage to Smokestacks

While many of the buildings made of bricks stand strong among rotted wood and blown-out windows, the smokestacks are a different story. In the late 1990s, lightning struck the larger smokestack on the island, causing it to shed several feet of bricks. These bricks ended up destroying a portion of the roof of the morgue.

The smokestacks from the boiler room remain a hazard to potential visitors. They continuously shed bricks and remain completely unstable. According to John Krawchuk, the executive director of the city Parks Department’s Historic House Trust, many of the buildings are so decrepit that they have fallen down fairly recently all within the last few years.