The sale of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center may have been stopped, but the site itself still remains a security issue, as the majority of the 300-acre facility remains abandoned.

"It has become an attractive nuisance,"� said New York State Senator John Flanagan (R-Smithtown). Along with New York State Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Smithtown) and Suffolk County Legislator Lynne Nowick (R-Smithtown), Flanagan gathered leaders from both the state Department of Mental Health and the Suffolk County Police Department in an effort to find a way to better secure the site, long a favorite of vandals and thrill seekers. "We will be reinstating a full-time presence on the property."

According to Flanagan, OMH officers will be physically stationed on the premises seven days a week between the hours of 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. OMH officers will continue to patrol the area throughout the remainder of the day. The OMH also has restored street lighting along the facility's main boulevard and renewed the Residential Community Advisory Board to ensure quick action on any further problems.

Officials from the SCPD report that they will be updating their patrol procedures so that their officers are more familiar with the grounds. They are also looking to improve their coordination with the OMH officers, as they only have limited authority as peace officers.

The main concern of Dean Weinstock, executive director of Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, was pretty basic. "Kids,"� Weinstock said. He added that more specifically, he was concerned about vandalism of the site and the safety of individuals who are trespassing on the grounds.

"The people of Kings Park deserve to know that their safety and their rights remain a top priority in regard to this site," Flanagan said.

Constructed at the turn of the 20th century, the KPPC was created by New York State as one of the area's largest institutions for individuals with mental disabilities. At its high point, the population of KPPC was larger than some of the towns surrounding it. In the 1970s, doctors were able to treat more patients at home, and the need for large scale facilities such as the one in Kings Park declined. Its operations eventually began to be cut by the state in the early 1990s and was eventually shut down in 1996. Some of the property was converted into the Nissequogue River State Park and one of the buildings is still used to house patients today. The rest of the property and its infrastructure remains as it was left 10 years ago.

"It is a very beautiful piece of property," said John Leita, editor of the website Long Island Oddities (www.lioddities.com). Leita and his staff have filmed documentaries at the KPPC, the Central Islip Psychiatric Center and the Pilgrim State Center, and his website maintains thousands of pictures of both the outside and inside of these facilities. He is one of the many individuals who have been drawn to the site's mysterious background. "It is a city of abandoned buildings ... it has a very strong mystique."

Leita echoed the concern of the state leaders, as he was worried that vandals are ruining a part of Long Island's history.

"I'd much rather have a kid going around with a camera than a sledgehammer,"� Leita said. "The place has really taken a beating." According to Leita, vandalism has been going on at the KPPC grounds since the 1920s.

Like other abandoned psychiatric facilities on Long Island, the KPPC has garnered a cult following, as its myriad of underground tunnels and scores of empty buildings serve to create a real-life horror movie set on Suffolk's North Shore. Ghost stories aside, however, Leita believes the site itself deserves to remain in its natural state.

"When places decay they can look very interesting,"� Leita said. He added that historically and ascetically, the grounds still have a lot to offer. Although the site has been the center of a developmental controversy, as residents and developers fight over how the grounds will eventually be used, Leita has a much simpler wish.

"If I had my way, I would like to see it turned into something similar to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania," Leita said. Created in 1776 and shut down in the mid 1900s, the prison facility is now maintained as a natural museum, and visitors can walk through the untouched buildings for a fee. For KPPC however, the property remains in limbo, as state officials have gone through three major developers in an attempt to make some type of use out of the property. In January, the state dropped its contract with the Arker Companies, after concern over its intended housing density was met with disdain from the surrounding community.

According to Flanagan, the security changes are expected to be implemented immediately.

This article was written by Rob Busweiler and published by Suffolk Life Newspapers on Wednesday, February 8th 2006 and NOT owned by nor affiliated with opacity.us, but are recorded here solely for educational use. The photographs featured in the article are randomly selected from the Kings Park Psychiatric Center galleries on opacity.us unless noted otherwise; they may not directly relate to the article subject matter except for the site location - any other relation is purely coincidental.