I am putting together a list of Music Express songs for my IPod playlist. Does anyone have any ideas?
Any former DJs out there?

Under Reagan it became policy and a goal to close these hospitals. It was a fiscally driven not medically driven policy. They were seen as wasteful.

Certainly there are some patients who do very well on their own, but some who can't transition as well.

The policy can be traced as far back as the Community Mental Health Act of 1963. But at Kings Park the bulk of the patients were moved out duing the Reagan era.

yo thats place is sweet.....we recorded shit the other night and heard some crazy shit....i dont think its haunted.....does neone know if it is???

im getting ready to go their in an hour hope the place doesent fall apart while we are inside its a beutiful place
I heard 13 girls hung them selves their back in the day

And I thought going to my dentist was bad...

Forced to leave by the NAACP???

The patients were released over a period of years mostly because of changes in federal policy. In an attempt to save money and in reponse to complaints of mistreatment, the Government (started under Reagan) began releasing patients who they felt could be maintaned with meds as opposed to custodial management (hospitals).

Many of these patients ended up on the streets as homeless when they (for one reason or another) stopped taking their meds.

Back again.

Re: Tour

It was posted on the Nissequogue River State Park web site but I don't see anything concerning upcoming events now. I'd call the park office by phone and ask.

The tour was given by a historian who is also a professor at Stonybook. There was a park employee who tagged along (to make sure no one stepped out of line I suppose).

The tour was fantasic. I suggest you try to go on one. You may have to call the park office and beg them to set up another tour. Ask to speak to the Supervisor/Manager. I've met him before (when I went kayaking at the NRSP) and he's a really nice guy.

He joked "We get more visitors to this park at night when it's closed than we do during the day when it's open."

Some other factoids from the tour. At it's peak there were about 150 biuldings in the hospital. About 75 remain.

There is a small section of the grounds that houses about 300 patients who still remain. At it's peak there were about 10,000 patients.

There is a "potter's field" on the grounds where deceased patients who had no relatives to claim the bodies (or wouldn't/couldn't claim them) them were burried. At it's peak an average of one patient died a day. All were autopsied. The morgue building is still standing.

There are several miles (7?) of undergound tunnels that zig-zag the grounds. They contain steam pipes and power lines from the power plant. All the buildings were heated from one central steam plant.

The initial patients build the first buildings themselves. They came from Brooklyn who had bought the property to build the hospital (hence "Kings" Park...ie. Kings Country). They lived in tents until the construction was finished.

The origional name was "King's Park Lunatic Farm, the patients worked on the farm growing vegetables. It was therapy.

yo that place is no joke def the scariest place ive ever been to i would have gotten inside if it werent for the cops.. there is like a station right there so be careful if you decide to go in.

Ive been here before. This is the first building i went into. I reccomend comming here. Only problem is dodging the military because there is a base right neer here. Ive been in all of the buildings and in every room. I know this place by heart. Great photo

man, i live in preston, and i am personally against Utopia. i heard about people going in and taking pictures, so i found yer site here, and i am amazed. cant wait to get in and take my own, who knows what will happen to it when.
thanks,
-kevin-

Man!

Look at the paint! It's almost new. Who played here? The kids who live across the street by Old Dock Road maybe?

Sheech!

The wards contained apartments for the Orderly. There was one doctor's aparment on each floor. They had fireplaces, but not for heat. All the buildings were heated by steam that was generated in the power station and run underground through 7 miles of tunnels .

Yes, the orderlys and doctors lived with the patients.

Building 93 was a geriatric ward. So yeah, lots of people died there... of OLD AGE!

The patients were old folks with senile dementia. If you look at the building you'll notice the day wards that jut out from each side of the building. These were areas where the patients would be brought, or wheeled, to spend the day playing games or looking at the beautiful view. A lot better than freezing on the streets (as they do now if they're homeless).

This place was not a horrible place. Sure there are always the ocasional bad apple. And when discovered they were arrested. But the most horrible thing that happens to these patients is the mental illness itself.

I took the tour of KPPC this past Sunday. The guide told us a story. When the place had just been closed for a few years he was inside 93 (he's a historian). He heard knocking on the front door. There was a small group of people standing at the front of 93. He asked them what they wanted and they said "We're back!" . They were patients who had been released a few years ago, and they had decided to return to the hospital. They were sad to find it was closed.

I just toolk the tour this past Sunday.

It was great!