this is the worst site ever

Cool loking buildings , too bad the Soviet era decorators have had their way with parts of it.

This site is great . Please keep up the good work and again thank you.

I have this wheel chair anyone w info chuckyluv4228@ gmail.com

Yes Shauna, I was very lucky.
But that doesn't mean I didn't go through tough times there.

I have been checking this site out for a couple of years and never commented. All I can say is thank you and keep up the good work.

Don't be sad...after facilitys like this were closed on Long Island many former patients wondered the streets often worse off than when they were "inside". Bayshore suffered terribly when Pilgrim State closed and released former patients to the streets. Today the live in group homes funded by the state in suburban neighborhoods. I have one such group home on my block and believe me those folks are just as isolated from the community as when they were in the facility. I am not talking about the criminally insane of course.

How very sad to see the condition of a once beautiful Facility. My mother worked at KP back in the late 70's as an R.N. Many many people worked there thier whole lives. It and the other Mental hospitals here on Long Island should never have been closed. They provided excellent care for patients and long term employment for thousands.
We Americans place little value on saving the past, in Europe buildings 600 years old are still used to this day. Thanks for the photographs however depressing they are.

I guess I can come clean because my above statement is going to raise many questions.
I was kicked out of Devereux School for excessive runaways.
Gary, my social worker, was trying to get me into Kolborne School, however, there was a 3 to 6 month waiting period until a bed was available.
Gary called Mr.Heathwood and Mr.Heathwood allowed me to stay on Ward D until a bed became available.
During my time on D Ward I was not technically a patient, I was more of a guest.
I still had to follow the rules, but the rules were relaxed.
If I wanted to shoot pool, I went and played pool, or basketball or whatever.
That is the biggest reason why I didn't get into trouble when Mike and I went down to the girls end.
None of us did.
All we had to do was file a paper stating what took place.
Nothing ever became of it.
Why?
Because officially, I wasn't there.

was there,
The funny thing about me is the fact that if a person doesn't make an impression, I don't remember them.
Jack made an impression because as soon as I entered Ward D Jack wanted me to take my shoes off and get in seclusion.
Basically he wanted a fight and I almost gave it to him, but I restrained myself and did what was asked.
The Hook, because she was standing in the office doorway watching us, and seeing her working there with a hook for an arm creeped me out.
You never reveled to me who you are other then the fact that you was there when I was there and remember Mike and I going down to the girls end.
I asked you before if you was in the same room as Mike, Tony and myself.
As far as the staff, Willie, although Litman sounds familiar.
I didn't pay much attention to them because to me, they were the enemy and I didn't chat with the enemy.
I had a big problem with authority growing up, to some extent I still do.
I read a question asking what the deal was with Mr. Heathwood.
The deal was this:
Mr. Heathwood and my Social Worker Gray, were childhood friends.
Now that doesn't mean I didn't have bad experiences because I did, but it means that those experiences were not as bad as others.
Because they were friends it afforded me some protection.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I was special, I am saying that I was extremely lucky.

Basically the only people I remember are Mike, Tony, Kim, Sharon, the Colored Girl, and Danny.
I remember Danny because of his god awful feet!
As far as staff, Jack the asshole, the Hook, and Willie.
Those are the ones that come quickly to mind.

Pookie,
Been so long ago.
I think I was one of the last ones to go roller skating in town from D Ward.
From your other comments, you said you was in the same room as Kim C.
I remember 3 of the six from that room. Kim C, A Colored Girl that was dating Mike and Sharon who had the hots for Tony.

It was Mike and I who went down to the room, Mike was there seeing the colored girl and I was there seeing Kim, Sharon was hoping Tony was coming down but Tony didn't want to.
After Kim and I broke up Kim started dating Mike.

Dennis,
I only got to go roller skating in town twice, once when I was on Ward B and once when I was on Ward D.
Only 2 or 3 times hiking.
Most of the time I was playing pool or ping pong or basketball.
I did roller skate in the gym, but not that often.

i went to this place in about 1993. The place was crazy, and there was about 4 buildings, maybe 5 still up then. one of the places seemed like it was for kids. it had a gymnasium (with really warped floors) and a tall ceiling. on the wall was a weird book case that went all the way to the ceiling.

Im not going to lie, we were dumb teens then making a mess and playing around. I had a VERY eerie time there.

there was also a building that was in the round, had a court yard in the middle, and this building seemed to have alot of doctors tables, and rusted out halogen lights laying around.

There were also tunnels, that were meant for utilities, that connected a few of the buildings..but required too much hunch over and stuff to really explore. i remember a few of these rooms for sure. great pics

Dennis,
I meant Roller Skating in town, not the gym.

Dennis,
I can't remember how one earned to go roller skating, but we did go quite a few times.
That and hikes out back of the place.

Interesting.....Here's what I wrote on here back in 2009.

........
I think they should hurry though, I don't think that place will be standing for much longer.
I don't know why, but I'm getting the feeling that very soon, within a year the place will be torn down.
John
Fri 07-17-2009

I guess my intuition is still high.

One thing is for certain, for those of us that was there, we have a special bond that no one can ever take away from us.

Tearing it down doesn't make what happened to us disappear.
John Q Public will forgot about the place, but for those of us who was there, we'll never forget.

Dennis,
Thanks, I didn't think the DQ was still there, but just wanted to check.

Pookie, sent you a message on facebook.

Dennis,
it's crap like that, if they think something is wrong with you they push and push until they get you to believe it yourself.
How the hell does that help anyone?
Honestly, I think it's all about the almighty dollar.
Hell, how can they make a buck if your normal?
They have to get you to believe there is something wrong with YOU, instead of something wrong with the system or even them.

I really do hope that the kids in the system nowadays are getting the proper care they need, and not having a label placed on them.

Dennis, when you leave by the parking lot, take a left on the main road, DQ was only down the road on the left.
Damn, I miss fried clams!!!!!

Gary Trent was my Social worker, my friend and in most respects, the only father figure I ever knew.
He was a good man who cared.

Yes it is different from so called Normal people.
When I was in Devereaux School, in Rutland, MA, I was 8 or 9 and a staff member wanted to show his power, so he grabbed me and hung me out of a 2nd story window by my feet, when the Betty ( I think her name was) came and saw what was going on, that asshole, Jon Baker, said that I tried to jump out the window and he was just trying to bring me back in.

It's crap like that that we kids went through back in those days, and who could we turn to for help?
certainly not an adult, who believes a kid?

boiler 1220,
Hey Dennis, just out of curiosity, is that Dairy Queen still down the road from Gaebler?
I remember going to that when Gary would come up and take me out for a couple of hours.