93 from the Boulevard

excelent shot did you work at thepsychiatric center by any chance cause if sowould you have picktures of it up nd runnign

I work there everyday lol come in and see my profession

I dont understand why there is a bar across the street from this building. It's in the middle of no where and u have this insane building across the street.....

Brilliant shot Motts!!!

That is an absolutely beautiful piece!

in the poast card buissness are we? beautiful shot

did ALL you people attend this place or are u just insane for fun?

thanks or the laughs.

I have worked at several Psych Hosp...

Little Nutty,
I am not bothered by Insanity, I enjoy each and every moment of it. Well almost every moment of it. Majority of the time it is all in fun.

The bar was always there, it was called the "Round Table".

That's an incredible shot - can you imagine being committed to this place and seeing it from the car for the first time? The size, all those rows of windows - it's everyone's asylum nightmare...

ive seen this building only at night time passing in my car, it looks so gothic, kinda gives you a feeling that its haunted or something

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.

Kevin,
Can you give any details about the tour? A friend will be visiting NY soon and is very interested to see the place.

Thanks

in responce to kevin, that so sad... many people were forced to leave by the NAACP, they liked it there they didn't know any other place and were incapable of taking care of themselves.

Lol memorys, thats were me and my friends ran from the 5-0...lol, but then they called for back up and got caught, so watch out peeps :)

thats cuz u and ur freinds r idiots. if ur not there to vandalize and have no weapons, paint, etc, the worst that will happen is you will be escorted off the property. people like you are the reason places like this are under such tight security, ruining it for those of us who like to go in and explore the history of these places.

Some of these pictures of the exterior look amazing... could you ever imagine these buildings being renovated and turned back into an psych centre? or somethng diffrent? it'd be way kewl but sooooo wierd, i mean think of all the past and things its seen... all the history the walls have seen and then been left to rot... imagine them being done up and the amount of new history it would see?

true joe...but exploring the history of these places is just as bas as vanadlizing it.

their both illegal :)

I'm going to assume you're being facitious, because the other option is that you're being stupid. You do realize that you just said that exploring a building is as bad as vandalizing it, correct? What about photographing it?

Joe, thats not necesarily true. Escorted from the property is a lucky case. You see, the police have placed their transmitters and repeaters in and on the buildings, and over recent years, people have vandalized them. These cops dont really want to go through the building to repair the equipment, and will arrest nearly anyone, though I might add having a military ID card and a camera help avoid that!

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.

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.

Everyday! The employee's were insane.

Someone earlier mentioned a bar across from the power plant named "The Round Table". I used to live about 3 miles from there and hung out there often. It was, I must say the craziest, most insane and dangerous bar I've ever been in. Some of the things I saw there I cannot even describe. There was even an old straight jacket from the hospital hanging on the wall. In the '40s and '50s it was a place for employees and visitors to eat and drink, but by the time I found it in the late '80s it had become dilapidated and almost swallowed into the surrounding brush. At that point it was "home" to the lowest rung of King's Park drug community. They closed it for a few years in the mid '90s and re-did the grounds and building. Now it's a sports bar with numerous TVs. I'll write more later.

my buddy's always telling me how beautiful building 93 is. for the most part I had to disagree (then again I've never actually been there) but seeing this picture, now I can see. supurb shot, Motts.

Did I mention I wanted to buy this building? Maybe we could make it the Opacity HQ!

I have been to kings park many times and call tell you it is one of the most frightening place I have been and I have never been inside any of the building... Just walking the grounds makes me nerves... Go see this place it is amazing...

all these stories and comments are interesting...i've been there myself, but never inside, i hope to someday before its knocked down or sold

Correction: the hospital actually began to decrease patient population during the 1970s as "community" facilities were replacing the state hospitals. We all know how well that went; patients stopped taking medicine, walked away from the homes, many living on the streets of NYC. By the time Reagan took office in 1981, the patient population had already decreased tremendously.

fyi-it was kennedy that started de-institutionalization.

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.

I grew up in KP the first 22 years of my life. I worked in bldgs 7 and 21 between 1980 and 1985. It's amazing to me that this place has become a part of history and folklore. I also used to explore the tunnels and roofs during my less-than-packed work schedule.

One thing I learned was that the line between the patients and employees was VERY gray and blurry.

I need to find pics of me and my work mates at work. Write me at somfp69@yahoo.com if you want to know more.

i have been in most of the building that are still standing...this the one of the best places to expllore...if you love to be scared......

The federal government has no control of state institutions. They were built way before there was any type of federal aid to states. Patients later received SS money, which went into their own accounts, not to the state. The state later received federal reimbursements to help with institutions somewhat like acute care hospitals receive some money to pay for indigents.

That's orange.

looks creepy at nightfall with the lights lighting it up.

Building 93 has great potenial it could be renovated and used for many things.like a high rise hotel jail, school, or apartments. its a shame to see it like this theres still time I hope action is taken soon id hate to see it demolished id rather see it salvaged and renovated.

if building 93 could talk it would be crying alot and saying renovate me fix me up please dont let me set and rot or demolish me.

I had never encountered a building before that spoke to me. I had felt things from buildings before, but Building 93 spoke to me. I spent a very brief stint in a mental hospital in Maine, of all places. That was like a country club compared to Building 93. I would just like to thank everyone who is responsible for this website. It is a very meaningful experience for me to just look quietly at Building 93. It will be a while before I can fathom intuitively what it is that it is trying to tell me because it is speaking in the language of people with altered consciousness. They represent another reality; to my mind, one every bit as real and important as our own. Theirs is a world which is bigger and without boundaries nor the limitations of a mindset framed by things that money can buy. Their mindset is defined from the heart and the psyche, so its scope is vast compared to the reality we can all agree upon... theirs is a more gentle world and there is a silence at the core of it which completely surpasses the noise we attach to ownership out here in "the real world."

I know for sure, that if I ever had enough money, I would buy this building and clean it up of the carcinogenic and dangerous parts.
Then I would live in it, as it is- of course it would have to be safe- and still open it for people that are curious about it.

a girl can dream eh?

building 93 looks gorges on the outside. It should be renovated it would make a great hotel or school or homeless shelter.

I spent a week in Kings Park and it was a nightmare. Iam glad it iis closed.

i have recently traveled here with three friends and we snuck inside and explored the entire building is was fascinating. We were scared shitlles, but it was a great expirience.

It almost takes on an eerie glow....looks like it could still be in use from this photo. Beautiful.

would love this as wallpaper. Beautiful

Jesus, what was your ISO? Very noisy, but still it's a good picture Motts. :) Question for ya, if you've been up to KPPC recently, do you know if this rumor of every building being ''welded'' is true?

it is just me or does it remind anyone of arkham asylum from batman

Looks live-in-able from this shot.

building 93 is crazy. i was there with 5 friends a while ago. we met up with 4 others inside and explored the entire building. it was sick. everyone but my buddy and me got arrested lol

and trust me pumpkin princess. its not livable. go in and witness some of the creepiest stuff uve ever seen. just the writing on the walls is enough to scar a person lol

wat is that orange glow