Sometimes artifacts are left in buildings, sometimes they’re found scattered on the grounds, and in the case of islands, rummaging through the sediment and buildup at low tide can reveal treasures. North Brother Island has unfortunately been heavily scrapped, and very little in the way of artifacts actually remains.

Which is why it was amazing to discover that the facility, known as Riverside Hospital, actually had branded dishware. Two broken pieces of a plate, stamped “Riverside” with laurel leaves and a DH, which I can only assume stands for Department of Health. The back of the plate was inscribed with a very faint “Greenwood China, Trenton NJ” which, after a bit of research, turned out to be from the pottery company Messrs. Stephens, Tanis & Co. established in 1861. The particular mark on the plate was first used in 1886. While it seems difficult to further narrow down the date this plate was created beyond the stamp, knowing Riverside Hospital was founded in the 1850s as a smallpox hospital makes me wonder if these plate remnants really are well over 100 years old, and existed before the General Slocum crash on the island’s shores.

Either way, a fascinating find, giving a little more insight into the daily life of the quarantine patients in the early years of the hospital.

Living in New York City, I’ve been fascinated by the remnants of the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens. While the Unisphere is obviously the main attraction, I’d always been more interested in the decaying New York State Pavilion, which I only recently learned was also called the Tent of Tomorrow. The entire retro, yet futuristic feel of the World’s Fairs have always appealed to me.  As one friend so aptly put it, they were filled with a naive optimism, in a time where countries were racing to be the first into space, and where structures almost looked more like a mix between 1930s art deco mixed with some vague science fiction ideas of what the future may be. In fact I’ve found reference to the style of the structure being Futurist.

The Past

Postcard from the 1964 World's Fair

The theme of the fair was “Peace Through Understanding” and it was one of the largest fairs held in the United States, though the 1939 World’s Fair, which was held in the same place, had been larger. The Tent of Tomorrow was one of the many futuristically named spaces, along with the Plaza of the Astronauts which featured a large sculpture named The Rocket Thrower and the 30 foot high steel Unisphere, which symbolized “Man’s Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe”.

Colorful panels lined the suspension ceiling

The New York State Pavilion was built at a cost of $6 million, designed by the modernist architect Philip Johnson. Beside the tent were the three tiered observation towers which, with capsule elevators, known as the Sky Streak, gave visitors a view of the entire pavilion grounds. These towers were the tallest structures at the Fair, and the rails that ran the elevators up the sides are still visible. The towers themselves are a respective 90, 185 and 250 feet tall.

The floor itself featured a full scale Texaco highway map of the United States highways, and it was apparently popular to chip off pieces of the map when visiting after locating your hometown. This, combined with the elements ravaging the map after the colorful ceiling tiles were removed in the 1970s all but ruined the map. In late 2009 I volunteered with part of a project to help remove the map, which is in the process of being restored. The map itself was constructed from 567 mosaic terrazo panels which are said to weigh about 400lbs each.

The Tent, illuminated in the evening

Each of the 16 steel columns surrounding the theatre itself (called the Circarama) stand 100 feet tall, and the structure boasted the world’s largest suspension roof, being even larger than a football field.

Today

Late afternoon sun illuminates the pavilion

Today the exterior of the Circarama has been repainted, and the map removed and replaced with gravel, all the weeds and trees that were growing inside have been removed, but the structure still sits disused and slowly decaying in the center of the park.

Though the interior has been cleaned out, vines still climb up the steel support columns

The Sky Streak and observation towers.

The orange of sodium vapor lights mix with the light from a nearly full moon for a long exposure

Inside

Late afternoon sun illuminates the crumbling interior of the Tent

Despite everything, I’d somehow never shot inside the Tent, (it has been closed to the public since the 80′s) and I’m certainly sad I never got around to photographing it before the map was removed, as personally I found the foliage amid all the cracked map pieces to be a beautiful, if not somewhat dismal nod to the optimistic ideas the entire World’s Fair began on.

A nearly full moon provides some light after sunset while sodium arc lights cast a yellow glow

The ground has been partially refilled with gravel, I assume in an attempt to keep more plants from taking root

An incredible mix of architectural optimism from another era, mixed with the financial capabilities of a city like New York created an amazing structure that now sits desolate and abandoned. Sitting now as a modern ruin, I wonder that, were I alive during the time when the pavilion was intact, if I wouldn’t still find it more interesting and hauntingly beautiful now. While not the most elaborate place I’ve photographed, it easily remains one of my favorites.

The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair New York State Pavilion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Originally built to be a prison, this sprawling campus was repurposed after community complaints into a state hospital. Operating from 1924 until the mid 90′s, It is currently being demolished.

A rotary phone sits on the ground of a room on the second floor, covered in a carpet of vegetation.

Fallen piano and original patient mural in one of the bowling alleys

One of several bowling alleys, with patient art

Ground floor of one of the larger, more recently abandoned buildings

Water damage and black mold

Many of the buildings, even the more recently abandoned, have suffered from severe water damage which has turned a lot of them into gorgeously surreal settings, where even on upper floors moss and algae coat walls and floors. A lot of the wallpaper has succumbed to interesting patterns of decay, and those few areas still retaining carpet tend to be the worst, trapping the moisture.

Theatre/auditorium, down the hall from a gym

Floorplan and instructions for evacuation in case of a fire

A fallen radiator cover becomes a planter box

The mossy carpet is only interrupted by the debris fallen from the structural crossbeams in the room

Patient art

Decay and runoff from rusting metal streaks glass

Built to  be a prison, the buildings are already naturally incredibly well sealed and secure. Getting in and out is difficult, especially with the property owners continuing to keep the buildings locked down and patrolled. This constant boarding of doors and windows, few of which are broken has further created a greenhouse environment within the buildings, rusting metal and encouraging plant growth.

An old laundry hamper filled with moldy, damp clothing

A wide variety of molds, fungus and spores are found in one of the original prison buildings

Connector corridor between dorm buildings

This building, of identical construction to the mouldering one, remains surprisingly more intact and cleaner

A selection of various auditoriums, chapels and other general congregation spaces I’ve shot over the years. Most are contained within larger institutions; I’m not including free-standing theatres.

Mont Alto Sanatorium- meeting hall/chapel

Long Island Isolation- chapel

Long Island Isolation- stage in nurse's building

North Brother Island- auditorium in services building

Forest Haven State School- chapel building

Rosewood State School- auditorium/chapel

Tennessee State Prison- auditorium (Johnny Cash famously played here in 1976)

Norwich State Hospital- auditorium

Adler Hotel & Spa- ballroom and stage

A discarded wheelchair, one of the dozens moved into the sub-basement level tunnels sits under a broken piece of roof. I shot this as a thunderstorm rolled through, which was a wonderful experience. Someone clearly moved this wheelchair into the opportune lit area, rare in the maze of dark tunnels, but set up or not, I found the play of light wonderful.

Long Island Isolation – Boston, Massachusetts.

Photo of hand-painted lettering on a door in an old quarantine building, Staten Island, NY.

I spent part of my weekend out in Boston, shooting Long Island Isolation, an old quarantine hospital. The island is crisscrossed with a fascinating maze of semi-elevated tunnels. I’m still working on editing photos, but here’s several light-painted shots from the otherwise pitch black old pharmacy and laboratory section of the campus.

The roof of the mostly-underground lab has collapsed.

Entrance to the pharmacy with grated Dutch door.

Chemical bottles in the laboratory.

Oil room to right and discarded wheelchairs, main corridor.

Shelf and table. The window is at ground level to the outside.

Most asylums and state institutions (and sanatoriums) were fitted with beauty parlors for the patients, helping create a healing environment and giving the patients some freedom in their appearance, despite clothing very often being supplied by the hospital itself. Finding hairdryer and barber chairs in hospitals is fairly common, and I’ve always smiled at finding these varied relics. It’s a breath of fresh air to be reminded of the humanism in a lot of these locations, so often bogged down by the more sensational stories of abuse. Most asylums were self sufficient, with carpentry and sewing rooms, teaching basic skills alongside reducing the cost on maintaining these publically funded institutions, so it would make sense that they would also provide salons

Dryer attached to chair, New Jersey

Hairdryer chair actually located in the original salon, New Jersey

Free standing dryer, New York

Two freestanding hair dryers, Maryland

Adjustable barber chair, Massachusetts

Barber chair and sink, New Jersey

Salon with specially fitted sinks for washing hair, Pennsylvania

Part three of my photos from the Loews Kings Theatre. For an in depth history on the place, take a look at my friend’s blog post here, my previous posts include the lobby and mezzanine as well as a general overview.

Balcony from center of mezzanine

Wide shot of ceiling

Ceiling detail, from balcony

Column detail, right balcony

Column detail, left mezzanine

Exists to exterior mezzanine

Central mezzanine, facing right balcony

Ground floor seats, facing left balcony

Central mezzanine, exit

Overview, center mezzanine