Between Bronx and Queens lies a little island - the North Brother Island. Have you ever heard of it? Me neither, and actually that's not surprising. No one is allowed to set foot on the island. It's abandoned for about 50 years now.
North Brother Island lies in the Hell Gate, a narrow tidal strait in the East River. It got its name from the dutch word "Hellegat" due to the heavy currents in this area. Indeed, hundreds of ships sank in the 19th century, because of the difficulties they had to face when sailing through the Hell Gate. And actually it's still no piece of cake to master these currents.
South Brother Island is the other one of the two islands. They both were discovered in 1614, only a few years after Jamestown, but because of the above-mentioned currents, both isles stayed uninhabited until 1885. By that time, the city of New York decided to build a quarantine hospital on the northern island. Many, at that time, lethal diseases as leprosy, tuberculosis, smallpox or typhus were spreading all over New York. The Riverside Hospital - as it was called, was perfectly located. It was close to the city, but, on the other hand, also perfectly separated from it by water. By 1890, the hospital was bursting at the seams. The sanitary state must have been gruesome. Not only was there a lack of medical tools but also of personnel. And as if this wouldn't be enough, in 1904, a paddleboat sank in front of the island and over 1000 passengers died. Most of them were women and children of New York's German immigrant community. Only about 300 people survived and saved themselves onto North Brother Island with the help of the hospital staff.
Underneath the people living on the island was, unfortunately, also a famous one. Unfortunately, because the reason why this patient is famous, isn't really the best. I'm talking about Mary Mallon or also "Typhoid Mary". Mallon emigrated from Ireland to the US and worked as a cook for affluent families. She was later identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She was presumed to have infected 53 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook. She was twice forcibly isolated by public health authorities and died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation, in 1938. A short time after, the hospital was closed.
Nevertheless, the history of North Brother Island doesn't finish here. After the Second World War, veterans were living on the island for a few years, subsequently heroin junkies went there for rehab. Rumour has it that most of them weren't there of one's own free will and maybe that's also a reason why the rehab mostly wasn't really successful. Anyway the rehab centre closed its doors in 1964 and it's since then that the access to the island is denied.
The whole island is ragged now. The hospital and the few other buildings are ruins. And so, this deserted island turned into a place of deep mystery and enchantment. It must give you goosebumps to stand somewhere on this isle, knowing the history, but not exactly what happened on here; seeing the red bricks of the walls fallen down, overgrown with ivy and other plants. I imagine it to be an extraordinary feeling, standing in one of those ruins, looking at pavements full with books. If it wouldn't be for the signs of the times, it just seems as no sooner you came than everyone left. It must be an awesome place to rediscover, to look for all the little details.
Now that you know a little bit about the island here's a link to a video on Vimeo so you can see for yourself: http://vimeo.com/48640895
My father sailed through Hell's Gate a few times on a sailboat and said it was always very exciting.
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