north brother island

At first it seems the island is nothing but an oasis greenery in the East River. Then you notice the buildings and smokestacks poking through the mess of vines and trees. These are the remains of a complex of buildings that once housed unfortunate victims of the most hideous contagious diseases of the 19th and 20th centuries, including tuberculosis, typhoid fever and smallpox. When these diseases were tamed, the island found a new use as a home for troubled and drug-addicted youth, but the program proved unsuccessful and funding for it vanished. After the program closed in the 1950s, the island was abandoned, and quickly claimed again by nature. Today the island is an informal sanctuary for birds. One must be cautious of the nests of eggs hidden on the ground in the dense growth covering the island. The birds have a truly fascinating home- an unpopulated island in the middle of New York City. An island once home to the infamous Typhoid Mary, an island that bore witness to a horrifying nautical disaster - the wreck of the General Slocum, and an island that occasionally has harbored escaped convicts from nearby Riker's Island.