Random Strange History Of New York's Uninhabited North Brother Island (12 items)

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  (#8) The Island Became A Dedicated Bird Sanctuary In 2001

  The New York City Parks Department has controlled North Brother since 2001, when it designated the island a bird sanctuary. After North Brother's rehab facility closed in 1963, nature began to retake the land. Flora covered pathways and buildings, and the island became a popular stopover site for migrating herons.

  Today, North and South Brother Island are together designated a Harbor Herons Region. They act as protected nesting sites for the herons, as well as other shorebirds.
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  (#10) The Vegetation Is So Dense That Some Abandoned Buildings Are Completely Obscured By Foliage

  Christopher Payne, who published a series of photographs of the island, said that in the summer, the vegetation grows incredibly thick. At some points, he couldn't access certain areas without a machete to cut through the dense brush.

  Some buildings are entirely hidden from view by foliage. A road that once ran around the island has entirely crumbled, eroded by the waves of the East River. Payne says he sees this disintegration as futuristic. With scientific evidence that coastal cities may become abandoned only a century from now, Payne believes New York City might "look like North Brother Island in 50 years."
   
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  (#7) North Brother Acted As Temporary Housing For Soldiers Studying Under The GI Bill

  After advances in public health made quarantine-based treatment obsolete, Riverside Hospital was used as housing for soldiers studying at colleges in New York under the GI Bill.

  After WWII, the state converted Riverside's men's dorms into Island Nursery School, which served as housing for soldiers' children. This arrangement lasted for five years until the state's lease on the island expired in 1951.
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  (#12) Officials May Reopen The Island To The Public

  The only people allowed to visit North Brother Island today must receive approval from the city of New York. Those who access the land are typically reporters and City Council members who have to be accompanied by city workers from the Parks Department. Even approved visitors, however, can't come to the island during heron nesting season.

  City officials have looked into reopening the island eventually. Before they can do so, it's necessary to build a new dock and repair deteriorating buildings for the safety of those visiting, a process that would cost millions.
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  (#9) The Island Is Completely Abandoned

  The rehabilitation facility shut down largely due to operating costs. Patients, doctors, and staff all left North Brother, which Smithsonian magazine attributes partially to real estate being cheaper elsewhere. 

  The island is now completely abandoned. No one is allowed to visit without the approval of New York City officials.
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  (#5) Nearby Rikers Island Is Home To New York's Most Infamous Jail

  In the 1990s, city officials looking for a purpose for North Brother Island contemplated expanding the federal prison complex on nearby Rikers Island. Ultimately, they decided against it.

  Rikers has a controversial past, with prisoners themselves having expanded the prison grounds using literal garbage shipped to the island. In its early days, the prison developed a massive rat infestation - a problem that even large packs of hungry hunting dogs couldn't solve.

  Rikers became known for its lawlessness. Prisoners frequently committed acts of aggression against one another, as well as the prison's guards. New York state's former chief judge Jonathan Lippman described Rikers as a "penal colony" and a "19th-century solution to a 21st-century problem."

  Because of North Brother's proximity to Rikers, police patrol the East River, which connects the two. Business Insider journalist Dave Mosher noticed their presence, observing that authorities seemed wary of people visiting North Brother given its proximity to one of the country's largest prisons.

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