3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

Yeah it's actually some funky green-yellow mold, you can see a little on the floor, but for some reason they grow best on the columns.

No, those are the wooden window frames holding the panes of glass in.

When these places were built (before the advent of plastics and other strong synthetics), metal bars or screens were often the only way to prevent people from jumping out of windows and down stairwells.

The town of Pripyat is becoming a bit of a tourist trap, but still looks incredible - I hope to visit it in the next years, and explore the lesser known abandonments in Kiev / Belarus. It's really just a matter of coming up with the cash.

Thanks; no it's located in the U.S.

The state - tons and tons of useful equipment are left to rot in these places.

NY winters are a tad cold for kayaking...

Usually myself and one or two other people, or alone.

The number of bodies interred at Hart Island far outweigh anything from a psychiatric hospital, so I could imagine the state spending money on a decent casket every so often.

Apologies for the vague statement, the wooden boxes which contained the caskets were nailed shut, not the actual coffins. On a return trip, someone had opened a box up, and the casket inside was brand new and still wrapped in plastic; the exterior had a soft velour texture to it.

Not sure, could have been for a clock or perhaps an exhaust vent for a dryer / autoclave.

The building was really solid from what I remember - most of the decay seemed to be on the surface (plaster, paint, etc).

I hadn't thought of that, the chamber could have certainly been used to disinfect large items such as mattresses, cribs, etc. An "autoclave room" I suppose...

Yes, you can see the metal supports left in this photo: http://www.opacity.us/image6625_kinetic.htm

Probably much more cost efficient to just buy one set of toilet seats for the entire facility... and I won't ask why you know so much about toilet seats :-)

Those are plastic flowers and greenery, lining the bottom of the glass.

I think you're focusing on the Nazi-era history in the wrong perspective - these are slide catalogs from 1970. The numerous records from the Third Reich have been carefully inspected and archived in museums, libraries, and holocaust memorials, as far as I know.