3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

Yes I have, it was quite a fantastic morgue and a tough place to access (without permission). Apologies for editing the location, its been getting quite a bit of unneeded attention lately IMO.

The name "Gravesend" is a pseudonym for this hospital.

It's interesting how they avoid the use of the words "asylum" etc...

The "state hospital to stately homes" craze is happening to many old, historic facilities in the US; some re-use the old buildings and others level the place. The following are mostly or totally demolished / renovated for housing already:

Metropolitan State Hospital
Northampton State Hospital
Danvers State Hospital
Foxboro State Hospital
Byberry State Hospital
Haverford State Hospital

There is a group trying to preserve the buildings; I believe the place remains the same, and the future of this facility is still uncertain.

"The Octagon" as it is sometimes called, is still located on Roosevelt Island. It was part of the New York City Lunatic Asylum that was located on the north side. It had a beautiful spiral staircase, then fell into disrepair to the point of it being a shell of a building. It is now being renovated into luxury apartments - http://www.octagonnyc.com/bldgHistory.asp

The equipment I use is on the about page: http://www.opacity.us/about/ For this trip I was using a Canon 300D Rebel. A tripod is necessary to keep the camera still while the shutter is open for a long exposure shot.

No that's just the shadows from around the curtain.

They were on a radiator.

Yes, it still functions as an old age home. The abandoned buildings on the property look beautiful to me, but I don't know if the residents and employees of the facility would agree or not. The active sections look clean and well kept from the outside.

No, it's a chair for a person to sit comfortably and to keep them from falling out, especially if they do not have voluntary muscle control.

Well if the place is demolished, yes those rules pertaining to directions etc. don't apply any more.

Building numbers aren't really directions to a location, and Byberry wasn't hard to find with half a brain, so there is leniency for some places. The disclaimer still holds true though - there is no revealing of locations with pseudonyms, and no building entry information will be posted.

I don't believe I called Byberry a party pit. The gallery description was an account of what happened to me there, and I think the memories I wrote down were rather objective. If you think it was a party pit then that would be your opinion and not mine.

I know these places only by the history and the real life experiences I have had there after they closed. I choose to write about both and display the photos I took as honestly as I can.

I have no idea...

Debbie: the Ladd school was established in 1907 (as described on the main building page - http://www.opacity.us/...the_ladd_school.htm)

This particular building was probably built in the mid-1950s however.

Thank you, this site was started in 2002.