3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

Yup the stairwells were added when fire codes became stricter; before that, there was probably only one way out!

I think it's just grit from all the plaster that has fallen off the ceilings; that stuff can make a real mess.

That blue thing looks like a blue-greenish rag, maybe even disposable plastic gloves, pressed into that corner. Weird.

I don't have an automated email system or anything, but you can certainly subscribe to my feed to be notified of updates:
http://opacity.us/feed

I imagine that the beds were assembled inside the room.

There's a scrawl on the right side that reads "Austin is #1" which leads to the title of this photo :)

Yup there's enough room to stand there; the hole could be a simple laundry chute, and the table used to fold sheets and clothes.

The area North of St. Johnland (formerly the Veterans treatment center) is a public park, so it's definitely legal to wander there. Here, along the boulevard, was always off limits back in the day, but it seems like there's no more security or police patrols when I last visited a few months ago. People were parking in front of this building and walking pretty much everywhere.

Sorry, yes you are correct, the facility moved to Hartford in 1996. I'm not sure what became of the hospital building; I'm guessing it was used for administrative purposes after that year.

I'm guessing an air vent and return, for heating.

I only know the photo was taken in the Corcoran Building (bldgs 127 and 128 as mentioned in fran's comment), but do not recall what ward or floor it was taken on. Just FYI, Central Islip was a very large hospital, with over then thousand patients residing there during the 1950s.

You may be able to find old records by contacting the NY State Office of Mental Health: https://www.omh.ny.gov/

The cemetery is still there. The hole seems like an old rear exit; it has a large gate made of rusty bars, but has been bricked up from the inside some time ago.

I found it curious as well. I figured it traced back to Latin; many architects around the turn of the 20th century nodded towards classical architecture, and often used the Latin V as a vowel for U when inscribing names on stone. There can often be found at public institutions built during this era, hence you frequently see the words PVBLIC and MVSEVM spelled this way more than others.

The closest I could make of it is that the J can sometimes represent an I in terms of Roman Numerals. It was sometimes used as an emphasis for the "last i" - so IIJ would equate to 3. But then why wouldn't the date be inscribed as MCMXIII (or MCMXIIJ)?

Perhaps it's a vague vestige of this tradition, and simply used as a swash (typographical flourish).

Yep they're there, just obscured by the cell doors and photo angle.

N, I imagine the openings in the windows were primarily used to lock and unlock handcuffs with the prisoner securely in their cell, so there's less chance of overtaking a corrections officer.

flushed, I was thinking that there must be an electromagnet system in there as well, replacing the ancient key-lock next to the door. There's a keyhole in each silver plate above the doors; perhaps a manual override for the electromagnet system.

Nope, just this website for now...

Yup the lock is deeply recessed into the brick wall, however the small opening is a barred window that looks into the cell; these were not movable. The actual jail cell door consists of the taller set of bars in the foreground, which actually belongs to the cell to the left, as they're in the open position. The layout can be seen in the first photo of this gallery.