1,244 Comments for Central Islip State Hospital

127 W-5 OR 6

I spent many hours in those Day Rooms with the patients. I worked there in the 80's. Bld 127 w-7 at first.

I find it hard to relate to the beauty of these ruins. Although you are a very talented photographer & I'm excited w/ what you chose to photograph it is hard to romanticize if you spent time in C.I.

I was there & am looking for the adolescent unit.
It was Hell.

Thank-you for these pictures.

Three hinges on the doors.
Am wondering when it changed from three to two.

They were going to resore the fire house as a historical building but the land owners wanted it demolished and then sold, spent years in court. Last year it "mysteriously" burned to the ground. Now they are building condos.

Hi Motts,
Enjoy your photos. I'm from CI and worked there 1978 till they closed, about 15 years ago. I currently work at Pilgrim. There were 2 Corcoran buildings, 127 and 128, both had secure and open wards. AT ONE POINT 128 WAS ALL MALE BLDG and 127 was female. We had a kitchen in the middle that served both bldgs. Mostly we traveled through the tunnels. I miss those days, as CI was the best hospital ever, wish I was back there. Thank you for all the memories.

Linda, these photos were taken in the large secure treatment center called "Corcoran," which was at the corner of Eastview Dr. and Lowell Ave. It consisted of two treatment buildings connected by a central kitchen; I can't recall the building numbers.

I also have some photos of the "Sunburst" building for a future gallery.

These pictures are heartbreaking to see especially since i not only grew up in the town of central Islip i as most of my family worked here it was so full of life one upon a time never thought we would see the day they closed the doors would love to know which building these picture's were taken

this picture almost makes me cry.......

I worked in this building in 1980 and 81 in the food service department. It was my first job and awesome because the state paid a lot more then other area jobs for high school students. the Patient's names have escaped me except for Mr Harris, sitting outside smoking a home rolled cigarette and waiting for family that never showed. he was in his 70's or 80's frail but loved to talk. There was also another man from another building that would get a "gold pass" and be allowed in town where he would direct traffic, or tell people he was the president and was waiting on his limo. thsnk you for slowing me to see a bit of the past thru your camera lens

I often have wondered what happened to not just the mentally ill, but those kids who had been abandoned & landed there. I was there in the 70's & it took no time to become institutionalized.

This is very interesting. I don't think all of the doors are handle-less. You never know if a ghost is actually in the building. You never know.

As a former inmate patient of C.I September 1973 through December 1973 I can say that these pictures give me the chills. I will have to go through all of them to find the adolescent unit.
It was one huge day room that seemed to have Soul Train on all day & the other room was the sleeping dorm with rows of beds lining each wall. We, the patients, had the enviable job of cleaning and caring for the severely brain damaged patients (retarded was the term used at the time). I had a 16 year old girl who was incontinent and also had her period.
I did see some abuse, but then just being there was abusive.
My folks didn't want me around and so warehoused me until I found a way to get out legally.