By Jackson Beach
Recently, my friends (that I hang out with on Tuesday nights) and I wentto the Kings Park Psychiatric Center (KPPC). Having driven past there on the way to physical therapy several times before, I was curious at what the place looked like. I got my chance to finally visit when I was with Dr. Christine Grimaldi and my friends. We walked past the buildings as we saw people walking around the center. We also went to the beach nearby.
I learned more about the center’s history from a YouTube video by The Proper People. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was founded to relieve the crowding of mental institutions in New York City. By the 1950’s, the center had 100 buildings and 9,000 patients. It was shut down after pharmaceuticals proved effective in treating mental illness. Subsequently, the place was vandalized with graffiti and buildings were left with shattered windows and burned roofs.
The Proper People discovered that Building 93 was very tall and saw KPPC’s transformation to a high rise colony with heavy supervision. Building 93 was also where experiments such as lobotomy and electroshock therapy were performed on patients and where the physically ill and elderly were treated. They visited other buildings across the KPPC, from the storehouse for medical supplies and food to the basement, were strewn with pipes and other things that fell off the roof and walls.
The Proper People also discovered that cops and security did not care that there was vandalism in the kitchen and the center. They also discovered the area’s power generators where the KPPC could generate its own energy. They also traveled through the asbestos tunnels to the quad building where the elderly were housed and workout equipment.
Overall, I had a great experience visiting the KPPC with my friends and Dr. Grimaldi. I learned a lot when I was there and through The Proper People‘s documented exploration. It shows how some people are fascinated by exploring things and places that have been forgotten.
Edited by avanicole23