Patient Sink and Peeling Paint, Kings Park Psychiatric Center

Kings Park Psychiatric Center operated in Suffolk County, New York, from 1885 until its closure in 1996, at its peak housing more than 9,000 patients across dozens of buildings. Many of the wards included utilitarian fixtures like the cast-iron sink typical of the facility's early-to-mid-20th-century plumbing, installed to serve communal patient bathing and washing needs. The hospital's decline began in the 1950s and 1960s as new psychiatric medications and a statewide push toward deinstitutionalization reduced patient populations. Since its shutdown, the campus has been left largely to decay, with lead paint and asbestos contributing to the deterioration seen in structures like this one. Portions of the grounds are now managed by New York State Parks, though most of the original buildings remain unused and inaccessible to the public.

Photo taken in September 2008.