Rubble-Strewn Staircase to Ward Doors at Kings Park

Kings Park Psychiatric Center opened in 1885 as the Kings Park State Hospital, eventually growing to more than 150 buildings across 900 acres on Long Island's north shore. At its peak population in the 1950s, the facility housed close to 9,000 patients and operated its own power plant, farm, and rail spur for deliveries. New York State began downsizing the hospital after federal deinstitutionalization policies took hold in the 1960s and 70s, and the campus closed for good in 1996. Many of its ward buildings, connected by internal stairways and steam tunnels, have sat untouched since closure, leaving decades of plaster and paint to collect on the floors below.