Abandoned Asylums and Institutions of New York The Empire State Strikes Back Abandoned Union

Uncover the haunting history and architecture of New York's abandoned asylums and institutions through stunning photography.

New York is famous for a lot of things, including its institutions and asylums. Some of the first and oldest institutions in America were built in New York. Travel back to when asylums were a city within a city to keep the mentally ill hidden away. Discover architectural marvels that were carefully designed by some of the most honorable architects of the time, like Frederick Clarke Withers and famed landscape designer, Frederick Law Olmsted. Follow Photographer Dave Snook as he captures New York's first asylum for the chronically insane; a modern-day psychiatric hospital closed in 2015; a famous tuberculous center's dome that has been rumored to be in the Pan- American Exposition's Temple of Music; and a state school influenced by a Massachusetts institution for the "feeble-minded". Explore the decaying ruins of some of New York's largest and most famous institutions and asylums.