North Brother Island, New York
North Brother Island, located in the East River of New York City, is a place of haunting beauty and dark history. Once home to a quarantine hospital for contagious diseases, including the infamous “Typhoid Mary,” the island has been abandoned for decades and is now off-limits to the public. The crumbling ruins of the hospital, overgrown with vegetation, offer a glimpse into a bygone era of public health and medical science. But beyond its historical significance, North Brother Island also harbors a sense of mystery and tragedy.
It was the site of one of the deadliest disasters in New York’s history, the General Slocum steamship fire, which killed over a thousand people in 1904. Today, the island is a sanctuary for birds and wildlife, and its eerie silence stands in stark contrast to the bustling city just a stone’s throw away. Despite its allure, visitors are strictly forbidden from setting foot on the island, making it one of the city’s most fascinating and unexplored places.