Few people today have ever heard of North Brother Island, though a hundred years ago it was place known to-and often feared by-nearly everyone in New York City. The island, a small dot in the East River, twenty acres slotted between today's gritty industrial shores of the Bronx and Queens, was a minor piece of the New York archipelago until the late 19th century, when calls for social and sanitary reform-and the massive expansion of the city's population-combined to remake NBI as a hospital island, a place to contain ...
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Few people today have ever heard of North Brother Island, though a hundred years ago it was place known to-and often feared by-nearly everyone in New York City. The island, a small dot in the East River, twenty acres slotted between today's gritty industrial shores of the Bronx and Queens, was a minor piece of the New York archipelago until the late 19th century, when calls for social and sanitary reform-and the massive expansion of the city's population-combined to remake NBI as a hospital island, a place to contain infectious disease and, later, other societal ills. Abandoned since 1963, North Brother Island is a ruin and a wildlife sanctuary (it is the protected nesting ground of the Black-crowned Night Heron), closed to the public and virtually invisible to it. But one cannot mistake its abandoned state as a sign of its irrelevance to the city's history and culture. Traces of the extensive hospital campus remain, as do sites linked to notorious people (it was the final home of "Typhoid Mary") and events (the steamship General Slocum sank by its shores). It has stories to tell. Photographer Christopher Payne (Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals) was granted permission by New York City's Parks & Recreation Department to photograph the island over a period of years. The results are both beautiful and startling. On North Brother Island, devoid of human habitation for fifty years, buildings great and small are being consumed by the unchecked growth of vegetation. In just a few decades, a forest has sprung up where once there were the streets and manicured lawns of a hospital campus. North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City includes a history by University of Pennsylvania preservationist Randall Mason, who has studied the island extensively, and an essay by the writer Robert Sullivan (Rats, The Meadowlands), who came along on one of the rare expeditions.
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Seller's Description:
New. From a quarantine hospital to a juvenile drug treatment center to an uninhabited island of ruins-this magnificent photographic survey that brings North Brother Island to life. Series: Empire State Editions. Num Pages: 144 pages, 130 color illustrations. BIC Classification: 1KBB; HBJK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 241 x 294 x 18. Weight in Grams: 1086. 2014. 1st Edition. Hardcover.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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Fair. PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. Used Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Fine. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 144 p. Contains: Illustrations, black & white, Illustrations, color, Maps, Frontispiece. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 144 p. Contains: Illustrations, black & white, Illustrations, color, Maps, Frontispiece. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. Used Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Bumped edges. Creased Dust Jacket. Slight Scratches on Dust Jacket. Appears unread, may have minor damage from transit/storage. Next working day dispatch from the UK (Mon-Fri). Please contact us with any queries.
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.