KINGS PARK PSYCHIATRIC 2009 The Kings Park Psychiatric Center was established in 1885. The asylum, built by Brooklyn to alleviate overcrowding in its own asylums, was a "Farm Colony" asylum, where patients worked in a variety of farm-related activities, such as feeding livestock and growing food, as this was considered to be a form of therapy for the mentally ill at the time. The official name of the hospital in its first ten years was the "Kings County Asylum," taken from the name of the county that Brooklyn occupied. Eventually, overcrowding became a problem in the Kings County Asylum, the very thing that it was trying to relieve. New York State responded to the problem in 1895, when control of the asylum passed into state hands, and it was subsequently renamed the Kings Park State Hospital. As patient populations grew throughout the early part of the 20th century, the hospital itself continued to grow, and by the late 1930s the state began to build upward instead of outward. During this time period, the famous 13-story Building 93 was built. Designed by state architect William E. Haugaard, the building, often dubbed "the most famous asylum building on Long Island," was completed in 1939. As medication made it possible for patients to live normal lives outside of a mental institution, the need for large facilities like Kings Park diminished, and the patient population began to drop. By the early 1990s the Kings Park Psychiatric Center, as it had come to be known by that point, was operating as a ghost of its former self, with many buildings being shut down or reduced in usage. Today, the sprawling area that once housed the Kings Park Psychiatric Center stands as a testament to a forgotten era. In the spring of 2000, the waterfront portion of the former campus was reopened as the Nissequogue River State Park, preventing it from development, while the rest lies mostly abandoned. Since closing its doors in 1996, KPPC has developed a major issue with trespassing. This problem is two-fold, as both enthusiasts of the paranormal and teenage vandals visit the grounds. Whether real or not, KPPC has developed a reputation on Long Island as a haunted location, which draws curious individuals from across the area. In addition, vandalism has increased dramatically in recent years, with the interior of Building 93 being the focus of heavy graffiti. Since entering the abandoned buildings is illegal, Suffolk County Police Department has a heavy presence in the area. The 1995 movie Eyes Beyond Seeing, by director Daniel Robert Cohn, was filmed in KPPC's Building 136/137 (old medical/surgical unit) shortly after the building was closed down. The film also contains exterior shots of the famous Building 93 (The 13 story tall Ambulatory building), in an attempt to convince viewers that the interior shots were done inside 93. We Visited Kings Park & shot these photos in mid-September 2009 - Absolutly no police presence was seen in over 4 hours of walking the grounds. The only signage visible anywhere on the site were "no pets on the grass" signs. As many explorers already realise, the Nazi-esque security levels found at Massachusetts locations is usually non-existent at many New York sites. Access to the interior of the buildings seemed quite easy, as there were numerous holes in the flimsy fencing -- compared to the anti-climb fencing at Taunton, this fencing was an absolute joke. We recommend visiting here by all means as security is amusingly absent. Our main interest always being structural design & architecture, as usual we relegated interior exploration & photography to the more daring & agile explorers out there.     King's Park 5-1   King's Park 5-2   King's Park 5-3   King's Park 5-4   King's Park 5-5   King's Park 5-6   King's Park 5-7   King's Park 5-8   King's Park 5-9   King's Park 5-10   King's Park 5-11   King's Park 5-12   King's Park 5-13   King's Park 5-14   King's Park 5-15   King's Park 5-16   King's Park 5-17   King's Park 5-18   King's Park 5-19   King's Park 5-20   King's Park 5-21   King's Park 5-22   King's Park 5-23   King's Park 5-24   King's Park 5-25   King's Park 5-26   King's Park 5-27   King's Park 5-28   King's Park 5-29