Exploring Central Islip Psychiatric Center/ Former NYIT College!

First off, let me say that I am very thankful that I got the opportunity to explore this place before it was too late. I started exploring this place in early 2020, that was late but not too late. I did miss seeing the "Sunburst" buildings and of course the Power Plant that was demolished in 2006. In 2022, they started construction and sealed up all the tunnels of the remaining buildings. The main tunnel lines have been completely sealed up and even the small tunnels that lead into the buildings are completely sealed. Central Islip Psychiatric Center opened up in 1889 but at that time, it was used to hold the sick from NYC, along with Pilgrim, Kings, and Edgewood (All Psychiatric Centers later on). In 1896, the State bought this property, and it was named "Manhattan State Hospital", and then in 1905, it then became Central Islip State Hospital. Then in 1970, it got the title of Central Islip Psychiatric Center, which was the 2nd largest in the nation. This facility was over 500 acres and it had everything a psychiatric center would need. CI had just under 10,000 patients, and just under 3,000 workers. But in the early 1960's, NYS started to go away with psychiatric centers and wanted to make them mental health centers (Just a nicer was to say Psychiatric Center in my eyes but...). Then in the early 1970's there was a major decline in State institution workers because the state wanted to cut back and save money. Of course, this led to buildings closing (Around 15 buildings) and transferred those patients to nearby psychiatric centers. In 1975, CIPC started to close with the population decreasing very rapidly. in 1973 there were around 3,000 patients and then in 1980, there was just over 2,000. Around 50 buildings were sitting empty and abandoned, and some were in the process of being demolished or already demolished. Then in 1984, NYIT (New York Institute of Technology) looked into purchasing this land and went through with it. NYIT then purchased the remaining buildings and turned it into a fully functional campus. It's creepy to think of these college students attending classes where psychiatric patients were held. The college didn't do so well in this location, and as a result, they started selling buildings around 1995. Around this time, land was bought and turned into apartments, academic fields, and also the Long Island Ducks Stadium was built on the land. Some buildings being demolished and turned into small communities, and other were turned into commercial use. There were still some that remained, which are the ones in this video. Then in early 2021, the land was sold, and the process of demolition/ renovation was soon to begin. In late 2022, the buildings have been cleaned out and the tunnels have been sealed. They started digging up all the grounds and even digging into the tunnels, which was a crazy sight. The drone shot in the beginning of this video is not what it looks like anymore. I am thankful for the opportunity to see these abandoned buildings with power on, and then get to see them completely gutted, it's a creepy feeling, especially when trying to enter the tunnels, just to see them sealed off. This project is over $100 million and the land that is being worked on is surrounded by a fence with security 24/7. There are still a few small buildings/ homes that being left abandoned for now...
Sad to see this place go, another psychiatric center gone...

Follow me on Insta:   / thehopsinfan  

#longisland #explorepage #climbing #urbex #explore #urbanexploring #urbanexploration #gotrespassing #centralislippsychiatriccenter #centralislip #abandoned #abandonedplaces