Artist Melinda Hunt’s
20 year effort to visualize Hart Island, New York’s 142 year old “Potter’s
Field” located in the Bronx, is the subject of Shades of New York: An Exhibition of The Hart Island Project, a
series of ink sketches of people who died in and around New York City between
1980-2010 and were located through the Hart Island Project digital database.
The exhibit will open December 6, 2011 and will run through January 14, 2012
at the Westchester Community College’s Center for Digital Arts in Peekskill,
NY. The opening reception is scheduled for 5:30 – 7:30PM on December 6th
with a Public talk by artist Melinda Hunt at 6:30 PM. Free and open to the
public. The Center for the Digital Arts is located at 27 N. Division St.
Peekskill, NY 10566. For information contact Lise Prown 914-606-7304  http://www.sunywcc.edu/peekski...

I have a very personal interest in the Island as my brother, John, has been there since 1972. I've been on a mission to have him exhumed and as a result of that mission, I've developed a huge interest in bringing attention to the Island - I'm not the first, definitely not. Whether we are succesful in retrieving my brother's remains or not, my mission will still continue on behalf of the Island, in whatever form that takes. Everyone deserves a dignified and respectful final resting place and families and friends should have the right to visit. How about planting a few trees,some flowers, fixing up the old, beautiful and historical buildings, build some fountains and add some benches. It's not enough to get DOC to change the rules and regulations for visitations, but this place must be transformed into the hallowed ground that it truly is. To learn about me and where I'd like to go, check out my two blogs and new website (although still a work in progress)as follows:

http://hartisland-acryforhelp.blogspot.com

http://mybrother-john.blogspot.com

www.hartisland-acryforhelp.org

Thank you for taking the time.

Julie

I made the trip there a couple years ago. I have a bunch of photos on Google Earth...that place is very surreal.

This would be great for the next Weird NY book (from the publishers of Weird NJ!).

And thanks for the reblog and kind comments everybody!

One thing I do want to respond to is there was nothing creepy about either the place or the hour I visited; there was a sort of elegiac solitude that hung above the island, but it was by no means "creepy". It was actually very touching.

Just Saying, you are correct - the bulk of Fort Slocum was housed on David's Island, with a Nike site on the northern point of Hart Island.

Sadly, all of the remaining structures on David's Island were razed earlier this year; I wish I could have made it out there, but sadly I did not.

And GM, yes, Washington Square Park did indeed house one of the earlier potter's fields for the City of New York. So did Bryant Park and Madison Square Park.

wow wow wow. this is cool. great work.

These pictures are fascinating, particularly the one that shows the abandoned records room, with stacks of papers and ledgers rotting in the open air. This place needs an archivist.

re David's Island--found this interesting tidbit on wikipedia:

"From 1955 to 1960, Fort Slocum housed a Nike Ajax air-defense battery. The missiles were stored in underground silos on HART ISLAND and the radar and control base was on DAVID'S ISLAND."

David's Island should be his next visit. It's way cool and housed a military base until the 1960's.

I'm going to assume it's just easier for the government to restrict all access.

Since there's hardly any transportation to get out there, it's a huge graveyard, a lot of historical buildings that require protecting, prisoners at work...it's probably just easier to call the island off limits so they don't have to worry about all the other logistics.

And for further reference, of those 30 acres that aren't the potter's field, I'm sure much of it already contains buildings. And an average Manhattan city block is about 6 acres, so we're really not talking about much available space here. Certainly nothing to get up in arms over.

The whole island is 131 acres and 101 of it are the potter's field. Is it really worth developing the necessary infrastructure to support residences on that island for less than 30 acres? I'm sure given another few decades, the potter's field will expand to the rest of the island anyways.

Washington Square Park is a potters field too, right?

Wow, f'ing creepy.

Great pictures though.

Wow, really #12? No shit. So the entire island is one big ole potters field that no-one can go to unless someone you are related to is buried there? Who is buried under all those acres where the actual cemetery isn't located? So by your logic Brooklyn and Queens should be off limits and uninhabited because we have cemeteries here too? Who's the idiot, idiot.

#8- it's a potters field. People are buried here, and disinterred, and buried again. It's not just a park. It's an active ENORMOUS cemetery for the homeless, nameless and unclaimed of NYC. Not the best place for the uninformed bleeding heart's constant call for "affordable housing and parks". Can you not read or are you just an idiot?

These pics were taken at 4AM?

so does this guy just sneak onto places? cool!

This could be the next McCarren Pool. Hipster Island.