The Parks Department's Director of Historic Preservation, John Krawchuk, talks to us about the abandoned North Brother Island, with gorgeous photos by Danny Avila. more ›

We've seen some current day photos of the abandoned North Brother Island (not to be confused with South Brother Island), but now we offer a glimpse at it through Jacob Riis's camera lens. These photos were all taken in 1890, about 28 years before Typhoid Mary was confined there, and five years after it became inhabited (in 1885, Riverside Hospital moved there from Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island). This was also about 14 years before the General Slocum wrecked on the island—which there are plenty of disturbing photos of. more ›

Over at The Kingston Lounge, Richard Nickel Jr. has posted some gorgeous photos of North Brother Island—including a brief history lesson and update on the current state of the place, which has been abandoned for 48 years. The island is in the Hell Gate section of the East River, and was once home to "a quarantine hospital that housed Typhoid Mary, was the final destination of the General Slocum during its tragic final voyage, and was the site of an experimental drug treatment program which failed due to corruption." more ›