It's hard to imagine that there could be an uninhabited place in the densely populated
concrete jungle that is New York City, but there is – a whole island in fact!
It is located on New York City's East River.
The forbidden place that we are about to visit is - North Brother Island.
Now only the eerie ruins of more than 12 buildings remain here, as nature has slowly retaken the island.
But what secrets do these crumbling walls hold, and what horrible event took place on
the shore of this mysterious island?
Press that subscribe button and join us on a journey to the haunted past of North Brother Island.
These deserted buildings are the ruins of Riverside Hospital.
Less than a century ago it was an institution where a vast number of people suffering from
quarantinable diseases were isolated from the public.
Yet one patient stood out from the crowd.
Her name was Mary Mallon, but you might’ve heard of her as Typhoid Mary.
Mallon emigrated from Ireland to New York City in 1883 at the age of 15, where she started
working as a cook for wealthy families.
Members of those families often got sick, and were diagnosed with the infectious disease
Typhoid Fever after she started cooking for them.
Several cases were traced to her by the Health Department.
Though she never acknowledged her role in spreading the disease, she was later known
to have infected at least 53 people, resulting in three deaths.
However, to the naked eye, Mary seemed to be in perfect health.
Mary was convinced that the law was wrongly persecuting her, and refused to believe she
was the cause of the typhoid outbreak.
When she was finally apprehended and moved to the Riverside Hospital,
she was pronounced as the first known healthy carrier of the disease.
Under questioning, Mallon admitted she rarely washed her hands when cooking and felt there
was no need to do so.
Any bacteria in her food would not survive the high temperatures involved in cooking,
but Mary's life was ruined by a dessert – she was crazy about preparing ice cream with raw peaches.
As the press dubbed her 'Typhoid Mary.'
She became a minor celebrity against her will and a mascot for the disease as the press.
Locked away from the rest of the world for more than 20 years, convinced of her innocence
for the rest of her life, she would eventually die of stroke caused by pneumonia on the grounds
of North Brother Island.
But the name Typhoid Mary lives on to this day.
Yet this tragic story falls flat in comparison to the disaster which took place 3 years before
Mary Mallon’s incarceration.
It was the biggest loss of life in New York City before 9/11.
On June 14th, 1904, the passenger steamer General Slocum - one of the best known vessels
around the New York Harbor - had been chartered by a church group consisting mainly of women
and children for a picnic trip to Long Island.
As it was sailing the East River, a fire broke out in one of the machine rooms.
By the time it was noticed disaster was imminent, as the fire had quickly spread to other parts
of the ship including a cabin filled with gasoline.
By the time General Slocum sank in shallow water near North Brother Island, more than
1000 people had lost their lives, either by fire or by drowning.
Staff and patients from the Riverside Hospital participated in rescue efforts,
forming human chains and pulling victims from the water.
Captain William H. Van Schaick was held accountable for failing to maintain proper fire drills
and fire extinguishers.
A 12-year-old boy had tried to warn him before the fire spread critically, but was not believed.
However the tragedy lost its focus historically, perhaps due to the shocking Titanic disaster
eight years later.
The Riverside Hospital would be later repurposed to become housing for Veterans after WWII,
and then to a Drug Rehabilitation Center in the 50's.
But it was forced to close after widespread reports of staff corruption and patients'
recidivism in 1964.
It has been abandoned ever since and serves the sole purpose of being a bird sanctuary.
Yet in recent years, proposals to reopen North Brother Island to the public have started
to surface.
Nothing is clear for now, but do you think it is a good idea?
Or is the island better left untouched?
Would you dare to set foot upon this tragic island?
Let us know in the comments below
and subscribe to our channel if you liked the video to get more interesting stories.
Have you ever thought what would happen if a nuclear bomb or a flood destroyed our civilization?
Even the survivors would eventually probably die of hunger.
Luckily, there is a ray of hope in Norway.
The most important freezer in the world.
Where people are absolutely not allowed.
Be sure not to miss this story, about this so called Doomsday Vault.