The Manhattan Psychiatric Center is a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-state run

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

Wards Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. As of 2009, it was licensed for 509 beds, but holds only around 200 patients. The current building is 17 stories tall. The building strongly resembles the main building of the

Creedmoor Psychiatric Center Creedmoor Psychiatric Center is a psychiatric hospital at 79-26 Winchester Boulevard in Queens Village, Queens, New York, United States. It provides inpatient, outpatient and residential services for severely mentally ill patients. The hospi ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. It is adjacent to Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, a specialized facility for patients with criminal convictions.

History

The hospital's roots date to 1848 when Wards Island was designated the reception area for immigrants. Some additional structures were originally part of Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum, which opened around 1863. The New York City Asylum for the Insane opened in 1863.New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, "Wards Island Park"
/ref> The building was significantly enlarged in 1871, and a Kirkbride Plan style building was built. After the immigration entry shifted to

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

in 1892, the state took it over from Manhattan in 1899 and expanded it even further, renaming it the Manhattan State Hospital. At the time, it had 4,400 beds and was the largest

in the world. At the time, it was one of two psychiatric hospitals for residents of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

that had been taken over by the state. The other psychiatric hospital would become the

Central Islip Psychiatric Center The Central Islip Psychiatric Center, formerly State Hospital for the Insane, was a state psychiatric hospital in Central Islip, New York, United States from 1889 until 1996. The center was one of the four major hospital "farms" in central Long ...

Central Islip, New York Central Islip is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 census. History and overview Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the ...

. Both hospitals were referred to as "Manhattan State Hospital". A fire on February 18, 1923, killed 27 people: 24 patients and three attendants. It later became the Manhattan Psychiatric Center. The current building complex was constructed in 1954. The facility is run and operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the site is surrounded by Wards Island Park, which is administered by the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolo ...

Notable patients

Mabel Boll Mabel Boll (December 1, 1893 – April 11, 1949), known as the "Queen of Diamonds", was an American socialite involved in the early days of record-setting airplane flights in the 1920s. She garnered nicknames from the press, including "Broadway ...

, "The Queen of Diamonds" died of a stroke at the facility in April 1949 at the age of 54. * Martin Hildebrandt, tattoo artist *

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

was hospitalized in late January 1917 for

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

caused by

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

, and died there two months later on April 1, 1917. *

Louis Pioggi Louis "Louie the Lump" Pioggi (April 24, 1889 – May 15, 1969) was a New York criminal and member of the Five Points Gang, known most prominently for the murder of Eastman Gang leader Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach and Vach "Cyclone Louie" Lewis. He a ...

, gangster *

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

, the first undisputed

world chess champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...

, was hospitalized with mental illness possibly caused by syphilis, and died there on August 12, 1900.

References

External links

Wards Island Park
{{commons category Hospital buildings completed in 1881 Hospitals in Manhattan Psychiatric hospitals in New York (state) 1848 establishments in New York (state) Hospitals established in 1848 Randalls and Wards Islands New York State Department of Mental Hygiene