The Manhattan Psychiatric Center is a

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

-state run

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. 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. The building was significantly enlarged in 1871, and a

Kirkbride Plan The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by American psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings (or simp ...

style building was built. After the immigration entry shifted to

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

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 ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

that had been taken over by the state. The other psychiatric hospital would become the Central Islip Psychiatric Center in

Central Islip, New York Central Islip (also known locally by its initials as CI) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip, New York, Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United St ...

. 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 ecolog ...

Notable patients

* Mabel Boll, "The Queen of Diamonds" died of a stroke at the facility in April 1949 at the age of 54. *

Ricardo Caputo Ricardo Silvio Caputo (1949 – October 1, 1997) was an Argentine American serial killer active during the 1970s who was known as The Lady Killer. Life Caputo was born in 1949 in Mendoza, Argentina. In 1970, he moved to the United States and s ...

, Argentine American serial killer, escaped from the hospital in 1974. * Martin Hildebrandt, tattoo artist *

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...

was hospitalized in late January 1917 for

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

caused by

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

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

Louis Pioggi Louis "Louie the Lump" Pioggi (April 24, 1889 – May 15, 1969) was an American 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 ...

, gangster * Erno Soto, suspect in the

Charlie Chop-off Charlie Chop-off is the pseudonym given to an unidentified American serial killer known to have killed three black children and one Puerto Rican child in Manhattan between 1972 and 1973. The assailant is also known to have attempted to murder on ...

murders of 1972–73. *

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a Bohemian-Austrian, and later American, chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first 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 Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

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

References

External links

Social Work in a State Psychiatric Center - A Bridge to Recovery
{{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