Nate Dorr
The art of neglect
Okay, full (well, nearly) disclosure: This is the Samuel R. Smith Infirmary, built in 1889. It served (with the other building just behind the camera) as Staten Island Hospital for a time, as a training area for nurses, and at some point as a nursing home. ForgottenNY tells me that Herman Melville's sister was a secretary here in the 1890s.
Incidently the Landmark Preservation Commission denied landmark status to the site in 1983, but semi-officially regretted that decision in 1987 when the owner at the time threatened to plaster over the beautiful exterior brickwork during renovation. Fortunately, that plastering never happened. Unfortunately, neither did the renovation and the site continues to sink into disrepair.
Thanks are due to my guide FtLoBROOKLYN and coconspirator Fuzzy Logikz
The art of neglect
Okay, full (well, nearly) disclosure: This is the Samuel R. Smith Infirmary, built in 1889. It served (with the other building just behind the camera) as Staten Island Hospital for a time, as a training area for nurses, and at some point as a nursing home. ForgottenNY tells me that Herman Melville's sister was a secretary here in the 1890s.
Incidently the Landmark Preservation Commission denied landmark status to the site in 1983, but semi-officially regretted that decision in 1987 when the owner at the time threatened to plaster over the beautiful exterior brickwork during renovation. Fortunately, that plastering never happened. Unfortunately, neither did the renovation and the site continues to sink into disrepair.
Thanks are due to my guide FtLoBROOKLYN and coconspirator Fuzzy Logikz