Manhattan Psychiatric Center

The Manhattan Psychiatric Center is a New York-state run psychiatric hospital on 125th Street on Wards Island in New York City. As of 2009 it is licensed for 509 beds, but only holds around 200 patients. The current building is 17-stories tall.^[1]

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.^[2]

The building was significantly enlarged in 1871, and a Kirkbride Plan style building was built. After the immigration entry shifted to Ellis Island in 1892 the state took it over from Manhattan in 1899 and expanded it even further. At the time, it had 4,400 beds and was the largest psychiatric hospital in the world.^[3]

At the time it was one of two psychiatric hospitals for residents of Manhattan that had been taken over by the state. The other psychiatric hospital would become the Central Islip Psychiatric Center in Central Islip, New York. Both hospitals were referred to as Manhattan State Hospital.

It later became the Manhattan Psychiatric Center. The facility is currently run by the New York State Office of Mental Health.

The site is surrounded by Wards Island Park, which is administered by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.^[3].

Notable patients and visitors

• Louis Pioggi, gangster
• Scott Joplin was hospitalized in 1916 for schizophrenia aggravated by syphilis, and died there on April 1, 1917.
• Wilhelm Steinitz, the first undisputed world chess champion, was hospitalized with mental illness possibly caused by syphilis, and died there on August 12, 1900.
• Mabel Boll, "The Queen of Diamonds" died of a stroke at the facility in April 1949 at the age of 54.^[4]
• On October 21, 1954, Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke at the Al Smith Dinner to the staff of the hospital.^[5]

References

1. ^ http://www.hospital-data.com/hospitals/MANHATTAN-PSYCHIATRIC-CENTER-NEW-YOR502.html
2. ^ New York and Its Institutions, 1609-1871 - John Francais Richmond - E.B. Treat -1871
3. ^ ^{a b} "Wards Island Park - Historical Sign". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12869. Retrieved 2009-08-08. 
4. ^ "Mabel Boll Dies. 'Diamond Queen'. Bartender's Daughter Owned Fabulous Gems. Balked in Efforts to Fly Atlantic". New York Times. April 12, 1949. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40B11FA3D5F177B93C0A8178FD85F4D8485F9. "Mrs. Mabel Boll Cella, who wanted to be Queen of the Air when the world knew her as the Queen of Diamonds, died Sunday of a stroke in Manhattan State Hospital for the mentally ill on Wards Island." 
5. ^ Remarks at the Manhattan State Hospital, Wards Island, New York City. October 21, 1954

External links

• Wards Island Park
• Social Work in a State Psychiatric Center - A Bridge to Recovery

Coordinates: 40°47′21″N 73°55′47″W / 40.78917°N 73.92972°W / 40.78917; -73.92972