Why this Tiny Island in New York City is Inaccessible to Most People 

1:53 I misspoke. It should be "...unclaimed OR unidentifiable dead bodies...." Thanks to @Jonathan Chang for pointing this out. If you like the video, please consider subscribing to the channel for more. See you next time! You can support this channel on Patreon if you want: www.patreon.com/SideNote

A mass grave site today, an archeologist's wet dream 500 years from now.

Not so fun fact: Actor Bobby Driscoll known for his roles in Disney movies like Peter Pan and Song Of The South is buried there. He died homeless and alone in New York in 1968 and was buried there as an unidentified vagrant. A few years later his mother who still lived in California tried to track him down thinking he was still alive found out through a fingerprint match that he was dead and buried on Hart Island

My aunt passed away homeless in NY and likely buried there. She couldnt handle it when my uncle passed from cancer and lost everything to medical bills and became an alcoholic. There's a lot of past suffering in that island 😢

as a new yorker, i’ve only ever heard it called “potter’s field”. never knew it was called hart island 🤔

My grandfather is buried there. He was born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts. His widowed mother made bathtub gin to support the kids during prohibition. To keep the hungry kids quiet, she gave them booze. He was well on his way to becoming an alcoholic by the time he married my grandmother. When his drinking got to be too much, my grandmother took my dad and went back to live with her parents. My grandfather drifted off to New York. My grandmother died of TB in a sanatorium when my dad was 14. The last time my father saw his father was when the old man was back in town for a cousin's wedding. Dad told me he didn't say anything to his father. The old man went back to New York and died in a clinic for alcoholics. He was buried on the island in one of those plain pine boxes. A few years ago, my dad was feeling his own years and conscience weigh on him. He tried to find out where his father was buried. He learned that most of the records of people interred prior to 1970 burned up in an office fire. It's like the old man never existed. This story is probably typical. The island is the resting place of the forgotten, neglected and abandoned of the earth, an island of lost souls. I'm not religious, but I wish for all those buried there some comfort in the hereafter that they didn't receive in this life. Peace

7:21 What the hell those are miniature coffins? Looking at them throwing those babies like Amazon packages really hit me.

I went in 2015 to visit the relative of my significant other (in large part because of The Hart Island Project). The guards were really nice and noticed that we hadn't brought anything to place on the grave. They brought us a rose to place there. It was wonderful but strange to see all the buildings and graves. The island itself wasn't creepy at all other than the fact that we couldn't go close to any of the buildings.

What a morbid, but deeply, deeply interesting video. Thank you for making this. I had no idea Hart Island existed. I so so so wish that Solomon Riley (sp?) could have fulfilled his dream. Darn the city for shutting down his beautiful, inclusive dream.

My father is one of the souls out there. He passed in 1990 while living on the streets and had no family contact information on him. After two weeks the hospital finally sent him to Hart Island. I was 9 yrs old when this happened and I didn’t find out until I was around 18 yrs old. Ironically inmates from Ryker’s Island do the burying and he was an inmate there as well. He was a good man but had addiction issues.

Something about hucking baby coffins like theyre shoes off the back of a truck seems kind of grim.

You can see this island off the coast of The Bronx’s, City Island. I saw this island year ago and always wondered what went on. What a crazy history for such a tiny island

How heartless does one have to be to toss a babies coffin around like its a beach ball. Disgusting and sickening.

so its got just about every horror movie ghost setup.

i'm surprised that nobody in hollywood has thought of making a horror movie out of it.

I've known little about this island over the years because certain information doesn't exist. Thank for giving these souls a voice. They haven't been forgotten. Your team, including the drone, does good work. Much appreciated!!!! ****

When I was young, we sailed in that area of Long Island Sound. Hart Island had a monument on it, a monolith with a cross; it was difficult to know how large it was from the water, it appeared large. We knew what the island was used for and never attempted to get too close.

Is there any creepy/abandoned location tropes this island doesn't hit?!?!

All those unknown people. That's really damn sad.

Disturbing, yet fascinating. I wonder how many more places like this exist in the US as well as the world.

Shout out to this guy who actually acknowledged Native American history of the island and framed it in an honest way. It rarely happens sadly..

Watching the baby coffins being tossed made my soul hurt. My god that was a gut wrenching sight.😟

I think they should plant lots of flowers on that island to honour the dead and support wildlife like pollinating bugs

The history of Hart Island has always interesting me, but until recently very little information was available. I’ve often wondered if the bodies of those who died from infectious diseases should have been buried at all, and should have been cremated instead, due to the fact that certain viruses could possibly survive and then be spread if unearthed years later.

Wow. I knew some of the story, but I didn't know all of that. Thank You for the Information.

In hundreds of years the is going to be one of the most fertile places

The heart wrenching fact this about this potters field, is that people have been mislead into believing they can reclaim their loved ones from this place after the pandemic. The truth is they won't be able to.

Amazing info!!! I didn't know about thanks for the video !!!

Well done presentation. Very informative. Thank you.

Didn't even mention that Bobby Driscol, the voice of Disney's Peter Pan; is buried on Hart Island... perhaps it's most famous burial. RIP Bobby 😥

5:29 What?? Contaminate other bodies? What could possibly happen? Would the bodies become even more dead?

Thanks! Very informative

The renderings are awesome and so well done.

So after some 300 years....you have people being buried on top of other people....wow. Tossing the baby coffins like they were just trash upset me. Yes I know they were dead but gosh

I have absolutely no idea why I am watching this or why it was recommended

I had no idea. Awesome channel! Subscribed.

This reminds me of Poveglia Island in Venice, Italy. It was also used for many of the same purposes, and is largely off-limits to the public.

Very interesting video. Thank you.

@8:52, Having prison inmates paid $0.50 an hour to toss those dead babies in shoe box size boxes is very unsettling.

Nice piece buddy, I’ve always wandered about that island; And I’ve always wanted to be able to catch a ride out there; But now I know what-all is supposed to be on that Little Rock; It’s definitely a nice piece for everyone to watch; Best regards and cheers 🥂

Thanks for making this interesting and informative video

A fear the bodies would contaminate each other? What would that matter? They're already dead...

It’s so inaccessible, people are dying to get in.

I went to college right across from Hart Island. I have been on a small boat right up to Hart Island a few times during my time at school. The place is creepy but would be an urban explorers dream. The place is restricted and monitored by the authorities, at least it was in the 90s.

Love this video. Thank you!

If any place on earth is haunted, it has to be this place.

My aunt is buried there because she was homeless and a drug addict when she died. Her mother, my grandmother, did not know where she was at the time. My mom and her sisters didn’t know until 20 years later that she had died. They then did research and found that she had died unidentified in new york. About a year ago, my mom and her sisters visited the island and was able identify her by a picture they had taken when she was found.

everytime i rode the staten island ferry i wondered what was on that island now I know. thanks for this content

Imagine how haunted this island is

It's heartbreaking seeing them throwing around baby coffins like packages, or bricks.

The scariest part of actually seeing it is the people moving around. Everytime I see someone walking around out the corner of my eye while I’m fishing I get a mini heart attack

Thank you for such a historically accurate and documented presentation!

This is an informative post. Thank you.

Excelent video. Congratulations, you are making a good job on RU-vid. You put a lot of effort in your content.

Seriously- why has no-one thought to build a crematory... seems logical.

That was painful to watch; but thanks for creating this mini-documentary. My mom lost a baby years before me; but it’s not something my parents, sister, or other close relatives ever bring up, so I don’t ask much. I do have a feeling he ended up on Hart island since I did ask once what happened to him, and my mom just said the hospital took him away. My parents were always hard workers and have always been religious; so never understood why they didn’t burry him. My dad or sister sometimes brings up the topic every couple of years, so I’ll have to have my questions ready.

Awesome documentary

This place is basically screaming "Look! I'm haunted!".

This is the Starting Location for People who train to become Necromancers

Great research work... I love these stories. I'm looking for information about Wards Island... If anyone knows of any documentary about its history, please let me know.

The way they treat the Bodies, even the babies bodies, its so depressing to see.

Wow that's crazy, just throwing a baby coffin around like it's a sand bag...

"Babies are buried in groups of 500" The workers: just chucking them to eachother like basketballs... Me: Nightmares 😂🤢

I remember watching a movie about this island with Malcom McDowell! Didn’t know it was a real island! Learn something new everyday!

Can you imagine during a zombie apocalypse trying rally hard to get to that island because you think it's safe lol

One of the best-composed videos I've watched on RU-vid over the past decade. No fluff, no filler, no exaggeration..... just a nice, clean, and straight-forward narration, with great pictures and video clips. I'm going to have to watch more from this channel, for sure!!

RU-vid's algorithm is creepy... I was watching a sailing channel and they were sailing New York city and sailed by and mentioned this island.. Few days later this pop's in my feed

I grew up in Co-op City so city island and orchard beach was my backyard. You can see Hart Island real good from both locations. I never knew what that island was until recent years.

love how during the part showing baby coffins youtube cut for an ad and was like "im thinkin arby's"

I just felt some type of way seeing them throw those little boxes from the truck, knowing they contain babies.

What got me was how those prisoners were tossing those baby coffins around like it was nothing. What a damn shame. They should've at least given them proper treatment.

Imagine being left behind after a long day of burying babies. Just gave myself chills

The way they threw the baby's coffins broke my heart 💔🕊️

Where do you get your video ideas from? They’re always interesting, I’ve never not been interested in one of them, that’s quite a difficult thing to do. Side note (hehe): The narrator’s voice is incredibly relaxing.

Seeing them toss those baby coffins like they were nothing but trash was very heart wrenching

Thank-you, I learned something new today.

Unknown hispanic male,freaking broke my heart!!!!

For most people unaware of tuberculosis it was also referred to as "consumption" because your body would wither away with flu-like symptoms and often a bloody cough. It's still a huge problem in less developed places.

love your vides, I'm from Myrtle Beach sc, would love to have one of those razor kits

It was heartbreaking to see them tossing the baby caskets around like that. They were precious little souls. All of the dead there should be treated with respect and dignity. Tear down those dilapidated old useless buildings and make the place more pleasant so people can visit their loved ones in a peaceful setting.

They should remove all of the buildings and simply use it as a graveyard from now on, especially since the buildings are rotting.

The only thing I could think about was how this is definitely what inspired Arkham island in Batman. An island with a poorly managed insane asylum and an abandoned amusement park? Literally spot on

And people still think the government cares about you LMAOOO

"But before the plan could be fulfilled, the government seized the land, unwilling to host an amusement park in such close proximity to a jail and a hospital." The government banned the building of an amusement park for African Americans in 1924, something tells me it wasn't out of concern for their safety.

HART ISLAND ..., I served time on this island digging graves for John and Jane does transferred from Rikers the last two months of my sentence !

It’s crazy how they won’t even pay enough to put a decent amount of soil on top. Disgusting

Its a shame that so many unknown unmarked graves are scattered and poorly documented. No one should be so forgotten. Maybe cremation would've been a better way to go. The loss of records is awful.

9:17...there are literally trees growing out of the top of the roofs...amazing.

It broke my heart to see babies tossed, but who am I to ask for reverence for the dead from people who receive no reverence for their very lives?

Great informative video.. So incredibly SAD!!!

This is fascinating I grew up in NY and never knew about this place.

me on the inside "umm..hey guys maybe dont throw dead babies like that!"

"It was decided that the unidentifiable bodies would be brought here..." "The body of a 24 year old woman named Louisa Van Slyke was the first to call it home." lol?

Thats a wonderful story first time l see this video is very interesting 👌 thank you for that storyline how about people that die of covi19 thank you so much.

Really interesting video . Cool

Let's plant flowers there! Many. Fill it with them.

Title correction: Why this tiny island is inaccessible to most *living* people

It was very upsetting to see them just throwing the babys/children's coffins off the back of the box truck....those are PEOPLE!!!

Very interesting !!!

Reminds me of the Killing fields in Cambodia. There are human bones that rise to the surface all though the fields. A truly horrific and harrowing place.