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

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

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

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

If not for the history or mass burials this island would have been a prime real estate location for the wealthy of New York.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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 😥

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!!!! **