Bonus: Rockland State Hospital
Opened in 1931, Rockland State Hospital was once named the best-planned state hospital in history. That is until patient deaths and negligence gave the hospital a brutally negative reputation. The hospital, now Rockland Psychiatric Center, still operates today. However, several abandoned buildings are strewn across the 600-acre campus.
Ginsberg references the hospital several times in his well-known epic poem “Howl.” In the final section of the poem, he repeats the line “I’m with you in Rockland” most likely because his mother spent extensive time in many psychiatric hospitals. His mother, Naomi Ginsberg, passed away in the now-abandoned Pilgrim State Hospital.
Next, check out 7 spots where you can drink as the Beat Generation did!
