Inside NYC’s Only Landmarked Ruin, Roosevelt Island’s Abandoned Smallpox Hospital

A new video short by Unforgotten Films gives viewers a rare glimpse inside the crumbling walls of New York City’s only landmarked ruin, the abandoned hospital on Roosevelt Island. Originally built in 1856 and designed by architect James Renwick, Jr., it was the nation’s first hospital dedicated to the treatment of smallpox. The short film highlights efforts to stabilize the structure and challenges associated with preserving the abandoned site.

Unforgotten Films is partnering with the New York Landmark Conservancy to highlight overlooked New York sites and their histories in a video series called Unforgotten Minute. The Conservancy will post these short videos on social media, giving followers a closer look at locations such as the abandoned hospital on Ellis Island, Green-Wood Cemetery, and the Washington Square Arch. We’ll be following along, so stay tuned!

Unforgotten Minute was created by Untapped New York’s Artist-in-Residence Aaron Asis. Asis and his team at Green Ghost Studios were given special access inside the abandoned structure and the film showcases perspectives of the Renwick ruin that are rarely seen by the public. Through close-up shots and drone footage, Asis and his team reveal the true extent of the structure’s damage and call for increased preservation efforts and public access.

The Renwick building closed by the 1950s and sat abandoned for decades. In 1972, the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Four years later it earned landmark designation from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Despite this designation and efforts to stabilize the structure in the 1990s, the ruin continued to deteriorate with the north wing collapsing in a snowstorm in 2007. Today you will find a fence around the property and various pieces of metal scaffolding to support parts of the structure.

The dilapidated ruin stands in sharp contrast to the modern Manhattan skyline and Roosevelt Island’s well-manicured Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. Large-scale art installations often activate the park, taking over its sprawling lawns and iconic white steps. The most recent work to appear at the park was a massive greenhouse filled with plush flowers by artist CJ Hendry. Could the smallpox hospital ruin be activated in this way? The non-profit Friends of the Ruin envisions the site as a permanent COVID-19 memorial. Unforgotten Minute encourages viewers to contemplate the potential adaptive reuse of New York City’s overlooked locations, inspiring us to see how these forgotten sites can be revitalized and reintegrated into urban life.

Next, check out the extended Unforgotten Film on the Renwick Ruin!