One writer’s melancholy visit to the “island full of idiots” in the East River in 1888

If you were a New Yorker in the 19th century and found yourself to be poor, incurably sick, homeless, or convicted of a crime, you might have been herded into a ferry and confined to one of the “islands of the undesirables” in the East River. In the colonial era, these islands were privately owned spits of land used for farming, foraging, or as pasture for grazing animals. Throughout the 19th century, many became city property. In the eyes of officials at the Department of Public Charities and Correction, these islands were ideal places to house—some would say warehouse—adults and children who were deemed to require specialized care or oversight. Blackwell’s Island, today’s Roosevelt Island, was the island with the largest population, thanks to its infamous “Lunatic Asylum” as well as a penitentiary, almshouse, smallpox hospital, and other facilities. North Brother Island was home to a quarantine hospital for people with incurable yet contagious diseases like typhoid and tuberculosis.…