The New York City Farm Colony lies in ruins today, but it has a dark past as a hospital and poorhouse — and it's even connected to serial killers and boogeymen.
Personisinsterest/Wikimedia CommonsThe ruins of the New York City Farm Colony on Staten Island.
Within the woods of Staten Island lies a set of crumbling brick ruins. The grounds are strewn with cigarette butts, the walls are defaced with graffiti, and the buildings themselves are filled with debris and gaping holes. This is all that remains of the New York City Farm Colony, which was once home to hundreds of poor and elderly New Yorkers.
Opened in the early 19th century as a “poor farm” — where people could work in exchange for food and housing — the New York City Farm Colony was once a grand sight. Its smattering of buildings were built in the Dutch Colonial style, and some 1,700 people called it home at its peak in the 1940s.
But in the second half of the 20th century, it was slowly and steadily abandoned. Its buildings fell into disrepair, and dark stories began to emerge from its ruins. Local legend states that a boy disappeared on its grounds in the 1920s, and the real-life murderer Andre Rand operated nearby in the 1980s. Indeed, New York City Farm Colony has also become associated with Cropsey, a terrifying Staten Island boogeyman.
This is the story of the New York City Farm Colony, from its hopeful beginnings in the 19th century to its eerie crumbling ruins today.
The Early Days Of New York City Farm Colony
The New York City Farm Colony was first established in 1830 as the “new Richmond County Poor Farm.” Originally an array of farmhouses, it was meant as a place where society’s most vulnerable could find housing in exchange for work. As Staten Island Live reports, the complex soon came to include a cholera hospital and housing for “the insane” as well.
After Staten Island became part of New York City in 1898, the site became known as the New York City Farm Colony, and in 1915, it merged with the nearby Seaview Hospital. According to Atlas Obscura, its farmhouses were replaced with handsome brick structures built in the Dutch Colonial style, and historic photos of the complex show a set of neat, well-maintained buildings perched along a quiet road.
Public DomainResidents at the New York City Farm Colony in the early 20th century.
Indeed, the New York City Farm Colony seemed like a societal success in the early 20th century. Home to people with ailments ranging from epilepsy to blindness to deafness to destitution, it nevertheless produced enough food to support both its residents and other city institutions. Its population grew from a couple hundred to 800 in the 1910s to 1,400 in the 1930s, and the complex reached its peak in the 1940s with 1,700 residents.
However things had changed. Not only were most of the colony’s residents elderly, but the advent of social security gave able-bodied residents the freedom to leave. Those who stayed slowly deteriorated alongside the brick structures and, in 1975, the complex was abandoned for good.
Since then, the New York City Farm Colony has crumbled into ruin. It’s an eerie site today, dogged by rumors of boogeymen, serial killers, and more.
Serial Killers, Mysterious Disappearances, And A Staten Island Boogeyman
Though the New York City Farm Colony had a hopeful mission, and though it succeeded in producing food and sheltering vulnerable residents, it always had a dark side. According to Untapped Cities, the complex was overcrowded, and its staff was more often inebriated than not. Indeed, the staff included at least one notorious criminal: the bank robber Willie Sutton.
What’s more, a young boy disappeared on its grounds in the 1920s, last seen walking into the woods of the New York City Farm Colony with an old man. This chilling incident led to stories about Cropsey, a local boogeyman.
Then, in the 1980s, even more children on Staten Island began to disappear.
One of them, a 12-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome named Jennifer Schweiger, was later found in a shallow grave at the defunct Willowbrook State School near the ruins of the New York City Farm Colony. A sex offender named Andre Rand was later charged with kidnapping and murdering Schweiger, and is suspected of abducting other children.
New York State Department of Corrections and Community SupervisionAndre Rand’s mugshot.
Since then, the New York City Farm Colony has fallen further into disrepair. As the decades passed, the proud brick buildings began to crumble, and nearby nature began to move in.
The Ruins Of The New York City Farm Colony
The New York City Farm Colony is the highest concentration of abandoned buildings in all of New York City, and a 1985 ordinance marking it as a landmark saved it from demolition.
But nothing has been done with the property since.
As such, the New York City Farm Colony has been vacant for decades. A dozen of the site’s original structures still stand, but are in a state of ruin with crumbling bricks, broken windows, and gaping elevator shafts. Though it’s technically forbidden for anyone to go to the site, that hasn’t stopped graffiti artists, intrepid urban explorers, and curious youths from visiting.
H.L.I.T./FlickrThe ruins of the New York City Farm Colony.
Though some have tried to develop the area — a developer got approval to transform the site into apartments and condominiums in 2016, according to The New York Times — nothing much has happened in the years since. Today, the New York City Farm Colony is still abandoned.
That said, it’s one of the most fascinating abandoned sites in New York City. It is closed to the public and, like any abandoned structure, it’s dangerous to visit: its stairwells and elevator shafts often drop into the earth, broken glass is abundant, and the air is filled with toxic dust and mold. But its ruins, though covered with graffiti, still hint at its once-grand past. The bones of its buildings stand as proud as ever, even as they’re consumed by nature.
However, those who dare to visit the New York Farm Colony should be aware of one other possible danger — that of Cropsey, who may still lurk nearby.
After reading about the rise and fall of the New York City Farm Colony on Staten Island and its eerie abandoned ruins today, look through these eerie photos of abandoned department stores. Or, discover the stories behind some of the world’s creepiest abandoned hotels.
