What Are Those Rusted Metal Ladders in Brooklyn Backyards?

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I was taking a walk down my residential street recently when a flash of weathered iron caught my eye. Poking up above a neighbor's inner backyard was a tall, rusted metal ladder. It stood upright, narrow and tall, reaching straight toward the sky. I stopped in my tracks to look at it. To anyone else passing by, it probably looked like a piece of industrial scrap left behind by a careless contractor. But I recognized it immediately. Growing up, we had the same rusted tower planted in our backyard. It stood two feet away from the exterior wall of the house like an unmovable monument. Through decades of changing seasons and vicious winds, it never leaned an inch. My parents never made any attempt to dismantle it or repaint it, even as thick flakes of orange rust gathered along its frame. Back then, whenever I looked out from our second-floor window, I would scan the neighboring lots. None of the other yards on our street had one. Down the enti...
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Abandoned State Hospital of Fine Art

A sunlit, abandoned room with a rusted, overturned bicycle in the foreground, and graffiti on the walls.
Hot Rod!




This former state hospital is a bounty of quality graffiti art.





The motorcycle frame above tends to move around with only one wheel.




One cold evening, me and a friend I shall name S headed to this fine state hospital seeking the famed room of pigeon shit. Having parked within the grounds. We headed straight for S's contact entrance located behind one of the large buildings sitting on the perimeter of the fence. We headed around the whole building from left to right unable to find the entrance. We were extremely lucky not to be harassed or kicked out by the active security patrol on the grounds. Finding no exterior entrance inside the hospital building we headed to the front to check. To our surprise, what looked like a locked door was actually an open door hidden in plain sight. We placed a wooden stick in the doorway and headed inside.




Barred views!

News is dead amirite. 




First, we explored the dark ground floor filled with old furniture, chairs, and other miscellaneous items left behind. Heading up the stairs to the second floor, we found ourselves facing long hallways intersected with small rooms located right next to each other separated by wide octagonal spaces. If you have ever explored any old hospitals from the last 100 years you will probably come across something quite similar in architectural resemblance in large state hospitals of the past century. Long winding hallways interspersed by small adjacent rooms ending in exit doors. If you have seen one floor, you have seen them all.







Blocked exits





Scattered on different floors and inside different buildings on hospice grounds, you will find a common graffiti artist works within and throughout the grounds. Inside you will find the prominent work of Klopsito aka Klops (Klops Store Merch). To this day his works still stand unblemished and unvandalized. A testament to the respect of many urban explorers and other graffiti artists. Most of his work can be found all over New York City, especially in the Queens borough.





Velma Dinkley is that you?

Breaking the fourth wall or something like that.

Do you mind partna'? I am busy here. 

I'm leaving this relationship, Velma. It's me, not you. The bandos are calling.

Room with crumbling walls and a lone black chair, floor tiles in disarray, and graffiti art including a silhouette leaping on the wall.
Mecca of Graffiti.




We made our way to the top floor clicking away and keeping an eye outside for patrols. S wanted to take a particular shot with colored pit balls seen in many pictures from this hospital. These balls have taken a trip throughout this building because many were inside one hallway. Someone had taken them all to another section of the building. Having found them S took his shots and we made our way for the exits. We wanted to explore another building but we didn't want to press our luck so late in the evening, so we headed home savoring our successful mission into fine art exploration.





Klops City.

An abandoned room with flaking walls and graffiti, including a caricature of a figure sweeping the floor.
Watch your step youngster!

Open all doors to another dimension.

Don't drop that soap! Faxxxxxx

A stark, empty room with white walls featuring an abstract black graffiti art piece, between two windows with sunlight streaming in.
Poetic. #myNYPD


A second visit is definitely on the cards.

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