Comments by "Joe R M" (@joermnyc) on "The Strange New York Island That’s Completely Abandoned" video.

There’s two artificial islands of of Staten Island: Hoffman and Swinburne, they were used for quarantining sick migrants from Ellis Island. One island was for people expected to recover. The other… well it had a crematorium. During WW2 they were used for training and to hold anti-submarine nets. Despite plans to make them parks, or even homeless shelters, both have been left to return to nature as part of the Gateway National Park system. Many harbor birds and even seals use the islands. If you are going over the bridge you can see them to the south, and they are visible from South Beach as well.
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