Sea View Hospital Children’s Ward is a building I’ve been exploring for over 15 years now. That makes it a very rare breed. Offhand I’m hard pressed to think of any substantially sized abandoned buildings within NYC City Limits that have remained in a state of abandonment for so long.
Built between 1935 and 1937, this large 6 floor building consisted of a central medical space and two equally sized wings off either side at the rear of the building. It represents one of dozens of hospitals in the NYC area to have been abandoned. Sadly, unlike the neighboring historic Women’s ward building, the history of children’s ward is somewhat lost at the moment. So far as I’ve been able to estimate, based off general decay and the style of graffiti present the first time I went in here, this building was abandoned in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
At the time of its closure, just about everything from the upper floors of the building was brought down to the lower floors. In the basement level, filing cabinets were placed in one wing, and the files contained in those cabinets were unceremoniously dumped in the other wing – thus creating a huge three foot high pile of paper. At some point someone attempted to set this massive pile on fire. I’m not sure if it went out on its own or was it extinguished by the fire department – but much of the pile remained, molding and singed.
Every time I’ve visited this building, I am impressed by how decay has set in new and profound ways. Where there was once a missing window, there is now an entire wall gone. Where glass cabinets were once intake, there is nothing but broken glass and splintered wood. On the upper floors, plants have started to grow. An entire tree has taken root and grown over to considerable size. The stairs look less and less like a good idea.
Where there were once walls of peeling paint, there are walls of brightly colored street art and graffiti from masters of the craft. Over/Under, Stae2, F5, Trap, Dart, PK and Kid. As a matter of fact, the rooftop of this building is the first place I ever saw a Kid tag. The style is straight 70s/80s NYC, in faded blue. There’s not a whole lot of scribble in here, because there are no neighborhood kids with aerosol cans and no skills making a mess of this place. The art here is serious – done by an older crowd not easily daunted.
Around back, there was a long forgotten driveway with burned out vehicles and trash. Today, it is home to the Metropolitan Fire Association. Their presence alone seems to keep many from attempting to access this building, as well as the security present at the front gate of Sea View. None of this has ever been a concern to me.
What the future holds for this building is entirely unknown. It is currently owned by the NYC Government, which is unlikely to spend a dime on such a secluded property. It would require a significant amount of work to repair, and perhaps just as much to tear down.
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One of my favorite places to visit. Always an adventure getting in here! Sometimes super easy, sometimes I feel like Spiderman.