4 ms·

There are actually a couple of uninhabited islands in the East River: North Brother (the one in the article), South Brother, Mill Rock, and U Thant. If you fin

There are actually a couple of uninhabited islands in the East River: North Brother (the one in the article), South Brother, Mill Rock, and U Thant. If you find this stuff interesting, you may want to check out Forgotten New York[1], a site run by movie location scout Kevin Walsh, who gets access to places few people get to see in the city. Another great blog is Abandoned NYC[2]. [1] http://forgotten-ny.com/ http://forgotten-ny.com/ [2] http://abandonednyc.com/ http://abandonednyc.com/

vivin 13y ago
There's an island named after the 3rd UN Secretary General? I did not know that. Cool!
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  Yup. “There is a forlorn little spit of land in the middle of the East River by the United Nations, called U Thant Island.” “In 1977, a group of United Nations employees who meditated with Sri Chinmoy, a Queens-based mystic, had the island re-christened in honor of the Burmese diplomat U Thant, who was the third Secretary General of the world body from 1961 to 1971.” http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/fyi-652520.html http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/fyi-652520.html
  - shawnc 13y ago
    My uncle was very close friends with Sri Chinmoy, and I met him a few times in my youth. Fascinating man.
- smackfu 13y ago
  I remember my parents had a joke book from the 70s where one joke had a punchline of "No, U Thant." That did not age well.
frenchman_in_ny 13y ago
Adding another movie scout [3] to the list of folks who have uncovered neat NYC artefacts. [3] http://www.scoutingny.com/?page_id=1363 http://www.scoutingny.com/?page_id=1363
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  Well, that’s embarrassing. That’s the site I actually meant to link to! Nick Carr (Scoutingny) is a location scout, Kevin Walsh (Forgotten-ny) is not. I got the two mixed up. Both are good sites, but Scoutingny often shows places that only he can get in. I’ve even linked to the site before: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5262259 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5262259

vivin 13y ago

There's an island named after the 3rd UN Secretary General? I did not know that. Cool!

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
Yup. “There is a forlorn little spit of land in the middle of the East River by the United Nations, called U Thant Island.” “In 1977, a group of United Nations employees who meditated with Sri Chinmoy, a Queens-based mystic, had the island re-christened in honor of the Burmese diplomat U Thant, who was the third Secretary General of the world body from 1961 to 1971.” http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/fyi-652520.html http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/fyi-652520.html
- shawnc 13y ago
  My uncle was very close friends with Sri Chinmoy, and I met him a few times in my youth. Fascinating man.
smackfu 13y ago
I remember my parents had a joke book from the 70s where one joke had a punchline of "No, U Thant." That did not age well.

frenchman_in_ny 13y ago

Adding another movie scout [3] to the list of folks who have uncovered neat NYC artefacts. [3] http://www.scoutingny.com/?page_id=1363 http://www.scoutingny.com/?page_id=1363

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
Well, that’s embarrassing. That’s the site I actually meant to link to! Nick Carr (Scoutingny) is a location scout, Kevin Walsh (Forgotten-ny) is not. I got the two mixed up. Both are good sites, but Scoutingny often shows places that only he can get in. I’ve even linked to the site before: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5262259 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5262259