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Neponsit Beach Hospital
Neponsit Beach Hospital, also known as Neponsit Beach Hospital for Children, Neponsit Hospital, Neponsit Children's Hospital, and various other names, was a former municipal tuberculosis sanatorium located adjacent to Jacob Riis Park and the Neponsit community on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York City. Originally oriented towards the treatment of children, the hospital treated military veterans during and after World War II, but closed in 1955 due to a declining need for tuberculosis hospitals. Afterwards, it operated as the Neponsit Home for the Aged, later the Neponsit Health Care Center, a city-run nursing home until its controversial closure in 1998. The hospital was demolished in 2023.
Neponsit Beach Hospital was located on the south side of Rockaway Beach Boulevard just west of 149th Street (originally Mohawk Street), with Rockaway Beach at its southern edge. The hospital sat at the southeast corner of the Jacob Riis Park property, adjacent to the residential portion of Neponsit. It occupied a 5.6-acre (2.3 ha) site. The grounds were originally 14.3 acres (5.8 ha) in size, extending west to the end of the roundabout in front of the park, and included the beaches on the coast of Neponsit Bays 1 and 2.
The hospital consisted of three buildings, two of which fronted the beach. The original building, built in 1915, was designed by the McKim, Mead & White firm. It was four stories high with a red-brick outer facade. It was designed in a "U" shape, with eastern and western wings opening towards the beach. Open-aired balconies and enclosed porches were located on the building facing the beach. It was built with a 122-patient capacity. Renovations were made to the building in 1938 and 1958. Adjacent to the original building was the nurses' residence completed in 1941. It was the easternmost of the two buildings and was also four stories high. It was designed by Dodge & Morrison architects, and built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Fronting Rockaway Beach Boulevard was the hospital's power plant, built at the same time as the nurses' home. The building also contained the hospital's laundry facilities, a men's dormitory, and an administrative center. A fourth building, a parking garage later converted into an office, was demolished before the rest of the hospital. The hospital's location on the sea provided patients with exposure to sunlight and beach recreation.
The hospital originally contained two sets of murals, commissioned by the Works Progress Administration in 1938. The first set of murals called "The Circus" were painted by Louis Schanker and located on the four walls of the dining room. They consisted of eleven panels depicting clowns and other circus characters. The second series of murals, called "Children at Work and Play", were created by Helen West Heller. The 23 panels portrayed children taking part in games and activities, and include disabled children. Both artists utilized tempera painting. By 2014, NYC Health + Hospitals spent $266,000 a year on the maintenance and security of the property.
The beach directly in front of the hospital (Neponsit Bay 1), now part of Riis Park, is popular among the gay community as well as nudists. A fence, which had originally been erected to separate the hospital from the park, later isolated this section from the rest of the beach until it was taken down by Hurricane Irene in 2011. A second fence just west of Beach 149th Street separates Bay 1 from the Neponsit portion of Rockaway Beach.
The Q22 and Q35 local buses directly serve the hospital's former site on Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The Q22 runs east-to-west across the Rockaway Peninsula, and the Q35 travels between Rockaway Park and Brooklyn. The QM16 express route to Manhattan also operates on Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The closest New York City Subway station is the Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street station on the IND Rockaway Line north of the hospital's former site, connected by the Q22 and Q35.
Around the turn of the 20th century, social journalist Jacob Riis (the namesake for the future Jacob Riis Park) advocated for a children's hospital to be built in the Rockaways, in order treat the increasing cases of tuberculosis in the city. In 1904, the city planned to build an oceanside park in the western Rockaways, supported by Riis' Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. The Association as well as New York City Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. also lobbied for a hospital and "convalescent home" to be established. On May 15, 1906, an act was passed in the New York State Legislature allowing for the purchase of beach property in or outside of the city for a maximum of $2.5 million. The act also allowed a portion of the property to be leased for the creation of hospitals. On March 15, 1907, the New York City Board of Estimate accepted $250,000 from the Association to construct a hospital for people with "non-pulmonary tuberculosis". Efforts to develop the park (then called Seaside Park) and the hospital were suspended on November 1, 1907, due to the panic of 1907, but resurrected in 1909. The agreement between the Association and the Board of Estimate was renewed in 1912. The land for what would become Riis Park, 250 acres (100 ha) extending 1 mile (1.6 km) east-to-west, was sold to the city in 1913 by the Neponsit Realty Company, which was developing the Neponsit neighborhood. The site for the hospital was then transferred from the New York City Parks Department on April 24, 1913.
The hospital was funded by private sources and built by the Association, before being turned over to the city. The money had been raised by the Association by 1906 and held in a trust. As part of their campaign, the Association distributed pictures of a boy suffering spinal tuberculosis at Sea Breeze Hospital in Coney Island, Brooklyn, who was strapped to a board as part of his treatment. This boy was later called "Smiling Joe". The pictures were included in letters sent out by the Association, as well as in newspapers and magazines across the country. "Smiling Joe" also received visits from then-President Theodore Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller would pledge $125,000 to the project. Construction on the hospital began on January 28, 1914. It was provisionally known as Seaside Hospital. The hospital, which cost $250,000 to construct, was completed by March 1, 1915, and relinquished to the city the next day.
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Neponsit Beach Hospital
Neponsit Beach Hospital, also known as Neponsit Beach Hospital for Children, Neponsit Hospital, Neponsit Children's Hospital, and various other names, was a former municipal tuberculosis sanatorium located adjacent to Jacob Riis Park and the Neponsit community on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York City. Originally oriented towards the treatment of children, the hospital treated military veterans during and after World War II, but closed in 1955 due to a declining need for tuberculosis hospitals. Afterwards, it operated as the Neponsit Home for the Aged, later the Neponsit Health Care Center, a city-run nursing home until its controversial closure in 1998. The hospital was demolished in 2023.
Neponsit Beach Hospital was located on the south side of Rockaway Beach Boulevard just west of 149th Street (originally Mohawk Street), with Rockaway Beach at its southern edge. The hospital sat at the southeast corner of the Jacob Riis Park property, adjacent to the residential portion of Neponsit. It occupied a 5.6-acre (2.3 ha) site. The grounds were originally 14.3 acres (5.8 ha) in size, extending west to the end of the roundabout in front of the park, and included the beaches on the coast of Neponsit Bays 1 and 2.
The hospital consisted of three buildings, two of which fronted the beach. The original building, built in 1915, was designed by the McKim, Mead & White firm. It was four stories high with a red-brick outer facade. It was designed in a "U" shape, with eastern and western wings opening towards the beach. Open-aired balconies and enclosed porches were located on the building facing the beach. It was built with a 122-patient capacity. Renovations were made to the building in 1938 and 1958. Adjacent to the original building was the nurses' residence completed in 1941. It was the easternmost of the two buildings and was also four stories high. It was designed by Dodge & Morrison architects, and built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Fronting Rockaway Beach Boulevard was the hospital's power plant, built at the same time as the nurses' home. The building also contained the hospital's laundry facilities, a men's dormitory, and an administrative center. A fourth building, a parking garage later converted into an office, was demolished before the rest of the hospital. The hospital's location on the sea provided patients with exposure to sunlight and beach recreation.
The hospital originally contained two sets of murals, commissioned by the Works Progress Administration in 1938. The first set of murals called "The Circus" were painted by Louis Schanker and located on the four walls of the dining room. They consisted of eleven panels depicting clowns and other circus characters. The second series of murals, called "Children at Work and Play", were created by Helen West Heller. The 23 panels portrayed children taking part in games and activities, and include disabled children. Both artists utilized tempera painting. By 2014, NYC Health + Hospitals spent $266,000 a year on the maintenance and security of the property.
The beach directly in front of the hospital (Neponsit Bay 1), now part of Riis Park, is popular among the gay community as well as nudists. A fence, which had originally been erected to separate the hospital from the park, later isolated this section from the rest of the beach until it was taken down by Hurricane Irene in 2011. A second fence just west of Beach 149th Street separates Bay 1 from the Neponsit portion of Rockaway Beach.
The Q22 and Q35 local buses directly serve the hospital's former site on Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The Q22 runs east-to-west across the Rockaway Peninsula, and the Q35 travels between Rockaway Park and Brooklyn. The QM16 express route to Manhattan also operates on Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The closest New York City Subway station is the Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street station on the IND Rockaway Line north of the hospital's former site, connected by the Q22 and Q35.
Around the turn of the 20th century, social journalist Jacob Riis (the namesake for the future Jacob Riis Park) advocated for a children's hospital to be built in the Rockaways, in order treat the increasing cases of tuberculosis in the city. In 1904, the city planned to build an oceanside park in the western Rockaways, supported by Riis' Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. The Association as well as New York City Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. also lobbied for a hospital and "convalescent home" to be established. On May 15, 1906, an act was passed in the New York State Legislature allowing for the purchase of beach property in or outside of the city for a maximum of $2.5 million. The act also allowed a portion of the property to be leased for the creation of hospitals. On March 15, 1907, the New York City Board of Estimate accepted $250,000 from the Association to construct a hospital for people with "non-pulmonary tuberculosis". Efforts to develop the park (then called Seaside Park) and the hospital were suspended on November 1, 1907, due to the panic of 1907, but resurrected in 1909. The agreement between the Association and the Board of Estimate was renewed in 1912. The land for what would become Riis Park, 250 acres (100 ha) extending 1 mile (1.6 km) east-to-west, was sold to the city in 1913 by the Neponsit Realty Company, which was developing the Neponsit neighborhood. The site for the hospital was then transferred from the New York City Parks Department on April 24, 1913.
The hospital was funded by private sources and built by the Association, before being turned over to the city. The money had been raised by the Association by 1906 and held in a trust. As part of their campaign, the Association distributed pictures of a boy suffering spinal tuberculosis at Sea Breeze Hospital in Coney Island, Brooklyn, who was strapped to a board as part of his treatment. This boy was later called "Smiling Joe". The pictures were included in letters sent out by the Association, as well as in newspapers and magazines across the country. "Smiling Joe" also received visits from then-President Theodore Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller would pledge $125,000 to the project. Construction on the hospital began on January 28, 1914. It was provisionally known as Seaside Hospital. The hospital, which cost $250,000 to construct, was completed by March 1, 1915, and relinquished to the city the next day.
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