Introduction

There are two mysterious islands in the East River with a human population of zero. They are restricted. No human being lives there.

One of these islands has been witness to some of the most dire and dramatic moments in New York City history.

North Brother Island sits near the tidal strait known as Hell Gate, a once-dangerous whirlpool which wrecked hundreds of ships and often deposited the wreckage on the island's quiet shore.

In the 1880s the island was chosen as the new home for Riverside Hospital, a quarantine hospital for New Yorkers with smallpox, tuberculosis and many more contagious illnesses.

Greg takes the reigns in this show and leads you through the following tales featuring North Brother Island:

-- A bizarre incident -- involving a body found in the waters off the island -- which first put the place on the map;

-- The nightmarish city policy of 'forced exile' to battle the spread of disease in the city's poorest quarters;

-- The tragic crash of the General Slocum steamship;

-- The complicated struggles of Mary Mallon, aka Typhoid Mary;

-- The implausible tale of a 1950s rehab center for teenage drug addicts.

Visit the website for images and videos of North Brother Island.

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