Buried from the public: Hart Island, New York
September 20, 2014
At first glance this modest island in New York appears unremarkable. The 131-acre dark speck of land has crumbling buildings, is off-limits to the public, and has not been occupied for the last forty years. Area residents might know of Long Island Sound’s Hart Island, but few are familiar with its long-standing mission as the largest – and least visited – burial ground in the United States. For one hundred and fifty years the island has also been home to a prisoner of war camp, an insane asylum, a quarantine facility, a tuberculosis sanatorium, a boy’s reformatory, a disciplinary barracks, a Nike Ajax missile base, and a narcotics rehabilitation center.
In the early twentieth century Hart Island was also home to a tuberculosis sanatorium, later shut down when deemed unsuitable by a Grand Jury in 1917.
In 1935 a new Catholic chapel was constructed to replace the previous place of worship; it still stands to this day and is one of the best-preserved structures left on Hart Island (map).
In 1948 the working prisoners erected a 30-foot tall monument for the unclaimed dead buried on Hart Island (map), on the top of what is known as “Cemetery Hill.” On one side is engraved a simple cross; on the other, the word “Peace”
In 1950 the island came under purview of Department of Welfare for the housing of male derelicts; however, because of the rising prisoner population it was later returned to the DOC in 1954.
Cold War Missile Base
After World War II, the political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union would create a nearly forty-year standoff known as the Cold War. While no major battles took place between the two nations, each equipped itself to prepare for a nuclear-fueled World War III. The two underground missile storage magazines were capable of housing ten Nike Ajax missiles each.
The Phoenix House Hart Island would not host accommodations for the living again until the Phoenix House drug and alcohol rehabilitation center was opened in 1966. The Office of the Narcotics Administrator arranged for a former Branch Workhouse (and Pavilion annex) to house the Phoenix House, with the department spending $3 million on the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. In addition to rehabilitation, the Phoenix House also conducted occupational therapy exercises such as farming and the repairing of shoes.
In 1977 Hart Island was vandalized and set on fire. Officials reported many important records had been destroyed, including those from 1956-1960 and several years from the 1970s. Immediately afterward, the remaining records were transferred to microfilm and stored at the Municipal Archives in Manhattan.
https://sometimes-interesting.com/2014/09/20/buried-from-the-public-hart-island-new-york/
Note the map images, it appears this would be an ideal location for those involved in the human trafficking crimes it is completely surrounded by water and has easy access to the island on either side. There trailers and vehicles there as well. In addition the public has not been allowed to visit grave sites. It also appears when looking to both Bing and Google maps this place has seen vehicle traffic as current as these maps provide.