The best part of going to Hart Island,
was just trying to get there.
We left early in the morning,
as the sun was coming up,
and pulled the boat up into a patch of trees.
We walked through the brush,
over bulldozed sections of earth,
and overgrown streets.
Ian prepared to shoot pictures as soon as it was light.
A friend was telling me about Hart Island the night before, about how it has been a potter’s field for over a hundred years.
“They keep records of all the people they bury there.” she said.
“I’m sure they do.” I said.
Beautifully hand written documents dated back into the 70’s.
Now the graves are digitally mapped.
The sun was just coming up,
and I left Ian to walk through the woods.
I was careful to steer clear of the clipped lawns. Rikers Island inmates come out here during the week to tend grounds and administer the burials.
Most of the old structures on the island are falling into ruin.
Ian said that this end of the island will most likely be leveled within a year,
to make room for more graves.
In many ways it reminded me of North Brother Island,
except for the graves, the structures date to around the same time, and it has been left in the same condition.
I caught up with Ian in a large building in the middle of the Island.
“This used to be a woman’s asylum,” he said.
“They were employed making shoes.”
A brochure on the floor advertised a rehab center that used to be here in the 1970’s.
“The love here is so real and so strong it just hits you.” said the brochure.
“Once we learn to care about ourselves, everything begins to come together.”
That is basically true.
We took a break for lunch. It was about 9am.
I was getting worried about leaving the island.
It was daylight now, and fishing boats began appearing close to shore.
Anyone who saw us would know we were not supposed to be on the island.
I was urging to Ian to pack up and head back to the boat.
But there was more to photograph.
Ian said that sometimes families find out years later that their loved one is buried on Hart Island.
In some cases the prisoners can disinter their family member and return the remains.
The city has also started to arrange visits for family members to the Island.
We headed back to the boat,
and paddled away from the island.
For the first time that morning, I took a whole deep breath.
Take a look at Ian’s pictures of Hart Island here.
-Marie Lorenz
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