Nissequogue River State Park struggles to pivot from its Kings Park Psychiatric Center past

A sign at the entrance to Nissequogue River State Park — the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center — calls the sprawling recreation area the North Shore's Hidden Treasure.

Nearly 30 years after the state hospital closed, and 25 years since it was designated as state parkland, the area — with its 521 acres of bird sanctuaries, marinas, ballfields, trails and spectacular views of Long Island Sound — is still among the Island's best-kept secrets.

But efforts to develop the park, and rid it of dozens of vacant hospital buildings, have largely stalled in the two years since state officials adopted a plan calling for playgrounds, concession stands, a farmers market, botanical garden and a museum exploring the psychiatric center's history.

“The wheels of progress move slow," said John McQuaid, chairman of the nonprofit Nissequogue River State Park Foundation, which sponsors events in the park and has been involved in state plans for future development.

Park boosters are focused on two projects that could soon come to fruition: expanding a hiking-biking trail and refurbishing York Hall, a 1930s-era theater where hospital residents and staff staged plays and shows.

Both projects lack adequate funding, McQuaid said. 

York Hall was added in 2023 to the National Register of Historic Places, and the foundation used a $400,000 grant to install a new roof with hopes of turning it into a community center. But it needs another $8 million to $10 million to complete the restoration, McQuaid said.

Expanding the hiking trail from about 2½ miles to 6 miles is expected to cost $3 million to $5 million, he said.

The foundation has raised some money through grants. But state funding for new park development has been hard to come by.

“Projects like these get pushed back,” because of other spending needs such as health care, transportation and schools, said Assemb. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), whose district includes the park. “They put a higher priority on other issues.”

A complex legacy

Some signs of progress emerged this summer when the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation put out a call for contractors to demolish or refurbish Building 93 — the 13-story former infirmary that serves as the park's defining landmark.

Parks officials are reviewing four proposals, parks spokesman Dan Keefe said in an email.

“There’s nothing of value left — it’s deteriorating and it really has to come down,” Fitzpatrick said in a phone interview. “As long as it’s there, it’s just a lure for daredevils and someone is going to get hurt.”

Established in 1885 by the borough of Brooklyn and originally called the Kings County Asylum, Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital gave the hamlet its name and identity.

But the hospital, which closed in 1996, also left a complex legacy. To some, Kings Park — and the nearby Central Islip and Pilgrim State psychiatric centers — symbolized the failure of the state's institution-based mental health system before reforms in the 1970s began shifting many residents to smaller facilities.

To some, however, Kings Park provided employment for generations of families, many of whom took pride in their work.

"People moved to Kings Park to serve the patients of the hospital," McQuaid said. "We hear from people all the time who used to work here."

Tower of controversy

No edifice at the park represents its complex history more than Building 93.

The graffiti-covered tower — so tall it serves as a navigational aid for some Long Island Sound boaters — has become a popular target for trespassers. State parks officials increase security at the park every year around Halloween. This year's beefed-up security measures expired Sunday.

Some preservationists believe Building 93 should be saved. Cold Spring Harbor nonprofit Preservation Long Island placed the structure on its annual list of endangered places in 2023.

Tara Cubie, the nonprofit's preservation director, called the edifice "an incredibly significant property,” adding she hoped to save a mural in the building created by cartoonist Percy Crosby while he was a patient there.  

“It’s the building that catches your eye due to its size," Cubie said. “It’s really the building that people think of when they think of the park.”

McQuaid acknowledged that Building 93 is the park's most recognizable feature.

"You can see it from Connecticut," he said. But he called it "a big, big mess,” citing asbestos and safety hazards.

“I think the state finally realized the building was a serious liability for them,” he said. “If we can get that building down, it would make a big difference.”

But, as McQuaid said, progress at the park is slow.

Look in any direction and you see vestiges of the land's ambiguous past.

Look in another direction — toward stands of trees and the glistening Sound — and you see a promising future. 

"We look forward to that day when we can come back and take advantage of this beautiful property," McQuaid said. "We're trying to take it one day at a time."