Kings Park smokestack demolished

With hundreds of people watching on, a 220-foot-high smokestack that towered over abandoned hospital buildings at the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center was demolished. It took less than 10 seconds.

“Reviews of #KingsPark implosion range from "awesome" to disappointment,” Newsday reporter Carl MacGowan tweeted from the scene.

The razing was part of ongoing demolition of vacant buildings at the site. Crews are using trucks to tear down 18 other structures, including staff residences, kitchens and dining halls, treatment facilities and a morgue.

The implosion was carried out by crews from National Salvage & Service Corp., of Bloomington, Ind., which has a $6.4 million state contract to demolish 19 buildings at the 521-acre site.

The smokestack had been part of a power plant that provided electricity to dozens of buildings and thousands of patients who lived at the hospital.

When the hospital closed, the smokestack became an iconic focal point for neighbors -- many of whom flooded state parks officials with calls asking when the spire would be torn down.