I'm Better In Digital
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Here's an e-mail I sent to a (maybe former?) RIT student named Jennifer Kunz, who's website I found on an urban exploration page that was a listing of abandoned asylums in the northeast. Here's the information she had about the Rochester Psych Center. Her website was listed as a source for information on the Hospital, which she has apparently entered, along with a few other buildings on the same campus. Unfortunately though, she was caught on one occasion, and was sentenced to 48 hours of community service, and has since been unable to go back, for fear of a stiffer sentence.
Anyway, she lists on her website that anyone having additional information on the hospital to e-mail her. So I, as you all know, habing that information, did just that.
Here's what I wrote:
A friend directed me to your site regarding information about the
Rochester Psychiatric Hospital and the surrounding buildings when we
were planning an excursion to the facility a few months ago. Our
ultimate goal was to see if we could gain entrance to the main
building, at which my mother was a former employee. Our first
excursion took place somwehere around September 18th of this year.
Apparently some few days earlier (the Tuesday prior) a friend entered
the building rather easily, although some friends who were supposed to
meet him on the premeses aroused the suspicion of the campus security
guards who VERY nearly caught the others upon exiting.
Anyway, my interest in the psychiatric center began some time ago,
when I recalled that somewhere in Rochester there was an abandoned
asylum, and that it would be a fun place to go and explore. Some
friends of mine, and myself failed on several occasions to find the
building, assuming it was somewhere near the RIT campus, and not
nearer to the city as it obviously is. Shortly thereafter, I found it,
but it was not until about a year after that I actually went to the
grounds. Roughly two weekends prior ot the 17th, before the semester
began, I and two friends drove onto the grounds, circled the main
building, and contemplated means of entry. We didn't want to arouse
suspicion by parking in the lot of the obviously abandoned building,
so we chose rather to park on a sidestreet at the intersection of
South Ave, and Boothe Street, opposite Rochester Science Pkwy. near
the end of South Ave. where it becomes East Henrietta Rd. We entered
via Rochester Science Pkwy. and then where crossed a small lot which
opens to the end of Staff Rd., which I know from your website that you
are familiar with. My friends being apprehensive due to the
possibility of homeless people squatting in the houses were reluctant
to so much as step foot on the street. Eventually, after I had walked
onto the street, walked up to one of the houses, pressed the long dead
doorbell, and then said back that I didn't think anyone was home, did
they finally join me on the road. We walked to the end of the street,
all the while regretting that none of us had a camera, until we came
to the large building opposite Staff rd. on Campus Dr. We stood in
front of the building, which I'm sure you've seen before, wondering
how to get in, before finally calling it a night, not wanting to
arouse the suspicion of any security guards that may have patrolled
the grounds. The only reason we even considered that there may have
been any guard activity was the fact that the grounds and buildings
were still lit by streetlights, none of which were out of order. We
found it an ironic juxtaposition to the utterly decrepit buildings,
overgrown with weeds that there was not a single place that there was
not a functioning streetlight.
Nonetheless, some weeks later on Saturday the 17th I and about 7 other
friends decided to see if we could get in as well. We entered the
grounds the same way, parking on boothe street, as we had the time
prior, and this time, equipped with a crowbar (as my friend had
instructed us as to the means of entrance) and the necessary
flashlights, we progressed down Rochester Science Pkwy, and this time,
opted not to enter via staff road, because we had discovered that
there were buildings in use around the curve on campus drive,
including a 'rehabilitaion center' that was surrounded by a 20' high,
barbed wire lined fence were still very much in use. Obviously now
wary of security guards, and considering the suspicious nature that a
group of some 8 individuals, all clad in black, one of whom was
carrying a crowbar, walking onto the premeses of an abandoned
psychiatric hospital at 11:00 at night, it was no surprise that we
were stopped by an RPD patrol car, very shortly after entering
Rochester Science Pkwy. Fortunately, one of the people in our group's
father is a cop, so we had no real reason to be all too worried that
the cop would do anything more than just turn us back. The officer, of
course, did just that. We had obviously wanted to go in a smaller
group, but once one of us told the other, a much larger group was now
wanting to go. Of course, upon seeing the cop, and actually being
stopped by him, there were only 5 left who wanted to try and go back.
Me, and my Friends Mike, Joel, Rachael, and Lonnie, who's father is a
cop.
Understanding now that our cover was 'blown' so to speak, and that a
cop was aware that there were suspicious people in the area, we
decided to back via a somewhat more covert approach. We crossed onto
the grounds of one of the abandoned houses facing away from Staff Rd.,
on South Ave, and now crossing Staff Rd, we moved to the back of the
house's property, where a new building is being constructed, facing
the 'Rochester Science Park' grounds. We hid there, where we had a
full view of Campus Drive, at the end of which is the Jail Building.
We stayed in the treeline, and made our way to the 'Factory' Building,
the campus' heating facility. We considered breaking into that, but
there were lights in the stairwells that suggested that the building
was still in use, and potentially alarmed. Furthermore, it was
surrounded by parking lots, which were, despite the late hour, full of
cars, at least one of which had very recently been in use, as we saw
them enter and exit the grounds, after it's driver briefly entered one
of the buildings still in use. Finally, we opted to keep moving, as we
saw actiivity at the back of the Jail, which we assumed was nothing
more than a shift change, being that it was now about 11:00 exactly.
We made our way back into the treeline, using the factory building as
cover, and now facing the small grassy area at the end of Rochester
Science Pkwy. we made our way toward the back of the psychiatric
hospital. We crossed into a patch of dense brush, which stood behind a
treeline, which was immediately at the back of the hospital. We
crossed the brush heading northeast, so as to come out on access road,
near the fenced in pavilion, which was the closest cover before
actually being against the building. it was at that time, that we
recieved a pretty serious scare. Cars began driving past us, only one
of which was a cop car, every minute or so, and circling the east face
of the building, and exiting onto Elmwood Ave. The cars came without
warning, as we had a good vantage point of the occupied part of the
campus from where we were hiding Upon later consulting aerial photos
and maps of the area, as well as driving through the facility during
the day, we realized that there is a street that accesses the campus
from somewhere on Westfall rd, the next main street to the south of
the facility. Fortunately, the brush grown up around the fence on the
far side of the pavilion area provided adequate cover, and once it was
clear for several minutes, we made our way to the back of the
building, where my friend had entered earlier that week. He had gone
back during the following day, to retrieve a tool he had left to find
that the entrance had been resealed, which indicated to us that
security was well aware of the possibity of another break in. Which is
why we had left our crowbar at the car. We hadn't intended to enter
the building that night. However upon examining the entrance, and
actually being there, we decided that if nothing else, it was worth a
try. So, equipped with a small crescent wrench, which my friend Joel
Happened to have in his camcorder bag, as he is an avid skateboarder,
I pryed open enough of the rivets to eventually reach myself in far
enough to pop open the rest of them by force. It wasn't nearly as
difficult as it sounds. the sheet metal was pliable enough to be
stretched over the rivet heads, such that we were able to open it
within about 10 minutes. Of course, being in the stairwell below
street level, with the sound of clanging metal echoing out, it of
course seemed like much longer. All in all, from walking onto the
grounds, to entering the building, it took us roughly an hour,
considering the time spent waiting out a passing car, or waiting to
see if a sound would incur any security reaction, as well as the
distance traveled, which was at very least a mile from where we'd left
our cars, to the back of the building.
So, once inside the building, being as it was now 12:00, and now very
much aware that we'd made a lot of noise entering , we only stayed for
about an hour. We made it up as far as the fifth floor, where we came
upon a room called the 'Seclusion Room' which was the size of a
closet, without any windows in either the door or the outer wall, and
had a camera bubble on one corner. Also, we came across many
inspirational sayings, assumably painted for the benefit of the
rehabilitating patients, but all ironically having to do with 'moving
forward', and 'not looking back'. We found those rather interesting.
Anyway, having had enough exploring for the night, and being rather
tired, we exited the building, cautiously made our way around to the
east side, then in stark contrast to the covert means whereby we had
entered, we sprinted across the front lawn of the hospital, to Elmwood
Ave. where we assumed we would be safe, so long as no cops or security
guards saw us exit the facility. Now we were nothing more than
pedestrians, out for a midnight stroll. We walked about a mile back to
our car, and called it a night.
We went back on 2 other occasions, but on the first, we were ill
prepared, and had to turn back after nearly being seen by a cop at the
back of the hospital, and on the second, we took a quicker but more
conspicuous approach, where we had nearly 3 run-ins with security.
One, as we hid on the mound on the front lawn of the hospital, the
second, as we were in the outside stairwell, working on opening the
door. A cop drove in, shined his searchlight around, and then made a
K-Turn, and exited the alcove. That was far too close for comfort, and
knowing that it would take us at least another 5 minutes to open the
cover, and that it would be excessively more noisy than we wanted it
to be, we opted to turn back, and the second as we were running back
across Elmwood, the car coming toward us, westbound, just so happened
to be a cop, and just so happened to think that 4 individuals emerging
from the woods at 1:00 in the morning, near an abandoned psychiatric
hospital was a little peculiar, began speeding toward us, and turned
on his searchlight. Fortunately, we were already in the woods, on the
opposite side of the road, and well on our way to our cars, which were
parked in an apartment complex on the north side of Elmwood. He kept
his spotlight trained on the woods we had just entered, and then
turned it to the opposite side of the street, hoping that there would
be more of us, but fortunately we had opted not to break into two
groups, and all 4 of us went across the street together.
Anyway, I just felt like sharing my experience, and I'm planning ot go
back sometime soon, and explore the whole place, starting from the top
down, which once housed the highest risk patients. Thanks again for publicizing the information on your website. It was extremely helpful.
Sincerely,
Paul Ganguly
Anyway, she lists on her website that anyone having additional information on the hospital to e-mail her. So I, as you all know, habing that information, did just that.
Here's what I wrote:
A friend directed me to your site regarding information about the
Rochester Psychiatric Hospital and the surrounding buildings when we
were planning an excursion to the facility a few months ago. Our
ultimate goal was to see if we could gain entrance to the main
building, at which my mother was a former employee. Our first
excursion took place somwehere around September 18th of this year.
Apparently some few days earlier (the Tuesday prior) a friend entered
the building rather easily, although some friends who were supposed to
meet him on the premeses aroused the suspicion of the campus security
guards who VERY nearly caught the others upon exiting.
Anyway, my interest in the psychiatric center began some time ago,
when I recalled that somewhere in Rochester there was an abandoned
asylum, and that it would be a fun place to go and explore. Some
friends of mine, and myself failed on several occasions to find the
building, assuming it was somewhere near the RIT campus, and not
nearer to the city as it obviously is. Shortly thereafter, I found it,
but it was not until about a year after that I actually went to the
grounds. Roughly two weekends prior ot the 17th, before the semester
began, I and two friends drove onto the grounds, circled the main
building, and contemplated means of entry. We didn't want to arouse
suspicion by parking in the lot of the obviously abandoned building,
so we chose rather to park on a sidestreet at the intersection of
South Ave, and Boothe Street, opposite Rochester Science Pkwy. near
the end of South Ave. where it becomes East Henrietta Rd. We entered
via Rochester Science Pkwy. and then where crossed a small lot which
opens to the end of Staff Rd., which I know from your website that you
are familiar with. My friends being apprehensive due to the
possibility of homeless people squatting in the houses were reluctant
to so much as step foot on the street. Eventually, after I had walked
onto the street, walked up to one of the houses, pressed the long dead
doorbell, and then said back that I didn't think anyone was home, did
they finally join me on the road. We walked to the end of the street,
all the while regretting that none of us had a camera, until we came
to the large building opposite Staff rd. on Campus Dr. We stood in
front of the building, which I'm sure you've seen before, wondering
how to get in, before finally calling it a night, not wanting to
arouse the suspicion of any security guards that may have patrolled
the grounds. The only reason we even considered that there may have
been any guard activity was the fact that the grounds and buildings
were still lit by streetlights, none of which were out of order. We
found it an ironic juxtaposition to the utterly decrepit buildings,
overgrown with weeds that there was not a single place that there was
not a functioning streetlight.
Nonetheless, some weeks later on Saturday the 17th I and about 7 other
friends decided to see if we could get in as well. We entered the
grounds the same way, parking on boothe street, as we had the time
prior, and this time, equipped with a crowbar (as my friend had
instructed us as to the means of entrance) and the necessary
flashlights, we progressed down Rochester Science Pkwy, and this time,
opted not to enter via staff road, because we had discovered that
there were buildings in use around the curve on campus drive,
including a 'rehabilitaion center' that was surrounded by a 20' high,
barbed wire lined fence were still very much in use. Obviously now
wary of security guards, and considering the suspicious nature that a
group of some 8 individuals, all clad in black, one of whom was
carrying a crowbar, walking onto the premeses of an abandoned
psychiatric hospital at 11:00 at night, it was no surprise that we
were stopped by an RPD patrol car, very shortly after entering
Rochester Science Pkwy. Fortunately, one of the people in our group's
father is a cop, so we had no real reason to be all too worried that
the cop would do anything more than just turn us back. The officer, of
course, did just that. We had obviously wanted to go in a smaller
group, but once one of us told the other, a much larger group was now
wanting to go. Of course, upon seeing the cop, and actually being
stopped by him, there were only 5 left who wanted to try and go back.
Me, and my Friends Mike, Joel, Rachael, and Lonnie, who's father is a
cop.
Understanding now that our cover was 'blown' so to speak, and that a
cop was aware that there were suspicious people in the area, we
decided to back via a somewhat more covert approach. We crossed onto
the grounds of one of the abandoned houses facing away from Staff Rd.,
on South Ave, and now crossing Staff Rd, we moved to the back of the
house's property, where a new building is being constructed, facing
the 'Rochester Science Park' grounds. We hid there, where we had a
full view of Campus Drive, at the end of which is the Jail Building.
We stayed in the treeline, and made our way to the 'Factory' Building,
the campus' heating facility. We considered breaking into that, but
there were lights in the stairwells that suggested that the building
was still in use, and potentially alarmed. Furthermore, it was
surrounded by parking lots, which were, despite the late hour, full of
cars, at least one of which had very recently been in use, as we saw
them enter and exit the grounds, after it's driver briefly entered one
of the buildings still in use. Finally, we opted to keep moving, as we
saw actiivity at the back of the Jail, which we assumed was nothing
more than a shift change, being that it was now about 11:00 exactly.
We made our way back into the treeline, using the factory building as
cover, and now facing the small grassy area at the end of Rochester
Science Pkwy. we made our way toward the back of the psychiatric
hospital. We crossed into a patch of dense brush, which stood behind a
treeline, which was immediately at the back of the hospital. We
crossed the brush heading northeast, so as to come out on access road,
near the fenced in pavilion, which was the closest cover before
actually being against the building. it was at that time, that we
recieved a pretty serious scare. Cars began driving past us, only one
of which was a cop car, every minute or so, and circling the east face
of the building, and exiting onto Elmwood Ave. The cars came without
warning, as we had a good vantage point of the occupied part of the
campus from where we were hiding Upon later consulting aerial photos
and maps of the area, as well as driving through the facility during
the day, we realized that there is a street that accesses the campus
from somewhere on Westfall rd, the next main street to the south of
the facility. Fortunately, the brush grown up around the fence on the
far side of the pavilion area provided adequate cover, and once it was
clear for several minutes, we made our way to the back of the
building, where my friend had entered earlier that week. He had gone
back during the following day, to retrieve a tool he had left to find
that the entrance had been resealed, which indicated to us that
security was well aware of the possibity of another break in. Which is
why we had left our crowbar at the car. We hadn't intended to enter
the building that night. However upon examining the entrance, and
actually being there, we decided that if nothing else, it was worth a
try. So, equipped with a small crescent wrench, which my friend Joel
Happened to have in his camcorder bag, as he is an avid skateboarder,
I pryed open enough of the rivets to eventually reach myself in far
enough to pop open the rest of them by force. It wasn't nearly as
difficult as it sounds. the sheet metal was pliable enough to be
stretched over the rivet heads, such that we were able to open it
within about 10 minutes. Of course, being in the stairwell below
street level, with the sound of clanging metal echoing out, it of
course seemed like much longer. All in all, from walking onto the
grounds, to entering the building, it took us roughly an hour,
considering the time spent waiting out a passing car, or waiting to
see if a sound would incur any security reaction, as well as the
distance traveled, which was at very least a mile from where we'd left
our cars, to the back of the building.
So, once inside the building, being as it was now 12:00, and now very
much aware that we'd made a lot of noise entering , we only stayed for
about an hour. We made it up as far as the fifth floor, where we came
upon a room called the 'Seclusion Room' which was the size of a
closet, without any windows in either the door or the outer wall, and
had a camera bubble on one corner. Also, we came across many
inspirational sayings, assumably painted for the benefit of the
rehabilitating patients, but all ironically having to do with 'moving
forward', and 'not looking back'. We found those rather interesting.
Anyway, having had enough exploring for the night, and being rather
tired, we exited the building, cautiously made our way around to the
east side, then in stark contrast to the covert means whereby we had
entered, we sprinted across the front lawn of the hospital, to Elmwood
Ave. where we assumed we would be safe, so long as no cops or security
guards saw us exit the facility. Now we were nothing more than
pedestrians, out for a midnight stroll. We walked about a mile back to
our car, and called it a night.
We went back on 2 other occasions, but on the first, we were ill
prepared, and had to turn back after nearly being seen by a cop at the
back of the hospital, and on the second, we took a quicker but more
conspicuous approach, where we had nearly 3 run-ins with security.
One, as we hid on the mound on the front lawn of the hospital, the
second, as we were in the outside stairwell, working on opening the
door. A cop drove in, shined his searchlight around, and then made a
K-Turn, and exited the alcove. That was far too close for comfort, and
knowing that it would take us at least another 5 minutes to open the
cover, and that it would be excessively more noisy than we wanted it
to be, we opted to turn back, and the second as we were running back
across Elmwood, the car coming toward us, westbound, just so happened
to be a cop, and just so happened to think that 4 individuals emerging
from the woods at 1:00 in the morning, near an abandoned psychiatric
hospital was a little peculiar, began speeding toward us, and turned
on his searchlight. Fortunately, we were already in the woods, on the
opposite side of the road, and well on our way to our cars, which were
parked in an apartment complex on the north side of Elmwood. He kept
his spotlight trained on the woods we had just entered, and then
turned it to the opposite side of the street, hoping that there would
be more of us, but fortunately we had opted not to break into two
groups, and all 4 of us went across the street together.
Anyway, I just felt like sharing my experience, and I'm planning ot go
back sometime soon, and explore the whole place, starting from the top
down, which once housed the highest risk patients. Thanks again for publicizing the information on your website. It was extremely helpful.
Sincerely,
Paul Ganguly
Friday, November 05, 2004
I'm bringing my Blog back.
It's for real this time. No more lies.
Just to prove it, Here's a new picture thing I made, as a sig on a message board.
Ok, this proves nothing, but...
Seriously, I'm gonna post some stuff.
It's for real this time. No more lies.
Just to prove it, Here's a new picture thing I made, as a sig on a message board.
Ok, this proves nothing, but...
Seriously, I'm gonna post some stuff.
Monday, January 26, 2004
Friday, January 23, 2004
So, the next time you ask yourself, "Who would shave their head, in Rochester, in January", only one name should come to mind.
Oh yeah, and I added a shoutbox. Let's see if it works.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Ok, so day 2 of the blog ressurection.
Unfortunately though, I have NOTHING of any importance to post. I didnt' do much today, aside from shovelling my driveway. That kind of sucked.
Ok, so here's my whole day:
- Got up at around 11 am
- Got online for about an hour
- Shovelled for about 30-45 minutes
- Came inside, made ramen noodles
- Got back online
- Went out to dinner with my mom. Haven't done that in a while.
- Hit Marshall's
- Hit Wal-Mart
- Came home
In other nerd related news though, I read an article in the new issue of Rolling Stone that said that internet file sharing was by no means dead, and may in fact be thriving. (GASP!). You mean there are still hooligans out there who are downloading music illegally?! Why I never...
The magazine did however, in a more respectably ballsy move, go so far as to list new alternatives to Kazaa. Now mind you, this isn't nearly all of them but their there list was:
Diet K
A stripped down version of Kazaa, that apparently features all of the same pro's and con's that Kazaa does. No adware.
(http://www.dietk.com)
LimeWire
Allows multiple searches (duh) and lets you see user's entire collections. Apparently it's also easily monitored by the RIAA. Has adware.
(http://www.limewire.com)
eDonkey 2000
Same as others, pretty much. Offer's more non mainstream music, and is apparently good for movies too. Has adware, but is easily opted out during instalation.
(http://www.edonkey2000.com)
SoulSeek
Wish lists notify you when users come online who've got the goods you're looking for. Apparently it's pretty crash-prone, and you might have to be a little more of a computer nerd to run it effectively. No adware.
(http://www.sisknet.com)
WinMX / OpenNap
Big selection, apparently, and an allegedly 'difficult to use' interface. No adware.
(http://www.winmx.com / http://www.opennap.sourceforge.net)
Ok kids, that's it for me tonight. Let me know if you've got another p2p service that I don't have listed.
Monday, January 19, 2004
Oh yeah kids, that's right, Paul J. Ganguly's blog is BACK. There's been too many of those half-assed, poser blogs around lately, and it's about damn time someone came back and slapped you pukes back into shape.
More will follow. Right now though, I'll let you punks off with a warning.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
