“We hit up a few abandoned spots to make this project happen but the one place we went back to constantly was a partially abandoned psychiatric center in New York state. Back in 1931 the center was thriving, but around World War 2 things started falling apart when unqualified workers took over for nurses who had to serve in the war. It wasn’t until the 1970s when they officially shut down a handful of the buildings on campus and they’ve just been rotting away ever since.

The campus is a pretty huge area made up of about 10 abandoned buildings and 4 buildings that are still functioning. Psych patients roam around the complex and so do cops. Most of the abandoned buildings are pretty boarded up so you can’t get in, but the thing that’s so sick is all the buildings are connected with underground tunnels, so if you can find a way into one, you can access them all. The nurses used these tunnels to deliver food and supplies to the patients all over the center. It’s surprisingly untouched. You will still find office supplies, files, photos, machinery, and other artifacts.

Once we found our way into the tunnels, we quickly learned it was a giant maze: Loads of dead ends, stairs going up and down, and puddles so big you have to use cinder blocks as stepping stones. The reason we called the project ‘The Search For BLDG.40’ is because the first room in the video that Rob skates was the hardest to get to.” – Sean Colello

Filmed & Edited by: Sean Colello
Skateboarding: Rob Miceli
Photography: Sean Colello & Rob Miceli
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