180 Years of Exclusion

Ward’s Island is located in the East River between Manhattan’s East Harlem and Queens’ Astoria. It has served as place of institutions for marginalized groups (immigrants, people without stable housing, people diagnosed with mental illnesses) since the 1840’s and still serves in this capacity to this day. Residents are isolated from the city’s services and need to take an infrequent bus into Manhattan in order to purchase basic groceries or medications. It is a naturally beautiful place, but fencing is used to separate residents from parkland.

This website will be used to host design proposals for New York City’s Ward’s Island, presently a place of exclusion for over 1,000 people, following the proposals laid out in concluding chapter of the book “Exiles in New York City: Warehousing the Marginalized on Ward’s Island” by Philip Yanos. These proposals are meant to inspire policy-makers who would like to consider the creation of affordable housing, essential services, improved transportation and a mental health museum on the island in the service of justice for the island’s residents.

Visual designs and maps by Theo Frye Yanos.