Yearly Archives: 2012

Pining For The Fjords

The Sullivan County Catskills are no longer the prime vacation spot they were for most of the last hundred years. Once known as the Borscht Belt and the Jewish Alps, the region was the birthplace of stand-up comedy and the ski lift, and once known for bumper to bumper traffic all the way from Brooklyn to the mountains. Air travel, air conditioning and middle-class Jewish families moving to the suburbs brought hard times to the Catskills, and resorts started closing through the 80s and 90s until by 1998 only two remained, out of nearly 100 abandoned and destroyed. The Pines…

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Resident Ego Castle

I built for Me a castle where my ego could reside Rooms filled with useless treasures which were my joy and pride Its steps led to confusion and massive doors kept out the light The walls closed in around me, and left me hostage to the night Mile Marker Zero -- Rooms (2008) Dundas Castle, or Craig-e-Clare, (often incorrectly referred to as Ravenloft Castle) is an isolated, uninhabited castle in Roscoe, NY abandoned in 1921. Originally a resort for the ultra-wealthy railroad tycoons, in 1915 it fell into the hands of the Dundas family (best known for their founding role…

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Mines of Moria

The best and weirdest ideas begin with beer, specifically the consumption of it in the outdoors. (like this:) Not that any of you didn't know that I'm not normal, but with some liquid inspiration and the right friends, even something as strange as a weekend bike trip to Niagara Falls makes perfect sense, and less than 24 hours later we were off riding into the night, basically in search of the unknown, to go sleep in a cave. After 55 miles or so, we found the cave entrance, and in the morning it was time to explore. From all we…

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Chaote’s Lair

The former General/Veteran Foods factory is probably the place with the most dramatic, fastest decay I've ever seen. Through a combination of fire, water, vandals, mold and looting, it has gone from 'active' (occupied as a residence and studio by an eccentric art professor) as recently as 2009, to squatted in 2010, to abandoned in 2011, to thoroughly trashed in 2012. This is particularly shameful considering how much was left behind here, by the artist and the unknown past occupants; there was an entire library with a few thousand books, a collection of magazines and photo albums, furniture, toys, computer…

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Niagara Fell

The TripAdvisor reviews said it all: "words can't describe the awfulness", "we got locked INSIDE", "please stay at this hotel and RUIN your entire vacation". It's no wonder that between woeful management and upkeep, a terrible economy, and the fact that the hotel itself was a lie ("Fallside" doesn't mean "walk half a mile through the ghetto or drive and pay a $20 state park toll"), the Fallside closed for the last time in the fall of 2008. While there was an apparent attempt to revive the place, judging by the signs proudly proclaiming new management and "Major Brand Chain…

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When Life Gives You Columns

...you make colonnade? Or not? At least I had an unexpected opportunity to explore with Ian one more time. Although, more realistically, it turned into a chance to stand on the sidelines while he explored. His goal was one that I shared interest in for sure, but probably not the right physique, or state of mind -- climbing the Buffalo grain elevators. While they originally had stairs, due to a rash of suicides in the early 70s right after they were abandoned, none of these stairwells are complete, with the stairs up to 30 feet or so cut out, leaving…

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