Creedmoor Psychiatric Center

Site The hospital's name is a portmanteau derived from Creed - the name of the previous family who owned a farm at the site - and apparent geographical similarities to the British "moorlands". The local railroad station - on a line running from Long Island City to Bethpage - took the name "Creedmoor;" apparently coined by British visitors in reference to the local geography and former use of the site as a rifle range having been reminiscent of the moors back in Britain, owing to the designation "Creed's Moor." In 1892, as a result of declining public interest and mounting noise complaints from the growing neighborhood, the NRA deeded its land back to the state. Another part of the Glen Oaks campus was repurposed as the Queens Children's Psychiatric Center. In 2004, an additional site was redeveloped for Glen Oaks public school campus and The Queens High School of Teaching, and by 2006, all remaining parts of the Creedmoor campus were sold, with only 470 inpatients at the hospital. A more recent portrayal of Creedmoor appears in Katherine Olson's Something More Wrong (2013). Later use There are several unused buildings on the property, including the long-abandoned Building 25. Many parts of the building are covered in bird guano, the largest pile being several feet high. In August 2023, a shelter for migrants opened at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, amid a sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers traveling to the city. In February 2023, the Empire State Development Corporation announced that it would redevelop of the Creedmoor site. The state government proposed 2,873 residences there that December; local residents objected that a land use planning review had not been conducted before the plans were announced. In response to the concerns from the local community board and neighboring civic groups, around 850 apartments were removed from the proposed high density development. In November 2025, the state government approved a plan to redevelop the site with 2,022 residences (half of which would be affordable housing) and school. At the time, the development's first phase was scheduled to take two or three years. == Programs ==

The hospital's notable ventures include The Living Museum, which showcases artistic works by patients and is the first museum of its kind in the U.S. == Notable people ==

Patients • "Simone D.", pseudonym; patient who won a court ruling which set aside a 2-year-old court order to give her involuntary electroshock treatment • Paul Abraham (1892–1960), composer; committed after a mental breakdown • Mary Ellen O'Brien (1888–1964), mother of painter Elaine de Kooning; committed for a year after being reported for neglecting her children • Bud Powell (1924–1966), jazz musician; committed for 11 months after a bar fight • Woody Guthrie (1912–1967), folk musician; was hospitalized at Creedmoor until his death • George Metesky (1903–1994), serial bomber; committed to Creedmoor in 1973 and released the same year • Joseph Baldi (1941–2009), serial killer; treated for mental illness • Robert Tornsey (1945–2009), police officer responsible for the Shooting of Randolph Evans; released in 1979 • Peter Grudzien (1941–2013), country musician; committed with his sister for schizophrenic treatment • Issa Ibrahim (1965), committed in 1990 for the accidental killing of his mother. Staff • Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), actor; worked as an orderly • Arthur M. Sackler (1913–1987), psychiatrist; completed his residency in psychiatry at Creedmoor and was director of research; was a co-founder along with his brothers Raymond and Mortimer Other • Joshua Bloch (1890–1957), rabbi; died of a heart attack at Creedmoor while delivering a Rosh Hashanah sermon as a chaplain of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene that operated the hospital • Grace Marilynn James (1923–1989), pediatrician; studied child psychology at Creedmoor ==References==