Mental Health Court

A personal reflection

Forty thousand people used to live on the grounds of Creedmoor State Hospital.  It is a sprawling and imposing complex in the middle of Long Island, just at the outer edge of Queens, New York. 

There is a single large building, the hospital proper, which follows the same floor plan as every other state psychiatric hospital. The efforts of the WPA built these structures. The government used the same plans for every state hospital to save money.  The Surroundings were also hulking structures. A retinue of older, more baroque, and less industrial buildings stood ready.  These were built with rough stones that we remember in black-and-white pictures. Many such buildings make up the complex on the grounds of Creedmoor Hospital. Some of these are not empty; some have been converted into housing for patients discharged from the hospital.  One of the buildings, close to the compound's center, houses the mental health court. In this courtroom, Queens County pleadings are adjudicated every w…