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Dear New Yorkers,

There’s not much outside Building 75 of the notorious Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens that gives away the world behind its inconspicuous facade, except for a tree branch on the ground painted with the words “LIVING MUSEUM.”

But approach the side of the undistinguished two-story brown-brick building, look for a door underneath the awning, and ring the doorbell. An unlikely hub of the arts begins to reveal itself.

Covering the walls of a main room inside is art made by Creedmoor patients, including a new visual essay exhibition entitled “Time.” An introductory text reads: “Does time linger, when I’m depressed? Does time race when my brain is on fire with excitement and mood elevations?”

In the late 1950s, Creedmoor’s vast mental health campus housed some 7,000 patients who farmed, raised livestock and lived on its 300-acre grounds. Eventually, outrage over the conditions inside America’s overcrowded mental institutions — plus a new generation of psychotropic drugs — winnowed Creedmoor down.

By the time former Creedmoor psychiatrist Dr. Janos Marton and Polish artist Bolek Greczynski co-founded the art studio and museum in 1983, just 1,300 inpatients remained. That year, Mayor Ed Koch’s administration sought to move up to 500 homeless men into two of Creedmoor’s vacant buildings.

As the mental institution hollowed out, artist studios took root and continued to grow over into one of the city’s most inspiring, and overlooked, institutions.

Today, the museum is bursting with four decades worth of art created by resident artists — and it continues to serve as a refuge for about 70 Creedmoor outpatients who work there regularly.

Read — and see — more about the Living Museum here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday's Weather Rating: 3/10. Morning rain will very gradually clear out of the area today, with damp and dreary conditions continuing. Mostly cloudy otherwise, with high temperatures in the lower 50s. The vibes are still unsettled out there...

Our Other Top Stories

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced the latest in a series of subway safety initiatives, placing MTA police officers, state troopers and 750 National Guard members at some of the city’s busiest stations to conduct bag checks. Hochul’s “five-point plan to rid our subways of people who commit crimes” includes deploying about 1,000 more uniformed personnel, accelerating the installation of cameras, a proposed bill that would allow judges to ban people from the subway, and expanding the number of mental health response teams. Police-reform activists, however, warned “Gov. Hochul’s misguided plan will only exacerbate racial profiling and abusive policing of Black and LatinX New Yorkers.” This is a city of islands, so New Yorkers should not underestimate the threat of flooding. Here’s THE CITY’s guide to determining whether you need flood insurance — and how to get it if you do.

Reporter’s Notebook

Illegal-Eviction Bills Return

Councilmember Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn) on Thursday will re-introduce a package of bills aiming to stop illegal evictions, a year after introducing it for the first time in response to THE CITY’s reporting that the NYPD rarely enforced eviction-protection law.

The bills would increase penalties on building owners who illegally remove tenants and expand who can bring cases for unlawful eviction in Housing Court.

The Council is also launching a data dashboard showing how many illegal lockouts, NYPD summonses and enforced legal evictions happened over the last year throughout the boroughs. Early data shows over 6,000 illegal lockout cases filed between February 2023 and February 2024, with only 88 NYPD summonses.

— Samantha Maldonado

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, March 7: Celebration of Women — The Art of Adventure, a creative workshop that incorporates art and team-building. Free from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center in The Bronx. Saturday, March 9: Making Brooklyn Bloom 2024, a day of talks and workshops about pollinators to inspire urban gardeners at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Garden admission is free for attendees; reservations required. Saturday, March 9: A screening of the 1926 silent film “The Duchess of Buffalo,” starring Constance Talmadge, one of the most popular comedians of her day. Free at 2:30 p.m. at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium.

THE KICKER: Smuggling rules at John F. Kennedy Airport: Rattlesnakes? Fine. Duck? Go right to jail.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.

Love,

THE CITY

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