The Octagon, built in 1834, is a historic
octagon
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
al building and attached
apartment block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...
complex located at 888 Main Street on
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It originally served as the main entrance to the New York City Mental Health Hospital (also known as the New York City Lunatic Asylum), which opened in 1841. Designed by
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Education
Davis was born in New York City and studied at t ...
, the five-story rotunda was made of blue-gray stone that was quarried on the island. The Octagon is the last remnant of the hospital, and after many years of decay and two fires, was close to ruin. After restoration, it has now been incorporated into the adjacent buildings to create a large apartment complex.
Mistreatment of patients at the asylum was the center of the exposé by
Nellie Bly
Elizabeth Cochran Seaman (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, industrialist, inventor, and charity worker who was widely known for her record-breaki ...
in her 1887 book ''
Ten Days in a Mad-House
''Ten Days in a Mad-House'' is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the ''New York World''. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City ...
''.
History
The structure was built as part of the New York City Mental Health Hospital in 1841 and was incorporated into the
Metropolitan Hospital
Metropolitan Hospital Center (MHC, also referred to as Metropolitan Hospital) is a hospital in East Harlem, New York City. It has been affiliated with New York Medical College since it was founded in 1875, representing the oldest partnership be ...
in 1894. The Octagon, as a Metropolitan Hospital building, closed in 1955, leaving the building abandoned. On March 16, 1972, despite its condition, it was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The Octagon was the last remnant of the hospital, and after many years of decay and two fires, was close to ruin. In April 2006, after restoration, the renovated Octagon reopened as the lobby entrance to a pair of adjacent apartment buildings with 500 units in total.
Sustainability
The new apartment complex utilizes both solar panels and
fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
installations. A 50 kW array of solar panels and a 400 kW fuel cell enable the building to generate more than 50% of its power. The fuel cell is a combined heat and power system that converts natural gas to electricity and heat via a combustion-free, electrochemical process. This system provides power and heat that meets the majority of the building's energy demand, and the efficiency it achieves is higher than the energy received from the power grid. Not only does the system provide more efficient energy usage, the heat from the process is also used for the building's space heating and domestic water requirements. Thus the Octagon is projected to reduce its
carbon emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...
by 790 metric tons annually.
The Octagon received the largest initial award of New York State Green Building Tax Credits and was recognized in the first New York City Green Buildings Competition with the "Green Apple Award" for leadership in applying
sustainable
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
design principles to residential development. In 2006, a newly constructed residential building was built on the site, modeled on the original structure. It received
LEED Silver status from the
U.S. Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...
in 2008.
See also
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List of octagonal buildings and structures
Octagon buildings and structures are characterized by an octagonal plan form, whether a perfect geometric octagon or a regular eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides.
The oldest known octagon-shaped building is the Tower of the Win ...
*
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