This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Barbarasansob Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.kings/15398.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Before Kings County was taken over by New York City, it did have its own asylum; it was located on Flatbush Avenue. Eventually, because of overcrowding, the site was moved to Long Island. When the State of New York assumed responsibility for the asylum, it eventually became known as Kings Park State Hospital. (However, originally it was known as "The Kings Park Lunatic Asylum.") There's an interesting article about the Kings Park Psychiatic Center at www.lioddities.com. If you go to the website, click on "Asylms," then "Kings Park." On a personal note, I too had relatives who were at the Kings County facility. when it was actually in Kings County, Brooklyn. When the Brooklyn site was closed, inmates were moved to Kings Park on Long Island. I did write to Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, NY a couple of years ago requesting family records. However, because of the New York privacy laws, they replied that they were not at liberty to verify or release patient records. They said: "If the information is being sought for general genealogy purposes , under agency policy and current interpretation of federal regulations governing privacy of individually identifiable health information, the information cannot be released." I do hope some of this is useful to you. Good luck. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.