This is exactly what happened when photographer Christopher Payne visited North Brother Island, a 13-acre island between the Bronx and Riker’s Island that's been abandoned since 1963.

North Brother Island, an island in the East River, is a protected area and part of the Harbor Herons Region, a nationally recognized complex of uninhabited islands and expansive marshes essential for ...

They congregate at North Brother and nearby South Brother in the East River, and at several islands in Staten Island each spring. Humans occupied North Brother Island for 150 years. The island housed ...