STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A nightmare came to an official end 35 years ago, and so many who helped wake up a nation to the horror of the Willowbrook State School gathered at the College of Staten Island (CSI) Saturday to mark a dream come to fruition.
The Willowbrook Mile has been years in the making, and ties together the College of Staten Island (CSI), the headquarters of the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council and the Elizabeth Connelly Resource Center, all of which make up the 383 acres that once made up the state school that saw the 35th anniversary of its closure Saturday.
Visitors to the site can walk the Mile and stop at its 12 milestones to learn about what happened at the institution -- where developmentally-disabled people were warehoused and stripped of their dignity -- and how people like Diane Buglioli, a former Willowbrook employee, fought to end it.
Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the mile, Buglioli spoke with the Advance/SILive.com and displayed a key from Willowbrook that she takes to special events. Behind the doors the brass key unlocked laid only the surface of what went on at the school.
Diane Buglioli has worked for more than 17 years on the development of the Willowbrook Mile. Here, she is introduced during the Staten Advance Women of Achievement luncheon in 2018, at which she was honored for her work for the developmentally disabled community. (Staten Island Advance/Bill Lyons)Staten Island Advance
“I opened three doors, locked doors, and found behind [them] 40 toddlers. I said to myself — ‘Why are 40 toddlers locked behind doors?’” Buglioli said. “Today, for me, is opening those doors. People have to learn about what happened.”
Buglioi, who now serves on the board of directors of the non-profit organization A Very Special Place, helped expose squalid conditions for the more-than 6,000 residents that passed through Willowbrook’s doors.
It started with Staten Island Advance reporter Jane Kurtin; she published a series of stories exposing conditions at the school that, when brought to national attention by television reporter Geraldo Rivera, would spur massive change to the way the developmentally disabled are housed and cared for in the U.S.
During a ceremony preceding the Willowbrook Mile ribbon cutting, Professor Catherine Lavender, a co-chari of the Willowbrook Legacy Project, read from an early story of Kurtin’s that described what she saw behind the school’s doors.
“The boys in Building 6 pick at the sores on their naked bodies during the endless days they spend on wooden benches, curled on the floor or leaning against walls of their wards,” Kurtin reported in 1971. “They don’t understand the indignity of being perpetually naked or the repulsiveness of their drooling. They don’t understand that people are afraid to touch them.”
When Rivera, who attended Saturday’s event, brought a camera crew into Willowbrook, the images they captured exposed the horrific conditions to the nation, spurring much-needed change.
A legal battle ensued shortly after Rivera’s report, and in 1975, former Gov. Hugh Carey signed the Willowbrook Consent Decree that legally required the state to improve conditions at the school, according to the National Council on Disability.
Despite the decree, the fight continued and in 1987 the school saw the last of its residents walk through its doors for the last time, with Gov. Mario Cuomo officially closing Willowbrook forever.
Hundreds gather at the College of Staten Island for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the walking trail known as "Willowbrook Mile" conisting of 12 stations marking the history of the site on the 35th annivarsary of the closing of Willowbrook. Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason PaderonJason Paderon
Kurtin was unable to attend Saturday’s ceremony, but the legacy of her work will be enshrined on the Willowbrook Mile.
Each of the path’s 12 milestones marks a different building of the former school, and offers details about the site’s history. At the sixth milestone, which details her and Rivera’s work exposing the school, is a bench donated by the Advance dedicated to Kurtin.
“Her passion to right wrong woke a nation to the horrors of Willowbrook,” a plaque on the bench reads.
Advance/SILive.com Executive Editor Brian Laline represented the organization at Saturday’s event, and credited Kurtin for tireless work exposing the conditions at Willowbrook.
“Jane’s stories really got this thing rolling with Staten Island’s political representatives at the time,” he said. “[Rivera] bringing it national did affect the disabled community nationally, and the two of them, what they did for this community, I don’t think you could really put it into words.”
He also applauded former CSI presidents Tomas Morales and William Fritz for their commitment to honoring the campus’ history — a marked shift from prior administrations.
The Willowbrook Mile encapsulates that history after a partnership among CSI the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council, the NYS Institute for Basic Research, and the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.
Work on the project began in 2013, and in 2016, outgoing Assemblyman Mike Cusick (D-Mid-Island) allocated $125,000 in financials assistance to help move it forward.
Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-North Shore/Mid-Island), who was instrumental in the funding of the project, speaks as hundreds gather at the College of Staten Island for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the walking trail known as "Willowbrook Mile" conisting of 12 stations marking the history of the site on the 35th annivarsary of the closing of Willowbrook. Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason PaderonJason Paderon
Cusick joined his fellow elected officials — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), Borough President Vito Fossella, State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), Assemblyman Mike Reilly (R-South Shore), and Assemblyman Mike Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn) — at the ceremony and talked about his passion Willowbrook, inspired, in part by former Assemblywoman Elizabeth Connelly.
Mayor Eric Adams was a scheduled speaker at the ceremony, however, a source told the Advance/SILive.com there was a “scheduling conflict” and he was unable to attend.
The first female elected officials from Staten Island, Connelly served as a vocal advocate for developmentally-disabled people.
“I know that [Connelly would] be so proud of this day and this Mile, because this is the story of Willowbrook from the bad past to the bright future,” Cusick said.
The future for the developmentally disabled in New York isn’t certain. Buglioli said that over the past 10 years that funding for services had been “crushed,” and said there was a need to recommit to helping some of the state’s most vulnerable people.
Laura Kennedy — a past president of The Arc New York, a lead plaintiff in the Willowbrook litigation — said Saturday that the fight to help the developmentally disabled continues.
“The ribbon cutting today for the Willowbrook Mile Legacy is not the end of our journey — we have thousands more miles ahead of us,” she said. “Our advocacy must continue today, tomorrow, and all our tomorrows.”
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These photos exposed the horrors of Willowbrook State School more than 50 years ago