Looking for abandoned places in Western New York region.

December 2, 2014 1:55 PM

I'm generally an explorer but I recently got into photography. As I was thinking about what I'd really like to take pictures of, I got extremely excited at the idea of locations humans no longer occupy. Abandoned towns, long dead-ended roads, tunnels, railroad stations, hospitals, prisons or anything else you can think of. I'm not afraid of a long drive for a good location to explore.
posted by mrflibble to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Best answer: this whole region is filled with abandoned cabins, hotels , etc.
posted by Postroad at 2:05 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Rochester abandoned subway. I went in it about ten years ago. After that, there was some talk about filling it in with huge amounts of dirt, but I don't know if anything ever came of it. It was fairly impressive down there -- huge tunnels, lots of graffiti. I didn't see anyone, but there was evidence of people having camped out there. You don't want to go there alone.
posted by alex1965 at 2:05 PM on December 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

I presume you've been through the grain elevators, though it is hard to call them abandoned these days. Truth be told, it was much more fun before they were full of people and "clean". Central Terminal, similar. Probably some buildings on the psych center grounds are still fair game--one of the creepiest places I've ever explored.
posted by Riverine at 2:16 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

The Rochester Subway is great. Here's a list of other sites in Rochester. There's also a student group at the University of Rochester that (at least in the past) has planned trips to abandoned buildings in Rochester. Not sure if they're still active.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 2:23 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

A few years back my friend John quit his job to travel around the country and work on his photography. These days he spends a lot of time in upstate new york. I'm sure he would be happy to answer questions if you sent him an email.
posted by phil at 3:15 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

A keyword you may want to include is urbex. But do be careful. I remember one place with a terrifying gaping hole where the industrial elevator used to be...
posted by zadcat at 9:44 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would look in Niagara Falls. I know simply from driving through there are a lot of abandoned buildings. The biggest sites I can recall were an abandoned mall (the Rainbow Mall) and some sort of indoor thing for plants in glass (Winter Garden) which I think have both since been demolished. But there is a lot of abandoned shit in Niagara Falls you can find, trust me. Pretty sure there are schools that aren't used anymore too. When I try googling it, I find websites mentioning abandoned sites on the Canadian side of the border too. I think the Niagara region is a good bet.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:08 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Just some ideas from someone who has done some "exploring" in my day.

The Central Terminal. You simply must go through the building. I recommend work boots, heavy gloves and clothes you are not attached to. Climb to the top if you can.

Don't overlook our friends to the north : Canada.

My tastes run more to the rural than urban, but the area west of Niagara Falls, Canada, is full of great wooded areas. There is the occasional abandoned barn.
posted by Colonel Sun at 5:31 AM on December 3, 2014 [1 favorite]