Overbrook Asylum Demolition Wrapping Up (VIDEO)

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The Overbrook is coming down, and it’s coming down hard. That’s the latest from urban explorer and longtime Weird NJ correspondent Wheeler Antabanez, who recently shared some footage from the last phase of demolition at the defunct Overbrook Asylum in Cedar Grove.

“This is the final moment for the abandoned mental hospital that has stood for more than a century,” Antabanez told Patch on earlier this week.

“It makes me sad to witness the last remnants of the asylum fall, but I feel a little better about it when I’m out there documenting the process,” said Antabanez, the author of "The Old Asylum And Other Stories," published by Sagging Meniscus Press of Montclair.

“I hate to see Overbrook get ripped, but I can’t seem to look away,” he added.

Check out his most recent video of the demolition at the off-limits, Essex County-owned property below. (The spoken piece is from “Words of Overbrook,” a new, full-length spoken word album written and performed by Antabanez).

• See related article: Book Adds To Mythology Of Cedar Grove's Infamous Asylum
• See related article: Essex County Plans $11M Park At Overbrook Asylum Hospital Site

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photos/Video: Wheeler Antabanez

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Verona-Cedar Grove Facebook page here.