At the corner of 128th Street and 5th Avenue in Harlem, there’s a small park with a peculiar history. It is named after two eccentric brothers, Homer and Langley Collyer, who lived and died under highly bizarre circumstances.
The Early Years of the Collyer Brothers
Homer and Langley Collyer were born in the late 1880s into a privileged family. Homer earned a law degree from Columbia University, while Langley became a talented pianist. In 1909, the family moved into a spacious four-story brownstone in Harlem.
A Descent into Hoarding and Isolation
When their parents passed away, the brothers inherited all of their belongings. Instead of managing or disposing of their possessions, they began compulsively hoarding. By 1933, Homer lost his eyesight and became paralyzed. Langley gave up his career to care for his brother full-time. They withdrew completely from society, cutting all ties to the outside world.
The Mysterious Deaths of Homer and Langley
On March 21, 1947, a neighbor called the police, reporting a foul odor coming from the Collyer home. It took officers five hours to dig through piles of accumulated junk before they found Homer’s body. He had died of starvation.
A widespread search for Langley ensued across nine states. However, on April 8—18 days later—his body was discovered just ten feet from Homer’s. He had been crushed by a booby trap of his own design, likely perishing around 12 days before his brother.
In the aftermath, authorities removed 120 tons of junk from the home. The brownstone was demolished in July 1947. During the 1960s, a park was established where the house once stood, memorializing the reclusive brothers. Today, Collyer Brothers Park remains a quiet reminder of their tragic story and the dangers of isolation and obsession.