Why an Abandoned IBM Campus Troubles a NY Town

Trespassers chasing social media clout have turned a long-empty IBM complex into a headache for Somers, New York, reports the Wall Street Journal's Scott Calvert. The hulking, pyramid-topped campus designed in the '80s by IM Pei's firm was once home to 2,300 workers; it now draws "urban explorers" who film its abandoned cubicles and graffiti-tagged walls for TikTok and Instagram. Since February, state police have arrested 48 people, 30 of them teens, on trespassing charges at the 723-acre site.

Locals are split between nostalgia, curiosity, and frustration. Some neighbors admit to quietly exploring the grounds themselves; others worry vandals will destroy a property they hope can be revived and returned to the tax rolls. IBM sold the property for $31.75 million in 2016, but the buyer's plans to renovate it into a public school collapsed during COVID. In the meantime, police and the site's manager, Sebastian Capital, say they've ramped up security. Read the piece in full for more, including photos.