What is the importance of Blackwell's Lunatic Asylum in the novel, The Witches of New York?

The asylum, located on Blackwell's Island off the coast of New York City, is described as large, comfortable, and bursting with women who had been deemed mentally unstable by men in power. Many of the women there are dangerous criminals, such as Sophie Miles, who threw acid on Adelaide's face for no discernable reason. Others, however, have been unfairly sent to the asylum because they did not fit into the stereotypical mold of what a woman should be and how a woman should act.