Marilyn Monroe “Doing Lunch” in Nyack, 1959

photo from ”The Life and Destiny of Isak Dinesen.”

It must have been quite an afternoon that chilly day in January, 1959 –  Baroness Karen Dinesen von Blixen-Finecke (who wrote under the pen-name “Isak Dinesen”) the Danish author famous for “Out of Africa” and “Babette’s Feast” was touring the USA – that’s her with the kerchief – and stopped to have lunch on Broadway in South Nyack with her friend, Carson McCullers at McCullers’ home where they were joined by award-winning American Playwright Arthur Miller and his lovely wife, Norma Jean.

 

Now this was no normal coffeeklatch – our Nyack transplant McCullers as you’ll recall wrote the classic American novels “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and “Member of the Wedding” along with the short story collection “The Ballad of Sad Cafe” some of the finest work being done in literature mid-century.  Arthur Miller was quite possibly America’s finest playwright to date having penned “The Crucible”, “Death of a Salesman”, “All My Sons” and “A View From a Bridge”. In Denmark, Dinesen is considered to be the second most important Danish citizen of the 20th Century (after scientist Nils Bohrs) and appears on both their stamps and money. Despite an impressive array of novels, essays and short stories, sadly in the literary field she is considered the Susan Lucci of the Nobel Prize for Literature – many years later the Nobel committee would admit not awarding her was “a mistake”.  And then there’s Norma Jean, or Marilyn Monroe to me and you – who was famous for, well, being Marilyn Monroe.

 

So there they were – three of the great word-sculptors of the 20th Century, sitting around having lunch in Nyack with the Hollywood Heart-throb (and knocking back a few martinis if the glasses are any indication…) what I would have given to have heard those conversations!  And yet, with some of the most famous and groundbreaking movie scripts, plays, novels and story collections of the twentieth century having been conceived by those three great minds in that room, just who is it that we remember and care about 50 years later?

 

Why, Mama Baker’s little girl Norma Jean… Miss Marilyn Monroe.

 

The Carson McCullers House is located at 131 South Broadway in South Nyack and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  After McCuller’s death in 1967, her friend Tennessee Williams paid to have the home broken up into 5 apartments that would always be available to those in the Arts and Literature to help make struggling artists’ careers a bit easier.  Stroll by and read the Historical Marker…

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96 Years Ago Today: Nyack’s German Spy Ring

Who knew?  Nyack was deeply involved in a three-sided German spy ring during World War I (the other two points being Hoboken and the neighborhood of Chelsea on Manhattan’s West Side) that resulted in a number of sunken ocean liners and cargo vessels, the deaths of a large number of civilians, and an attempted GERM WARFARE attack on American Shipping. All while the United States of America was still a NEUTRAL Nation.  It’s not often that two of my great interests – Nyack History and the History of the Great Ocean Liners intersect, so this story is doubly fascinating to me.

Kronprinzessin Cecile's Hoboken Pier. photo: ancestry.com

December 26, 1914 – Europe had been at war since August when a disgruntled Bosnian student decided to vent his frustration at the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by sending several bullets through the space occupied by Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, resulting in a rather peeved Empire along with its’ German allies and the commencement of the rather too-optimistically labeled “War to End All Wars”. 

Upon declaration of war in August, a number of the Great Ocean Liners like England’s Lusitania, Mauritania, Cedric and Olympic; France’s France and Paris; the Netherlands’ Noordam; and THIRTY ships of German registry, including the Krownprincessen Cecile (with a good portion of the German Government’s Gold Treasury Reserves aboard!), Vaterland, President Grant and Friedrich der Grosse were all trapped in American Ports and told to stay in those neutral waters for an unknown time period.  In New York Harbor the English, French and American liners docked at what is now Chelsea Piers, and the German, Dutch, and Norwegian liners docked across the river in Hoboken (you can still get awesome Sauerbraten at Helmers on 12th Street in Hoboken, just up from the old liner docks and where the trapped German sailors ate almost daily!)

Literally thousands of European Merchant Marine Officers, Crew, Stewards and Stewardesses were on “extended shore leave” in NYC and Hoboken with nothing to do and little news from home. At the beginning of the War, due to America’s polyglot population, there was almost as much sentiment in favor of the Central Powers as was in favor of the Allies.

The German high command realized it needed spies in the USA – and needed to find a way to get thousands of experienced sailors and officers back from their hiatus in Hoboken and on to German Naval Vessels.  A ring formed with German and Austrian nationals and ex-pats – the money and offices were in Chelsea, the construction of fire bombs and germ-warfare canisters of tetanus, meningitis and hoof-and-mouth were constructed in the engine rooms of the impounded liners in Hoboken (particularlythe Friedrich der Grosse, where the germ canisters were made) while communications and a faked US Passport “factory” was located in the St. George Hotel in Nyack! And who was the head of this very sophisticated ring? Johann Heinrich Count von Bernstorff, no less than the German Ambassador to the United States.

Our local Nyack Passport forger was Lt. Hans Adam von Wedell, and the Courier and Communications expert was his wife, the Baroness von Wedell.  The Lieutenant’s M.O. was to get longshoremen and drifters on the New York, Hoboken and Nyack docks and piers to apply for US Passports and then buy them back at a premium, supplying them to groups of sailors from the trapped vessels and other reserve troops coming from all over North America (and if they were trapped in Asia at War’s Outbreak, coming home the long way – through neutral Honolulu to San Francisco then by train to Nyack or Piermont or Hoboken and picking up a new Swedish, Norwegian or Dutch identity to leave the US and return to Central Europe).  It all went swimmingly – with hundreds getting out on North European liners, and what was doubly ironic – the Baroness frequently using the Lusitania to get to France and slipping over the border to bring news back and forth between the High Command and the German Ambassador turned chief of espionage, Count von Bernstorff.

As Autumn turned to Winter, the forger started to get cocky and brag in the local bars here and in NYC about what he was doing to those who had German last names… it proved the undoing of the Passport end of the ring – von Wedell began to feel the heat coming this way and pretended to flee to Cuba! Instead he took a lovely drive up the Hudson for a while then was back at the St. George for Christmas Dinner after services at Nyack’s Dutch Reformed Church.  He had arranged for passage for himself and four high-ranking reserve officers (with bogus passports) on the Norwegian liner Bergensfjord sailing on January 2. On December 26, he sent this communiqué explaining his “disappearance” – it began:

“HOTEL ST. GEORGE: Felix Fieger, Proprietor, Nyack-on-Hudson, December 26, 1914.
His Excellency The Imperial German Ambassador, Count Von Bernstorff, Washington,
D. C. Your Excellency: Allow me most obediently to put before you the following facts:
It seems that an attempt has been made to produce the impression upon you that I pre-
maturely abandoned my post in New York. That is not true…”

As it turns out, the telegram of explanation would only serve to solidify Lt. & Baroness von Wedell’s guilt to posterity. On January 2, 1915 Federal Agents in a fast pilot-boat caught the Bergensfjord before she reached The Narrows and International Waters – and after lining up all the male passengers, took the four fleeing German Reserve Officers off and into custody.  Unbeknownst to the Feds, the von Wedell’s were aboard (the Baroness having arrived back on the Lusitania just in time to catch what she thought would be their “lifeboat home”) and lacking photos of the couple, the pair escaped US Custody.  Unfortunately, only the bogus passport scheme was shut down – the firebombs produced aboard the impounded Ocean Liners at Hoboken would go on to sink or burn a number of cargo, transport and passenger liners with serious loss of life. The germ canisters (Thank God!) took too long to get to the Port of New Orleans (where the intention was to sicken the migrant workers picking food, the dock and port workers and the crews of food supply ships) and without more sophisticated refrigeration, expired before they could start an epidemic.  Though things could have been far worse, the fact exists that Nyack’s spies cause much pain and grief.

So, you are asking, what happened to Lt. and Baroness von Wedell? Once the Feds realized their error, they wired London and a British Naval Courier vessel met and boarded the Bergensfjord as it approached the English Channel and took the couple into custody.  However, before the Courier could return to the Admiralty, she was spotted, targeted, and with Teutonic efficiency, torpedoed by a German U-Boat and sent to the bottom with all hands on board, including the Lieutenant and his Baroness.  Karma, anybody?

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55 Years Ago Today: Tappan Zee Bridge Opens In South Nyack

 There are watershed moments in every person’s life and in any municipality’s history; one of those occurred 55 years ago today for the Nyacks and all of Rockland County.  Arguably no other historical event since the arrival of Henry Hudson’s ship in 1609 has so affected and changed the lives of the native residents of Nyack than the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge on December 15, 1955.  As it did for the Tappan and Nayak sub-tribes of the Lenni Lenapes back in 1609, life for residents in the Nyacks (and the rest of Rockland County) would never be the same.

photo: Nyack Library Collection

 A BRIDGE TOO FAR?  You’ve got to admit it, you’ve asked the question yourself… WHY of all places did the government and the engineers choose the “Tappan Sea” – a three-mile wide section of the “North River” that led Henry Hudson to believe he found the “Northwest Passage” – rather than one of the narrower sections of the Hudson just north or just south of here? Why not Piermont-Irvington or Snedens Landing-Dobbs Ferry? Wouldn’t that have been easier, and closer to the City? As it turns out, there are MANY reasons why “The Bridge” showed up where it did – some political, some jurisdictional (Port Authority of NY/NJ vs. NYS Thruway Authority, etc…) and some simply, well, logical.  You see, there are very few places along the Palisades and the Hudson Highlands where the shore of the Hudson is easily reachable from the interiors of Bergen County, Rockland County or Orange County (similar conditions also exist on the Bronx, Westchester and Putnam side, but are not quite as extreme).  If you disbelieve me, stop at the State Line Lookout on the Palisades Parkway, go to the edge of the viewing area, and look down.  Both Piermont and Snedens Landing had been operating Ferries since pre-Revolutionary times, but neither are particularly accessible from the interior. The Piermont Creek does cut through, but in a very narrow cutting not quite suitable for a major interstate, and that location would cause a much more difficult jurisdictional problem.  Additionally, it appears many engineers felt the long, low flat area off Nyack in the Tappan Zee would be easier to deal with than the marsh/wetland area that abuts both Piermont and Sneden’s Landing.  In the long run, I think the ecosystem of the wetlands is probably far better served with the bridge being located where it is, though I’m sure no one in the 1950s really cared too much about that!

BLESSING OR CURSE?:  The Bridge would have dramatic and relatively immediate impact on the Nyacks and all of Rockland.  To be fair, it had done so before it ever opened, obliterating most of the Village of South Nyack and the Hamlet of Central Nyack (did you know South Nyack had a business district with stores, churches, a train station, cemeteries? Did you know one of those cemeteries was NOT relocated, just paved over? Remember that the next time you drive off the Nyack end of the Bridge…).  The population of all of Rockland County in 1950 was 89,276 – by 1960, that figure had risen to 136,803 an increase of 53%! The main reason for this influx was the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the New York State Thruway corridor. You cannot tell me that ANY municipality could possibly have prepared its’ resources and infrastructure to cope properly with that type of population growth.  I started Elementary School in 1968, my brothers in 1966 and 1962 – in my classroom in First Grade were 53 students, 61 and 60 in my brother’s classrooms. Parents today would be horrified at those numbers.  A County-wide Sewer construction bond had been voted down during this time period (though parts of Orangetown and Stony Point did have them) a penny-wise/pound-foolish decision those same tight-fisted voters would later rue.

The influx of new residents would cause issues in School Districts and Utilities, but would also spell ultimate doom for the Downtown of Nyack (along with Pearl River, Haverstraw, Spring Valley and Suffern) “Mom and Pop” stores could not compete with the large “Box Stores” (as we now refer to them) like E.J. Korvettes along the Route 59 Corridor, nor could local grocers compete with new “Super Markets” springing up on 59, 303 and 9W.  The final nail in the coffin of “Old Rockland Downtowns” was the Nanuet Mall. The new residents, who only thought in terms of where they could drive their cars had no problem driving to these “Shopping Centers” and leaving the smaller stores in the dust.  And of course, since we now could access Westchester and the City either via the NYS Thruway and the Tappan Zee Bridge, or the improved Palisades Interstate Parkway which linked to the George Washington Bridge, we certainly didn’t need that silly old-fashioned train anymore, right?  After over 100 years of getting by train from Nyack to NYC in 50 minutes (via the Jersey Tubes), it was more convenient and individualistic to get in our cars and drive… (ah, how true that we reap what we sow…)  The Bridge would also signal the end of the Ferry System. Several had been operating in the same location since colonial times – no longer necessary with the car to let you go on your own time (and consider how cheap gas was then!).

No, life would never be the same for Nyack and Rockland. But not all the changes would be negative.  Though my family would be here (just under the wire) due to my Mom growing up with a Summer House her family had for years in Rockland Lake Village, many of my dearest friends would not be here without The Bridge.  The diverse and dynamic array of cultures found in few other suburban areas anywhere would likely not have occurred, and that would have been a great loss.  And I have to admit something.  Despite the traffic tie-ups, despite the endless repairs, despite noise, soot and inconvenience – I actually LOVE that Bridge.  Some find it ugly, but much of the time I find it to be quite beautiful, especially at night.  The view from my terrace allows me to see “my” bridge lit up like a Christmas Ornament every night of the year (makes it easy to see the traffic conditions, too) and merely the sight of it warms my heart.  At a dark time of my life, when I feared I would not ever be able to return home to the East Coast and Nyack again, the sight of that Bridge when I finally did return, and came around the bend of the Thruway in Westchester caused me to burst into to tears (it was a good thing my Dad was driving).  Frankly, nothing says “Home” to me more than that massive, rusting, bumpy, whoever-said-it-was-a-fifty-year-bridge hunk of steel known as the “Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge”.

photo: J.P. Schutz

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“The Show MUST Go On?” – Nyack’s Lost Theaters

The recent public forum at Village Hall regarding the development of the “Super Block” had me thinking about Nyack’s long history with Theaters – Opera, Vaudeville, Equity Dramas and Musicals, avant-garde Performance Art, mainstream Film Palaces and Community Theaters.  Now, aside from being a Realtor as many know, I’m also an Equity Actor, so of course I would love for Nyack to continue to have a professional theater where I could work and even walk home from! We’ve had a number of them in the past, and I’d like to show you a few…

ROCKLAND THEATER:  This movie palace was located in the heart of town and was one of my family’s favorite movie theaters when I was quite young – my mother loved “The Sound of Music” so much that we saw it at this theater a half-a-dozen times in the movie’s initial run.

photo: Nyack Historical Society

Built in 1927-28, the theater had a whopping 1638 seats!  I still vaguely remember the (to my child’s eyes) flashing marquee with lots and lots of light bulbs and a huge (again, to my eyes) chandelier in the lobby, and it was vaguely “Spanish Villa” in feel – to my child’s mind it was incredibly exotic, and second only to that cathedral of movie theaters in the city, Radio City Music Hall. It supposedly housed an 8-rank Wurlitzer organ, and my Mom recalls a number of excellent organists over the years.  Growing up, her family always had a vacation home in Rockland Lake (more on the lost village of Rockland Lake in a latter post) and this was the theater that my Mom and her brother Bill would go to for matinees.

If the “Club Diner” in the photo looks familiar to you – 10 points. That railroad car diner would be moved to the corner of New Street and Park Street where it would again be a diner, and then eventually the current (and very popular) Thai House Restaurant.

The theater closed it’s doors for good in 1967, and was demolished in 1978 – for a while the empty lot was used for parking, before it became what it is today – The Victoria Mews Condominiums across from the Runcible Spoon bakery/cafe.

photo: J.P. Schutz

 

BROADWAY THEATER/TAPPAN ZEE PLAYHOUSE: This theater began it’s life in 1835 as a warehouse for the building of sleighs and carriages, by 1868 it was Doersch Brothers Grocery, then later a Real Estate Office. After sitting for several years as “a hole in the ground” (see, it happened before!) in 1911, what was left of the original was converted to a theater by adding a lobby and box office in the front and a stage/backstage/fly area in the rear.  The venue was used both for live performances – vaudeville at first – and movie screenings. Initially, it housed 1114 seats.  It closed it’s doors in 1931 and remained vacant until 1958 when it re-opened as all live theater summer-stock venue of Broadway plays and musicals, changing it’s name to The Tappan Zee Playhouse.

photo: Nyack Library Archives

Over the years many stars of stage and screen would appear at the Tappan Zee Playhouse including Edgar Bergen, Julie Harris, Joan Fontaine, Gloria Swanson, and of course, Nyack’s own Helen Hayes.  My mom recalls seeing Liza Minellia and Elliot Gould there, and I attended a production of “Godspell” during it’s tumultuous last years in the 1970’s when it would open, close for a while, open for a production or two, then close again – a fire in 1976 signaled the last time it would be open as a theater. Sadly, I remember far less of this theater’s interior than I do of the Rockland Theater above. What I do remember from the 1970’s was a heavy musty smell and an overall feeling of depression being in the building. Time did not treat this theater well.  A grassroots effort to save the theater started in the late 70s/early 80s and I performed in an number of benefits to “Save the Tappan Zee Playhouse” – in September 1989, the theater’s name was officially changed to “The Helen Hayes Theater” in hopes more money would come in under that name. Sadly, the building proved too much to deal with, and since the goal of the restoration group was to save live professional theater in Nyack, not become a preservation society, the building was abandoned to its’ fate and the Cinema East theater on Main Street was purchased to become the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center.  That building now houses “Riverspace” but the future of theater in the space is in doubt – hence the meeting which I discussed at the start of this post.

In 2004, the Tappan Zee Playhouse building was brought down before it fell down – the replacement building had to at least approximate the facade of the original, as the original had been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The new facade does indeed admirably echo the old – housing for Fire and EMS volunteers takes up the upper floors and a Gourmet Market opened on the main floor only to close its’ doors in less than 6 months. Sadly, the main floor space is now empty again.

photo: J.P.Schutz

So, sadly, the future of live professional theater remains in doubt. The Nyack Opera House, Tappan Zee Playhouse, Rockland Theater, and Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center are all no more.  Riverspace struggles to survive but has only been utilized a few times this year (I performed there in the Fall with Neil Berg and the rest of the “100 Years of Broadway” reunion cast).  In the center of town, avante-garde theater does take place on occassion in a small “black-box” theater above the old Woolworths, but that is currently all.  The Actor’s Equity Union feels that Nyack can support a 350 seat live theater and make it viable year-round. I hope some of the ideas that are being kicked about actually include a SMALLER sized theater with less seats so that perhaps we can maintain a continued live professional theater presence in the village.

Until that time, although as a professional I cannot work there, we CAN satisfy ourselves with our theatrical stalwart ELMWOOD PLAYHOUSE.  Around since 1947 and located on Park Street in downtown Nyack since 1958, this non-professional community theater continues to perform exceptional dramas, musicals and original works season after season. Mark my words, don’t let the phrase “Community Theater” frighten you when it comes to Elmwood – these are some of the finest non-pro productions in the entire country and their excellent reputation is well-deserved – they just deserve some company in town!

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Nyack’s “Legally” Haunted House

“…having reported the ghosts’ presence in both a national publication… and the local press… defendant is estopped to deny their existence and, as a matter of law, the house is haunted.”  New York State Supreme Court Ruling, July 18, 1991*

The house was a lovely Hudson River Victorian on LaVeta Place in Nyack.  For years, one of the owners had recounted tales of a benign haunting in her home to everyone – it was part of the Nyack Ghost Tour, it was on TV, it was in Reader’s Digest – around Nyack, we all knew about the ghosts (or supposed ghosts) in “that house by the river”.  We all knew it, but in 1989 when the house was put up for sale, buyers from New York City did not. They went into contract on the lovely home unaware that they might just have some permanent house guests they didn’t invite. Then they heard the story… from, well, everybody in Nyack. “Oh, you bought the ‘Ghost House!'” Thus began one of the oddest cases in New York Jurisprudence since we were New Netherland.

See, as a Realtor it is our duty to disclose any known defects of a home that might affect its’ purchase price, or its’ value thereafter.  But is a haunting an adverse condition? Could it be argued that no such thing exists? Could it be argued in Court that it DOES? The Buyers, the Sellers, the Realtors and the Justices of the State of New York would find themselves “through the looking-glass” trying to determine precedent on the unprecedented.

After first deciding that though it was obvious that the common perceived notion in the area was that the house was referred to as “haunted” and that perception could certainly affect the perceived value of the house, the Trial Court held that such a condition should fall under caveat emptor or “let the buyer beware” and no wrongdoing occurred.  An Appeals Court overturned that decision on the grounds that ghosts in a house are not exactly something that can be discovered in the average property inspection, nor is it likely to be an issue a buyer might ever think to ask about.  Therefore, the court noted that whether the house was truly haunted or not, the fact that the house had been widely reported as being haunted greatly affected its value – and that as a known perceived condition, it should have been disclosed.  They wrote: “Where, as here, the seller not only takes unfair advantage of the buyer’s ignorance but has created and perpetuated a condition about which he is unlikely to even inquire, enforcement of the contract (in whole or in part) is offensive to the court’s sense of equity. Application of the remedy of rescission, within the bounds of the narrow exception to the doctrine of caveat emptor set forth herein, is entirely appropriate to relieve the unwitting purchaser from the consequences of a most unnatural bargain.” * The Buyers had their deposit returned.

The house was purchased by a corporation who quickly sold it again (not due to any poltergeist activities that I can ascertain) and the next buyers were brought to the closing table by my compatriot and friend here at Nyack Rand Realty, Diane Smith.  The purchasers were an author, and her husband, an A-list Hollywood screenwriter.  (Other interested purchasers included “The Amazing Kreskin” who once told me the reason he had any interest was BECAUSE it was reputed to be haunted and he wanted proof, one way or the other).  Diane’s buyers weren’t fazed by the allegations of a haunting – but thought their kids might have an issue, and decided the kids needed to go there first, hang out a bit, and see if it scared them.  Diane was afraid the kids might be spooked and the deal wouldn’t have a ghost of a chance, but lo and behold, the kids loved the place and the whole family found the “vibe” of the house warm and inviting.  They still live there 15 or so years on, and I’m told that there have been no negative experiences… which doesn’t necessarily mean there have been no experiences, now does it? 

So, the next time you are purchasing property, maybe you might want to ask me – or some other realtor – “has anything ‘unusual’ ever happened in this house?”  After all, Home Inspectors can’t be expected to find EVERYTHING… 

* 169 A.D.2d 254, 572 N.Y.S.2d 672, 60 USLW 2070. New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department

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29 Years Ago Today – True Terror Grips Nyack

Scarier than any ghost story were the events of October 20, 1981 – the day true terror came to town in the guise of a group of radical revolutionaries from several domestic extremist groups. In Autumn 1981, I was a sophomore at Fordham University in the city and living down there during the week to return home on weekends. On that day, when the Weather Underground and their buddy groups opted to hold up a Brink’s Armored Truck at the Nanuet Mall and leave a trail of death and destruction in their wake, I had taken the 9A bus up from the city after classes to practice a solo with George Bryant for that Sunday’s mass.  We practiced in St. Ann’s Church and finished by late afternoon.  I went out onto Jefferson Street to wait for my mother who was going to pick me up, take me home for dinner and then I’d walk and catch the bus back to the city that night or early in the morning.  Despite it being a lovely autumn day, I started to notice that (1) no one else seemed to be around ANYWHERE nearby; and (2) there were lots of sirens in the distance.  A Nyack Police cruiser turned onto Jefferson and I’ll never forget hearing “John, get inside the rectory NOW and STAY THERE!” Needless to say, I followed instructions, not having a clue what was going on.

Inside the Rectory, the priests and staff were trying to figure out the same thing. Remember, this was before the internet, before cell phones.  We eventually pieced together that just before 4:00 there had been an armed bank robbery and people were shot.  The chaos continued outside, sometimes nearer, sometimes further, but it was a long time before things would calm down.  My mother never did get to me that afternoon, as all the roads were closed and she returned home – after being frantic about each other for a bit, we connected over the rectory’s phone.

At 3:55 pm that day, a group of armed men and women stormed Brink’s guards Peter Page and Joe Trombino as they carried bags of money from the Nanuet Mall to their armored vehicle – they fired shotguns, M16s and various other weapons at the men.  Page was hit multiple times, Trombino managed to get off one shot before hitting the pavement for good.  With $1.6 million dollars the attackers fled in several different cars and a rented U-Haul van and headed east on Route 59 intending to cross the Tappan Zee Bridge and escape.  The van was blockaded at the Thruway Entrance in Central Nyack by the McDonalds.  Kathy Boudin (paroled in 2003!) pleaded with the police to put their weapons down – that there was no need, when the guns were lowered at Ms. Boudin’s request, her six companions (in body armor) jumped out of the back of the van and opened fire.  Nyack Police officers Waverly Brown, Edward O’Grady and Artie Keenan were struck and down.  Officer Brian Lennon, uninjured, was trapped in his cruiser by the weight of a fellow officer’s body.  After firing several rounds point-blank into downed Officer Brown and running over downed Sgt. O’Grady and crashing the truck into Lennon and the Police Cruiser, the attackers took off on foot and several carjacked a motorist in an attempt to escape.

One of the cars sped right through St. Ann’s neighborhood (the reason I was sent inside so forcefully) and crashed when they could not make the abrupt turn onto Broadway. South Nyack Police Chief Alan Cosley held them at gunpoint (alone!) until assistance arrived.  Others were caught on foot all over the area.

When the madness cleared, Nyack Police Officer Waverly Brown and Guard Peter Paige were dead at each scene.  Sergeant Edward O’Grady died later at Nyack Hospital – Officer Keenan healed from his wounds.  Ironically,  Guard Joe Trombino recovered from his severe wounds only to be caught in the September 11 attacks in 2001 and be killed by another group of extremists while at the World Trade Center.  Kathy Boudin who tricked the officers to death, but admittedly did not shoot, used her father’s influence to get a shorter more lenient sentence (the rest got 3 consecutive 25-Life terms) and was released at her third parole hearing in 2003, supposedly remorseful and rehabilitated, having worked with HIV and AIDS patients in prison. Many of us who lived here at the time are extremely bitter about this turn of events, and feel that justice would have been served had she continued her HIV/AIDS work in prison with the rest of her companions.  She HAS since published in the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s journal Fellowship, at least lending SOME verisimilitude to the possibility that she is indeed remorseful for her past.

The Thruway Entrance in Central Nyack now shelters a memorial to the slain officers, and a historical marker has been placed at the spot.  The Nyack Post Office was officially renamed in honor of Sgt. O’Grady, Officer Brown and Brink’s Guard Paige in May 2004.  A ceremony will be held today honoring the slain and keeping their memory alive.

Photo from Historical Marker Database

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244 Years Ago Today – Nyack attacked by Redcoats!

On October 15, 1776, Captain A. Hawkes Hay commanding repulsed an attack by the British on Nyack.  By the fall of 1776, the British were not only in control of the City of New York, they had also gained control of Harlem, Bloomingdale and the other communities on Upper Manhattan and Fort Lee on the Jersey side.  The Patriots firmly controlled the Hudson above West Point, but there was a struggle to keep the lower Hudson from coming under British control.  

Hay reported that the ships attempting to land at Nyack were prevented by the men under his command, including the use of the Swivel Gun emplacement in Upper Nyack.  Severe damage was done to the house and barn of PHILIP SARVENT (see yesterday’s post about the Old Palmer Burial Ground) showing us that Sarvent was indeed working the emplacement in Upper Nyack – and though only a few men were injured in this encounter (no deaths) there were several other attacks on the area in 1777 and 1780.  Hay’s own home would be targeted by the British from the River and destroyed in one of these raids, Major John Smith’s house in Upper Nyack destroyed in another.  So it is entirely possible that Sarvent IS the reputed ghost of the Old Palmer Burial Ground as his gun emplacement was there and several of the attacks came in the form of raids – stealthy enough to sneak up behind an exhausted sentry and do him in before he could respond?  Who knows?

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“Eternal Rest” or “Unrest”? Nyack’s Cemeteries

In keeping with the “spirit” of October, All Hallows Eve or Samhain (take your pick) I’ll continue with two of our local cemeteries reputed to come with a “little something extra”. For each, I’ll give the alleged haunting first with history second.

OAK HILL CEMETERY

HAUNTING:  Since I was a kid, I’ve heard stories of people who SWORE they saw someone pass them as they were reading the stones, only to look up as they passed and find no one within hundreds of yards of their location.  A former resident of the caretaker’s house reports playing hide-and-seek type games when he was very little with children he only later realized could NOT have been there (no wonder they were so hard to catch!).  The caretaker’s home itself has had a certain number of reports of footsteps, doors opening and other haunting type phenomenon all around the structure – not a surprise perhaps as two different former caretakers suicided there.  One extensive reporting of “Phantom Walkers” regards a young woman in jeans who walks vacantly past in broad daylight.  This apparition began shortly after the burial of a young lady who’d been killed in a car accident, and her boyfriend told me the outfit that witness claimed the spectre was wearing sounded exactly like her favorite.

HISTORY:  Founded June 27, 1848 this large, beautiful, hillside cemetery winds up the side of the mountain ridge affording spectacular views of the Hudson from the upper sections.  A walk through this spectacular graveyard (still expanding, which cause a bit of controversy a few weeks back!) reveals elaborate tombstones, monuments, pillars, obelisks, weeping angels, and a large number of elegant mausoleums.  Most touching, perhaps, is the “Children’s Area” an area very close to the top of the ridge that for a time was limited to the graves of the very young. Recognizable permanent residents of Oak Hill include actress Helen Hayes and her playwright husband Charles MacArthur as well as his writing partner, Ben Hecht the screenwriter of “Gone With the Wind” and many other film classics; Americas’ greatest realist painter and Nyack native, artist Edward Hopper; Author Carson McCullers of “Member of the Wedding Fame”; Filmmaker and artist, Joseph Cornell; Nyack’s homegrown Civil War heroes Col. Edward Pye who commanded the New York 95th regiment at Gettysburg, Grant’s Overland Campaign and was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor in 1864 AND Brigadier General Daniel Ullman who was commanding general of the first black troops raised by the Union.  Also scattered among the well-tended rows are many other famous artists, designers, musicians, and several congressmen.  A free walking tour of Oak Hill is coming up on Sunday, October 24 from 2 to 4 pm sponsored by the Friends of the Nyacks – for info: http://friendsofthenyacks.org/2010/10/17/oak-hill-cemetery-tour-sundays-200-p-m-may-2-and-october-17/

OLD PALMER BURIAL GROUND

HAUNTING:  The legend has remained the same for a long, long, LONG time.  I can find references to it in Nyack histories going back as far as the late 1800s.  A Revolutionary War era soldier sits his lonely sentry post atop one of the stones, musket forlornly held across his lap, awaiting a relief guard who will never come. I always thought it far more tragic than scary, and as a teenager we used to walk by on autumn evenings hoping to catch a glimpse of him… but we were perhaps too noisy, too intrusive, and perhaps too much WANTING to see something that a whole gaggle of us might have simply been too much, if indeed it is even possible that a solitary disincarnate guard WAS still protecting Nyack from the Redcoats.  I will say that it is a mournful, melancholy place at night – less frightening, more sorrowful. It was not until many years later when I was 40, riding by on my bicycle at dusk on my way from Marydell that something odd occurred. Braking hard to keep control on my way down Old Mountain Road, I noticed somebody leaning on one of the stones downhill from me in the old cemetery, looking like he was smoking or something.  Immediately I thought the police were going to be annoyed that someone was in there after dark, but wasn’t going to bother him.  That’s when I saw the sign – I had not seen the new historical marker they had erected and skidded to a halt to read it.  And noticed I was alone. No one was in the Burial Ground, nor was there a deer or a bush or anything that might have fooled me. Either I had been mistaken in the gloom of twilight and my subconscious mind chose the shape from my teenage love of the legend of the cemetery, or… well… or I finally saw him. The soldier. If he’d waited, I’d have relieved him for a while… it’s the least I could do for one of our original veterans.  You can check out the investigation of the Old Palmer Burial Ground by NPI –  Nyack’s own Father/Son team of Paranormal Investigators – that was performed in 2009 by linking over to their site (on another tab, of course!) at: http://64nywf65.20m.com/uncem/uncem.htm.

HISTORY:  The Burial Ground began operation in the 1730s, on the land of Corneilius Kuyper who was the original settler of this area of Upper Nyack in 1686.  Kuyper himself was the first burial in 1731 and his wife Aeltje followed him 4 years later.  There are 66 graves, including 3 Revolutionary War soldiers. I do not know if “our” soldier is BURIED there, or was supposedly KILLED there… (which is entirely possible, if you read my “Today in Nyack History” post that will appear tomorrow, October 15). If he is buried there, then he is likely to be Corporal Philip Sarvent as neither a Captain nor a Major would have been on sentry duty along the only road from Rockland Lake to the Hudson during the Revolution.  The Old Palmer Burial Ground is on the north side of Old Mountain Road in Upper Nyack between Midland and Broadway.  It is easily accessible from the road, but remember that cemeteries are generally off-limits at night (I stood at the gate to take my pics) and somewhat dangerous – not from spooks mind you, but from uneven ground, sinkholes, knocked over tombstones, exposed roots and sadly, deer ticks.  The Burial Ground is administered by the Town of Clarkstown so get permission if you want to do any kind of research there.  The nifty historical marker was a gift from another Nyack realtor, Russ Wooley.

All photos, J.P. Schutz

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Camboan Pictures…

I’ve gotten great response to the last posting regarding Camboan, so here are some more pictures of the areas mentioned in the post.  Camboan’s Vall and Camboan’s Falls are located on private property – fortunately, the owners are friends of mine and allowed me to photograph – you’ll see just how inaccessible it is!  Please remember, never try to access any sites on private property without asking the owners first!

 

The Pond; photo: J.P.Schutz

 Hmmm, no “orb” in this one, or the shot that immediately followed, but there is in the shot I added to the main post. Odd. 

 

Camboan's Falls; photo: J.P.Schutz

 Admit it, how many didn’t know Nyack and Upper Nyack had some (albeit small) waterfalls? 

Camboan's Vall; photo: J.P.Schutz

No wonder it took so long to find him. 

The Way Down...

The route down was treacherous, and I had stairs a good portion of the way… I wonder if he simply slipped?  

 

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Why Is It Named That? Part 3 – Spooky Nyack

Welcome to October, when Nyack pulls out the stops for a ghoulishly good time in our happily haunted hamlet (I know, I know, it’s a village, not a hamlet – but village wasn’t alliterative!) There’s lot to write about when it comes to the eerie, macabre, or simply peculiar when it comes to the Nyack area. 400 years of recorded history, with much native lore prior, means there’s been plenty of time for legends, yarns and even legally verifiable oddities to build up. Many of my October posts will have a supernatural bent, even the regular features, such as “Why is it named that”?  Whether true or just legends, nothing says “Autumn” more than a few good spooky stories, so stir up some tea in your cauldron and have a read: 

“CAMBOAN” – a number of names in the area have to do with this member of the Lenni Lenape tribe. An adult man by 1671, Camboan was a member of the Tappan sub-tribe of the Lenni Lenapes who remained alone when the rest of his sub-tribe moved further away from the Dutch residents of what would become Nyack and Upper Nyack. He was very fluent in Dutch and an excellent diplomat frequently helping the Dutch settlers with both internal issues and those related to survival and prosperity in hunting and agriculture along the river’s banks.  His miraculous location of two children lost for 5 days in the woods led to recognition by the regional government and the Dutch Reformed Church offered him Baptism into the faith (if he so chose) as a reward. Camboan seemed to disappear one winter but for years, then decades afterwards, people claimed to see moccasin footprints near the spring where he hunted and smell cook smoke coming from his glen-side home when there was obviously no one there. Eventually it became apparent that Camboan must by then be deceased, and could not still be living in the area, though some part of him might be “lingering”. 

Camboan Road:  Leading off Old Mountain Road in Upper Nyack just east of 9W, this cul-de-sac leads to a secluded lily pad covered pond – this pond would be the spring by which Camboan often hunted and trapped.  The residents of this tucked-away street enjoy a sylvan solitude that belies its’ location in today’s now bustling Rockland County, and its’ closeness to Route 9W.  Walking along the pond makes one feel a hundred miles from anyone. Perhaps Camboan felt the same sense of peace and security there and did not feel as “hemmed in” by the new Dutch folks as did his fellow tibesmembers. 

Spook Hollow Road: One street closer to the Hudson, and also running north off Old Mountain Road, this road, and the entire area along the stream (or “Kill” as the Dutch call a stream or brook) was known as “Spook Hollow” because it was here that so many of the sightings of mysterious Camboan-related hauntings took place.  “Spook” is the Dutch word for “Ghost” and is used by Americans especially in the old Dutch areas like ours, and is one of our subtle lingering relics of the Dutch colony. 

Glenbrook Road: Bordering the other side of the stream in the Spook Hollow area of Upper Nyack, it runs parallel to Old Mountain Road along the other side of Camboan’s Glen.  The street runs  east-west from 9W to that peculiar intersection of Midland, Old Mountain, and Glenbrook. 

Camboan’s Vale:  The glen that encloses the stream running along Old Mountain Road that creates the Spook Hollow area, it becomes a deep cut or ravine below Midland Avenue. The point where it reaches the Hudson east of Broadway was the location of the village that Camboan’s tribemates abandoned. The construction of Tompkins Court a couple of years ago probably obliterated what little was left of the site archiologically, but we know the location.  As a kid in the sixties, I still heard a few old Nyackers refer to the area as “Camboan’s Vale” or “Camboan’s Valley”.  Camboan’s own lodge was located by Camboan’s falls, where the ravine breaks out into the open, vaguely across the street from the Old Palmer Burial Ground (more on THAT in a later post!). Eventually most of the facts of Camboan’s life were forgotten other than a trifle more than what you see here, and though the area was called Spook Hollow and considered haunted, not everyone remembered why.  Finally, according to historian George H. Budke, when houses were being built along the stream and the area was being cleared of brush, the bones of a man were found exposed to the elements in a hard to reach area just up the ravine from the outlet of Camboan’s Vale.  Camboan’s “mysterious” disappearance was solved centuries too late.  One can only hope that someone secretly burned some sage or something for him in accordance with his customs.  I suspect it might have been the Nuns at Marydell, who always allowed any remaining members of the tribe to perform the rites of autumn at their sacred oak behind the office there until the last practicing member of the tribe passed some time around 1930.  That last true Nyack native would be immortalized in Maxwell Anderson’s “HIGH TOR”  – a play in which I recently performed on its’ actual location at Rockland’s High Tor State Park (Anderson moved the Indian from Hook Mountain to High Tor for dramatic purposes) and yes, I played a ghost!  

  

  

Camboan's Pond photo: J.P.Schutz

 

So the next time you are in the Spook Hollow area remember who it is named for and say a little “thank-you” to Camboan, the man who started Nyack’s reputation for racial tolerance over 330 years ago.

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