"Portrait of a Monster," by Inwood resident Cole Thompson and co-author Lisa Pulitzer.

For much of the past year while writing histories of Northern Manhattan, and co-hosting History night at the Indian Road Cafe, I’ve also been working on a true crime book based on the case of Joran van der Sloot. Van der Sloot, you might remember, remains a suspect in the May 30, 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway as well as May 30, 2010 murder of Stephany Flores in Lima, Peru.

For this project I spent part of last summer in Lima, spending time with Peruvian police and getting to know the most recent victim’s family. The research paid off. Peruvian investigators took a shine to myself and co-author Lisa Pulitzer and gave us full access to the investigation. (That’s right, she’s a real Pulitzer)

On July 5th, our book, titled Portrait of a Monster will finally be released.

So far, the book is getting wonderful reviews; Publisher’s Weekly calls it “…well-detailed…disturbing and haunting…” The New York Post also gave the book extensive coverage over the weekend.

My newest creation, I also co-authored a New York Times #1 bestseller on the Scott and Laci Peterson case with former Court TV host Catherine Crier, is available for purchase on Amazon. It contains exclusive details which may surprise even those who have carefully followed the case.

I hope you’ll pick up a copy through Amazon or your favorite bookstore. I would also be honored to sign copies for anyone who’s interested. Most of my devoted readers know where to find me, but you can always send me a message through the website.

Thank you for your continued support.  -Cole

In a very literal sense, Tubby Hook is where Inwood began and,  for nearly a century,  the Black Horse Tavern was the heart and soul of Tubby Hook. The famous tavern and boarding house was later replaced by the original Mount Washington Church.

Instead of my own words, I’ll let this description of The Black Horse Tavern, from an 1874 edition of Appleton’s Journal, speak for itself. The words sing with the antiquity of the age:

“Travelers by the old Albany post-road any time since the year 1805, will remember this inn as the half-way house between the starting-place in this city for the Albany coaches and the first change at Yonkers. The old post-road ran then, just as it does to this day, right by the door of the tavern, so that it was easy and common to stop and obtain refreshments, in a glass of something hot, without dismounting from the coach.

The inn was also a famous rendezvous for the people of the region, rich and poor, who met there as on a sort of neutral ground for a social drink, and to exchange ideas on topics of the day. Henry Norman was the builder and original proprietor of the place, and was recognized in his time as an enterprising pioneer in the wilderness that lay beyond the city. The value of lands thereabouts was so little at that remote day that a tradition about John Francis, the cloth-weaver, which seems well authenticated by the ruins of the house he built himself on the spot, related that he was presented by the neighbors with the fee-simple of some acres lying between the Bussing and Beekman lots, on the sole condition that he would set up his loom among them.

A more picturesque situation than that of the old inn would be difficult to find, even in this most picturesque part of the Island of Manhattan. It stands about an eighth of a mile north of the barricade, or ‘Barry-gate,’ as the country-people then called it, because, it may be supposed, there really was a gate in the work where the post-road ran through. The site of Fort Tryon is directly above it, on the precipitous point of the high ridge behind and to the west, now known as Fort Washington Ridge. A gorge at the north end of the building runs east and west, forming the only level passageway from the valley of the Harlem River to the banks of the Hudson. It is the very gorge-or ‘slue,’ as it was termed by our grandfathers-where so many ‘hireling Hessians’ met death in their fruitless assault on Fort Tryon.

The Tubby-Hook landing road, now Inwood Street, leads through the gorge, and at the corner near the end of the inn stables are two remarkably gnarled old weeping willows, hanging their pendulous branches, ragged with age, down over the roadway; and, on the opposite side, a row of hoary poplars of giant size skirts the road.

They are old landmarks, like the inn itself, but must soon give way before the demands of our times for new streets and wide avenues. The word has gone out, the axe is to be laid at their roots, and an end made of them-they are, as is fitting, to finish their days at the same time with the old inn which they have sheltered from the hour of their planting and the day of its erection. These patriarchs are of the variety called Lombardy Poplars; nobody plants them nowadays , or likes them, for there is a sturdiness about them that belongs to that olden time, and but for ill fits this Sybarite age-sturdiness in the way they grow up in massy clumps of foliage, rusty and ragged, with a look of everyday battle against adverse weathers and formidable difficulties of labor, such as belonged to men’s lives in our early history. In the front of the tavern, to the east, the meadows spread themselves, the Harlem ‘Creek’ glistens beyond, and, to the southward, an ancient apple orchard is still vainly trying, in spite of its years, to bear itself upright, in emulation of youthful vigor, like an old man who tries to the last to hide the ravages of time under an erect carriage and agile bearing.

The inn is a homely affair, two low stories in height, partly built of stone, and having a small addition on one side, from the end of which projects the half-dome of a ‘bake-oven,’ constructed from the outside and reached from within. There are five rooms in all, large enough to have once been esteemed comfortable, but now pretty much given up to decay and dirt. When the ‘Widow Crawford’ kept the house, a sign, adorned with the portrait of a black horse, swung from a pole in front of the door, announcing ‘entertainment for man and beast.’ It is gone now; has, mayhap, helped to make a fire wherewith to cook the frugal meal of some wandering Vandal, who thought, if he thought at all, that the little antiquity of the New World was a matter of no consequence.

Tubby Hook detail, 1891 map by Frederick W. Beers.

Neither the inn nor the land on which it stands has had many owners. In 1740, John Schuyler, Jr., Phillip his brother, Stephen Boyard, Jr., and James Stephenson, had it by letters-patent from his majesty the then King of England, from them it passed to John Livingston, merchant of New York, who sold it, with all rights and titles, except to gold and silver mines, to Johannis Seckeles; he to Henry Norman; he to the old Dyckman whose son Abraham died in the house. Afterward it came into the Flint family, and now is in their possession.

There are some Revolutionary stories extant among the old settlers about the events which are supposed to have happened here. Of course, it is said that General Washington once made it his ‘headquarters,’ but it is impossible to believe that these tales have any foundation in truth, when the fact of its being built in 1805, years after the close of the war, is considered.” –Appleton’s Journal, 1874 CLICK HERE FOR MORE INWOOD HISTORY AND PHOTOS

Frightful or delightful; it all depended on one’s mindset as a fierce March snowstorm with gusting winds battered the East Coast this morning. As temperatures hovered in the low 20′s,  many in Inwood, especially those with a SNOW DAY, seemed to enjoy the late season winter blast.

Let’s take a look.

Life on the top of the hill has distinct advantages for the residents of Park Terrace Gardens. Built in 1940, the five-building complex is called the “Gardens” for a reason; the entire center of the block is a lovingly landscaped private garden, with much of the planting done by a team of resident volunteers.

This sense of community extends from the annual garden party, where residents get to know one another, to more casual cookouts on the common roof terraces. These specially designed rooftop common areas are equipped with grills and tables so you and your loved ones can have a burger while watching the sun set over the Henry Hudson Bridge. Where else in Manhattan can you do this?

A lucky few even have private terraces attached to their penthouse apartments.

Located just blocks away from two parks, including the breathtaking 196-acre Inwood Hill Park, visitors from downtown often refer to Inwood as “the country.”

But don’t let the clean air, sweeping views and neighborly attitude fool you. Located blocks from two subway lines and a major shopping and restaurant strip on Broadway, Park Terrace Gardens is still is still very much a part of the big city.

The four-hundred unit complex, designed by Albert Goldhammer, sits on the site formerly occupied by Inwood’s legendary Seaman Mansion. Today, the marble arch, which once marked the entrance to the estate, can still be seen from Broadway.

Goldhammer was a renowned architect in New York City and many of his other buildings, including Co-Op Village on the Lower East Side,  still stand today. Goldhammer was perhaps best known for bringing urban landscapes to life by employing art deco style alongside landscaped gardens.

Walking though Park Terrace Gardens today it is easy to imagine the magnificent 19th century estate with its once carefully sculpted grounds. While much has changed, the gardens, were, and remain, the soul of this hilltop property.

Park Terrace Gardens in 1941.

An uptown oasis, Park Terrace Gardens has all the modern amenities one could ask for: new laundry rooms, a T-1 internet line, electronic pass keys, concierge service, live in supers,  24-hours emergency service, security cameras and much, much more.

View of the Henry Hudson Bridge from a private terrace in Park Terrace Gardens located in Inwood, New York City.

Below is a current description of the complex from the Park Terrace Garden website:

“Park Terrace Gardens, Inc. is a 100% shareholder owned housing co-operative located in upper Manhattan. The complex is bounded by West 215th Street and West 217th Street one block west of Broadway. The property is a mid-rise garden apartment complex consisting of five, eight story buildings with a total of 397 units. The buildings were constructed in 1940 and converted to a cooperative in 1976.”

Park Terrace Gardens goes co-op, Village Voice ad, Sept. 27, 1976.

If you are interested in living in Park Terrace Gardens, or have any questions, please drop me a line using the below form.  In addition to living in the Gardens, I am a licensed real estate sales-person with the Inwood firm New Heights Realty.  It would be my pleasure to introduce you to my Inwood.

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