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The hotel where Commander J. B. Douglas stayed while he was in New York, The Westbury Hotel, was located on Scammel Street. A nice bit of research on the part of the BtMoM authors (I had to research it myself to figure out where it was supposed to be), since Scammel Street was one of several streets that were torn down in the 30s, to be replaced with Vladeck Park Houses, built in 1940.
All that remains of this street today is a path through that housing complex.
The expedition members begin the arduous task of auditing the manifests, and discover that all is not as it should be. A strange note arrives, a noted sea captain is found dead and a package disappears under mysterious circumstances.
A few snapshots from the session:
Wimsey (and Wimsey junior), Magnusson, McLoughal, Avery, Belcourt and the Keeper.
Belcourt, McLoughal, Wimsey, Avery, Magnusson (video and audio, don't ask) and Keeper.
And so here it is, the first episode of the session recordings, in which the investigators are hired by the Starkweather-Moore Expedition, do some initial research, and finally meet up in New York as the expedition readies for the long journey southward.
The sound quality is at times questionable, due in part to Skype, and in part to my recording myself from the wrong microphone. Apologies, it gets better by session 2.
“The Amherst Hotel is a mid-sized five-story older building on the corner of 8th Avenue and 44th Street in Manhattan, two short blocks from Times Square, in a quiet business district.”
The Amherst Hotel in New York was where Starkweather and Moore set up their temporary headquarters as the expedition readied for departure, renting out the 4th and 5th floors. Seeing as I live in New York, I made it my business to go there and walk around the neighborhood (as well as walk the distance down to Pier 74, to get a good feeling for how far away it is from the hotel; about 23 minutes as it were).
Here's a period correct map from cirka early 1930s of Manhattan and surrounding areas. Click through for print-ready size.
Above is a photo of Pier 74, as it appeared in 1951; in all likelihood not so different from how it appeared in 1933 when the Starkweather-Moore Expedition's ship The Gabrielle lay there before it's southward journey. And lo and behold, the ship moored there is even at a glance reminiscent of The Gabrielle (although the Gabrielle was of course moored on the the north-side, Pier 74-B).
After intaking copious amounts of Christmas food, I figured it was time to get out and about a bit, so I set about visiting the former home of Pier 74. The pier, as can be seen in the map below, is just off of 34th street on the Hudson River, although today it along with most of the other piers along Manhattan are gone, and in its place is a parking lot and of course water. Pier 76 still stands and is today home to the New York City Police Tow Impound, but beyond that there isn't much of interest to see here. Should you happen to be visiting New York ComicCon, it's a short stroll from the convention center down to the water.
Peculiarly, according to Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Pier 74 had rail tracks for unloading from train cars, although this map, which must therefor be incorrect, does not show them.
