Bothered by Geography

 As I mentioned more than a few posts ago, I had been binge-reading the works of Rex Stout--the cases of master detective Nero Wolfe and his aide-de-camp, Archie Goodwin. Having finished the 46 titles Stout completed before his death, I began reading the novels by Robert Goldsborough, the writer authorized by Stout's family to continue the series.

In general, I have enjoyed Goldsborough's work; he manages to maintain Archie's "voice" as the narrator, come up with interesting plots in Stout's vein, and simultaneously keep the stories rooted in the time and place in which they were written, just as Stout did. (Although Stout never allowed Wolfe or Archie or any of their close associates to age, the world did change around them: The Dodgers and Giants moved west, the Mets became Archie's favored team, etc.)

But near the beginning of the sixth novel in the series, The Silver Spire, I was temporarily knocked out of the narrative by some clearly invented geography. As most of you know, I was born and raised on Staten Island in New York City. This novel revolves around a mega-church supposedly located on the Island. No such church has ever existed, but neither does Wolfe's brownstone (the address generally given for it would place in the middle of the Hudson River). No, the problem is where on the Island Goldsborough put it--a 20-minute walk from the ferry terminal, in the hills of St. George and New Brighton.

Here's a slightly edited version of Archie's description of his trip from the ferry to the church:

After consulting the directions, I got myself squared away, heading south up Schuyler Street—and I do mean up. 

If I ever knew how hilly the island was, I’d long since forgotten. In ten minutes, I was out of—and above—the small business district and into tree-shaded residential blocks….I followed winding streets, all of which ran uphill, until, breathing hard, I reached a large open area that was level. In the center of this clearing, at least a block away, stood the Tabernacle of the Silver Spire…. 

….The clearing turned out to a parking lot—acres of blacktop, crisscrossed with yellow lines…

 And here's a map of the area, with Archie's presumed path marked. Unsure of which direction he would have turned on reaching the end of Schuyler Street, I indicated two different paths, one in red, the other in blue.

If you want a better look, here's a link to the map on line. There's no appropriate large flat area anywhere around, except for the grounds of Curtis High School--which, I assure you, have never been replaced by anything else.

Now, if Goldborough had put his mega-church somewhere on what the natives call the "South Shore"--that is somewhere south of the Staten Island Expressway, I-278--that would have worked. There's lots of flat open space down there...and there was even more in the time when the book was written, some 30 years ago. But I guess he didn't want to have Archie have to bother with Staten Island's bus routes, or trying to get a cab or the like. Of course, Archie could have driven over the Verrazzano Bridge...but that would have removed the quaint charm of the ferry ride and the hilly walk through the oldest part of the Island. (Later in the book, when Archie has to get Wolfe to the church, they do take the car.)

Anyway, I got past the problem by simply ignoring for the rest of the story where the church was supposed to be...as it doesn't seem to matter much to the resolution of the mystery.