In his research, Higgins found unanticipated story lines. One of the most surprising was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's personal interest in the legality of the Dutch investment in the Westchester. A 1942 note to Roosevelt from the then Secretary of the Treasury told an interesting tale including a criminal investigation into the funding of the investment in the Westchester Apartments back in the late 1930s. Following the sale of the land that City Investing had purchased from the Dutch in 1947, through the building of the 3900 Watson Place cooperative in 1960, Higgins traces three separate transactions to the developers of the Colonnade, Cathedral West, and the seven Watson Place townhouses. In each case he provides historical facts ranging from people, dates, and prices paid for the land. He supplements this information with news stories, advertisements, and pictures from old newspapers as well as building permits and photographs. The reader comes along on the transformation of the 27.5-acre parcel of farmland known as Alliance Farm, Lucky Discovery and Scott's Ordinary. Appendices provide more information on City Investing, Robert W. Dowling, and the Copped Hall Trust in England.
City Investing moved the Westchester Apartments from a stalled project to a cooperative with three large neighbors and seven townhouses. For many years, City Investing ran the Westchester and leased the Westchester's stores to the tenants. City Investing's subsidiary, Realist, built the 3900 Watson Place cooperative. Robert Dowling was a larger-than-life head of City Investing. He was the first person to swim around Manhattan Island, invented the all-glass door, and personally bought the gates for the Westchester. Copped Hall Trust was looking for the gates for many years when a member of the Trust was in DC and saw an article about them. There is a $1,000 cash reward for information about where the other set of gates from Copped Hall are located.
