CORNER OF CHURCH AND PROVOST (NOW FRANKLIN) STREETS, WINTER OF 1816-17 From Milbert's Itineraire, Plate No. 3 (copy at NYHS) old, rich and poor, took long rides often lasting until late in the evening. Sleighs for travel had places for twelve. The driver, up in front, was bundled in thick furs, with a bearskin pulled up to his eyes. This was just like a Russian or Norwegian costume—a fact not too surprising since the climate of those countries, as Milbert noted, was similar to that of New York. A journey by sleigh was very rapid and, with posting houses always warmed by good fires, proved quite comfortable, as Milbert discovered to his astonishment. From the built-up section of the city, he journeyed northward in the spring of 1817 through Greenwich Village and the Elgin Botanical Garden, where Rockefeller Center now stands, to Mr. Jumel's mansion on the heights overlooking the Hudson. Throughout this whole region the island was crisscrossed by roads leading to houses tucked so deeply in the woods that the only indications of their existence were their gateway entrances. 25$