PMC - Urban Renewal Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

New York Admin: I regret to report that the cache owner has not responded to the prior note about this disabled cache. I'm archiving it opening the area up to others.

Thanks,
New York Admin
Geocaching.com Volunteer Cache Reviewer

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Hidden : 8/14/2008
Difficulty:
5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

This Puzzle Cache requires visiting several locations in New York City, solving the puzzle to find the final coordinates, and finding the final geocache to sign the log.
The cache is not at the listed coordinates
This is a Puzzle Cache, solve the puzzle to find the Coordinates for the final cache.

Only a few years ago, we heard of a distant family relative who had lived and worked in Manhattan over 200 years ago. He had been employed frequently as a surveyor, and stone mason, allowing him to rise to prominence as an authority on local real estate boundaries. While his name has been obscured, his work lives on. He left behind several notebooks that have allowed us to piece together his work and update some of it. Only a few bits and pieces of his story remain today, we have had to fill in the missing information. He seems to have removed all names from his notes, using only symbols to represent key figures.

We know that he was somehow entrusted with a package from "two distant brothers", living some distance South of New York at the time. He was asked to hide it as cleverly as possible. He gave the package to one of his employees, with very specific instructions. He then followed his employee to make sure he did as he had been told. He was surprised to find that his employee was also being followed by several shadowy figures. The employee was followed to the local docks and observed shuttling between docked ships in a small skiff. When the skiff landed at the last dock, the employee remained in the skiff for a few minutes, trying to negotiate the rocky shoal at the end of the dock. When he finally climbed up onto the dock, he was suddenly attacked by shadowy assailants. He fought valiantly, but fell, maybe by accident, hitting his head on the rocks at the end of the pier. He slid into the water and drowned.

His employer was shocked by this brutal attack and rushed forward, chasing the attackers off. He then spent quite some time recovering the body of his employee. He wrote later that he considered this man more than an employee, since he was loyal to the end. And since he had been a valued employee for many years, he was maybe 35-40 years old at the time of his death, no expense was spared for his funeral. He wept openly over his employee's death, and feeling responsible, he paid for the best possible funeral, casket, and grave possible at the time. He also provided for the man's wife and family. While exact records are unavailable, some 15 to 30 years later, when the man's wife died, he also paid for her burial along side her husband's body. We found many notes detailing these arrangements, alongside several indications that the package had been hidden as planned.

We know:
* He believed in mapping land using the sun as a reference, and so whenever possible, would lay out things out on a North-South-East-West grid. His most casual references to these points would be found to be most accurate.

* The listed coordinates have been translated from his notes. They seem to refer to a neighborhood he knew well, where he spent many hours trying to define property lines. He used this point as a reference many times in his work.

* On his death bed he confessed that the package was still hidden where he had specified. He said, "while it always took an extra minute to find it, it was always there". We have also verified his prediction that, while the city may be built up around it, this hiding place would endure for many years.

* We have been able to translate some of his waypoints partially, to modern notation so that we can use our trusty GPS receivers to locate these references.

Part of the Puzzle Masters Challenge
The final cache contains a clue to the Puzzle Masters Challenge geocache. PMC: PUZZLE MASTER'S CHALLENGE
What is it?
Urban Renewal is part of a series of puzzle geocaches created by the greatest Puzzle Masters of the Mid Atlantic Region. There are a number of Puzzle Masters contributing to this series. Solve all of the Puzzle Masters' creations, follow the story lines, gather the clues and find the final.
Will you accept the challenge?

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You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

svany: zntargvp nzbat ebpxf, xrl vf ng gur raq bs gur wbhearl

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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