ASTOR PLACE !1849

Currier & Ives Print Courtesy: Adam Woodward Collection On , 1849, one of NYC’s largest occurred on this square at the Opera House. Blamed on a long-standing, trans-Atlantic rivalry between famous Shakespearean actors—American-born Sally Young and Englishman —the event was also the culmination of years of ethnic and class resentments against the city’s Anglophile elite. While the rich embraced Macready’s refined style, the masses championed Forrest’s muscular approach. Class war erupted with their rival productions of — Forrest’s at the Theatre below Canal, and Macready’s at the fancy Astor Place Opera House, which required kid gloves and clean shaves.

“Shall Americans or English rule in this city?” read leaflets, challenging nativist Where Astor Place Opera House once stood today. Boys and Irish anger over the Famine. On May 7th, hundreds attended and shut down Macready’s performance by hurling insults, eggs and chairs. Three nights later, thousands converged on the Opera House.

Courtesy: Harvard Theatre Collection Courtesy: Harvard Theatre Refusing to disperse, rocks were thrown through windows and at the State , who fired into the crowd, killing some 30 people, many just bystanders. Macready fled to England, never to return. The reviled “DisAstor Place Opera House” soon closed. As disparity between rich and poor increased, theatres ceased being democratic gathering places, and instead were segregated by economic class.

—Eric Ferrara, author of The Bowery and founder of History Project (leshp.org)

Edwin Forrest WINDOWS ON THE BOWERY (1806-1872) The Bowery is NYC’s oldest thoroughfare. Originally a Native American footpath and Dutch farm road (bouwerij means farm), it is a cradle of American culture, with seminal links to tap dance, vaudeville, Yiddish theater, Lincoln, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, tattoo art, Abstract Expressionism, Beat literature, jazz and punk rock. Though listed on Courtesy: Adam Woodward Collection Courtesy: Woodward Adam Courtesy: Harvard Theatre Collection Courtesy: Harvard Theatre the National Register of Historic Places, out-of-scale developments are

Matthew Brady circa 1850. Library of Congress Brady circa 1850. Matthew displacing its residents, small businesses, and historic character. More info/link to Bowery’s National Register listing: boweryalliance.org

Funding for the BOWERY SIGNAGE PROJECT: La Vida Feliz Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Patricia Field, William Charles Macready (1793-1873) Andre Balazs, Adam Woodward, John Derian, Michael A. Geyer Architect, and contributions from Bowery 1843 engraving of miniature May 9, 1849 poster friends and neighbors. Poster Design: Professional Practice Class, The by Robert Thornburnk.