Building of the Week - 31st Ed.

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Raising Cane’s & Astor Place

10 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003

This week’s building combines two of my favorite things: brick facades and Raising Cane’s. This place is oozing with sauce -- and I’m not just talkin’ bout Cane’s Sauce, baby! Alright, I promise I’m not bringing that bit back for this week, I just wanted to reminisce on the good times (7 days ago). Let’s go back a little bit further in time… 1783 to be exact.

John Jacob (Jingleheimer Schmidt) Astor moved from Germany to America after seeing how cool the Revolutionary War was. He built a business empire and established a monopoly on the fur market. This, of course, was before that pesky government of ours made those illegal (monopolies, not fur). As furs fell out of fashion towards the 1830s, Astor switched his interests to New York real estate. It seems humanity has always been victim to microtrends.

ugly picture of John

Astor wasn't immediately accepted into New York society. He spoke with a thick German accent, supposedly ate peas with a knife, and, on one occasion, wiped his fingers on the sleeves of his dinner hostess. Despite all the haters, he eventually became America’s first millionaire. Oh, but when I do those things, I don't become a millionaire? Instead, I'm labeled a “menace” to “society”? Right. Sexism.

Astor Library

Following his death in 1848, Astor Place was named after him. While she may be tiny - only one block long - she’s rich in history (emphasis on rich). Once colloquially known as Art Street, this stretch of town was a fashionable, upper-class residential district. One could walk around some gardens, visit a library, attend a show at Astor Opera House, or start a riot.

inside Astor Opera House

This street is home to New York’s deadliest public disturbance - the 1849 Astor Place riot! Multiple factors were at play (pun intended) going into this. Anti-British feelings were running high among the ever-growing Irish population in New York. This was the height of the Irish Potato Famine and the NYC Irish population found an outlet for their anger in the English actor William Charles Macready.

American actor Edwin Forrest had a sizeable following at the time. He amassed the love and support from primarily working-class citizens, most of whom were immigrants. On the flip side, Macready was more of the rich man’s overpriced cup of tea. Both actors specialized in Shakespeare, often performing in the same roles - sometimes at the same time! Macready was scheduled to appear in Macbeth at the Astor Opera House the same nights Forrest was performing the same show only a few blocks away! Talk about drama!! And I’m not just talkin- alright you get the picture.

Three nights before the riot, Forrest’s fan club bought out the top section of the theater Macready was performing in and proceeded to throw rotten eggs, potatoes, bottles of stinking liquid, and ripped up seats (aka my grocery list, amiright?) at the stage. They kept performing until the show was done despite all the yelling and flying chairs - really taking “The Show Must Go On” to another level.

Macready was promised protection for his next performance, but on May 10th, 1849 roughly 10,000 people flooded the streets surrounding his theater. The fucking military had to get involved, leading to the death of 31 rioters.

The Opera House had a ruined reputation, even getting the nickname "DisAstor Place” (they ate with that one). They closed their doors permanently and (much) later became the New York location for the Blue Man Group. Seems fitting.

To bring this riot into a modern-day perspective, think of a rivalry like Kendrick vs. Drake. Except, Forrest and Macready did it right. Aww two multimillionaires don’t like each other? Grow up. If your beef isn’t so insane that the National Guard gets involved, I really can’t give a shit.

Y’all remember that brick building I wrote about a few weeks ago? Well breaking fucking news because I just discovered a connection! This building was designed by Starkweather & Gibbs in 1881 for none other than lawyer and investor, Orlando B. Potter!! Umm, ring a bell?!? That’s the same guy who developed the Potter Building aka Week 23!! That’s fucking crazy!!! My heart’s going pitter patter pitter patter I feel sick like I could throw up.

Orlando B. (still no relation to Bloom) Potter fucking loves bricks. The architects designed him a neo-Grecian style building with a rich red brick and white terra cotta exterior. Neo-Grecian style architecture basically just means arches upon arches and baby, we got those. The bright white and bold red design makes you do a double-take when walking by. Thanks to some restorative efforts in 2013, she’s looking as saucy as ever and I’m not ju- wait I already made that joke.

Now, this building is primarily residential with a brand new Raising Cane’s at the bottom. When that opened here, it felt like kismet. It’s as if the architects could see into the future when designing this building. You’re going to sit here and tell me this isn’t the most aesthetically aligned multi-use building in New York - dare I say the world? I find mixed-use buildings to truly be the bee’s knees and when your mixed-use happens to be loft apartments and delicious goodness, consider myself sat.

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Fun Facts

• John Jacob Astor bought Aaron Burr's homestead after Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in that one duel. Let's just say he got quite the bargain on it.

  
  

• My Raising Cane’s order? Great question. I get a side of Texas toast, a side of fries, and four orders of Cane’s sauce. I don’t eat meat for health reasons but all that goes out the window when I get near that sweet sweet sauce. Even when I could eat meat, I didn’t like the chicken there. It gave me the runs literally every time (3 is the number of chances I gave it and 3 is the number of times I’ve been burned). “Ewww Sara, TMI.” Well, how about you grow the fuck up, Mom?

  
  

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Every week I go, “Okay Sara, write less this time. You’re info dumping way too much and people are going to lose interest.” But each week I write the same lengthy amount of bullshit. I just love the sound of my internal voice, what can I say?

Anyways… see you next week! Toodaloo!

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