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89-720: The Chatham Garden was converted to the Free Presbyterian Chatham Street Chapel in 1832. The theatre began quite humbly. In 1823 Hippolite Barrière , the manager of the Chatham Gardens in New York City , erected a white, canvas tent in his public pleasure grounds. He dubbed it the Pavilion Theatre and began staging drama there with a ticket price of 25¢. The tent, which was used for other concerts and plays, also housed

178-589: A saloon . The makeshift playhouse operated through the summer, perhaps the first such summer theatre in the United States. Stephen Price, manager of New York's Park Theatre , tried to put a stop to Barrière's enterprise by reporting the tent to the authorities as a fire hazard . Barrière responded by erecting a brick-and-mortar structure on the site. The new building, named the Chatham Garden Theatre, opened on 17 May 1824 and played through

267-532: A London business but changed course after a successful performance as Hamlet in a school production. By 1815, he had made his professional debut as a ballet dancer at London's Adelphi Theatre . He toured the British Isles over the next eight years, performing at venues such as the Drury Lane Theatre (for manager Stephen Kemble ) and Sadler's Wells Theatre . He married Elizabeth Blanchard ,

356-668: A barroom brawl in October 1834 and once assaulted the editor of the New York Herald , James Gordon Bennett Sr. , in his offices. This latter fight led to a two-day trial and Hamblin's conviction in February 1837. In 1838, newspaper editor and blackface performer George Washington Dixon wrote in his Polyanthos that Hamblin was having an affair with a teen-aged starlet at the Bowery named Miss Louisa Missouri Miller. The girl

445-458: A cost of $ 850 a year. Philip Hone described his reaction to a performance in 1835: [I was] astonished at the magnificence of the scene. The audience, of whom a large proportion were ladies, must have amounted to between 2000 and 3000 . . . . the chorus consisted of upwards of a hundred, the females all draped alike in white and arranged on opposite sides of the music gallery, formed an interesting and beautiful coup d'oeil . The ground floor, which

534-631: A decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground. At least 120 people were killed. Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance. It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history . In 1886,

623-407: A double flight of stairs (to the right and left) to the lobby of the first circle of boxes. The Chatham Garden Theatre offered popular actors at reasonable prices, and it did well. The playhouse provided the first real competition for the upper-class Park Theatre in its second season, which began on 9 May 1825. It remained a classy establishment for the next three seasons. During this time, it produced

712-583: A form in its own right. Perhaps Hamblin's greatest influence was in his incubation of American talent. He helped start the careers of many young unknowns, and he was not shy about exerting his influence over those who relied upon his patronage. His Bowery featured many big-name talents, including Junius Brutus Booth , Frank Chanfrau , George Washington Dixon , Louisa Lane Drew , Edwin Forrest , Josephine Clifton , Louisa Medina , James B. Phillips , Thomas D. Rice , and Charles W. Taylor . In 1831, he renamed

801-476: A local militia group for one of their functions. Hamblin's success can also be attributed to his hard-nosed business practices. He advertised extensively, and he pioneered the concept of allowing productions to run for periods as long as a month. In the spring of 1834, he began purchasing shares of the theatre from its owners, the New York Association; within 18 months, he owned a majority. When

890-523: A part of the colony of New York . It became a center of slavery , with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730. Most were domestic slaves ; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with the American South . During construction in Foley Square in

979-522: A popular actress and daughter of actor William Blanchard and half-sister of actor/playwright E. L. Blanchard . Hamblin had two children by his first wife: William Henry Hamblin Jr. (stage name "Thomas Hamblin Jr") and Elizabeth "Betsey" Hamblin. Despite some success he had still not established himself with the London critics when, in 1825, Hamblin and his wife left England for the United States. Hamblin took

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1068-519: A reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church , and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship. In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls , without bloodshed. The terms of the surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in

1157-531: A result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $ 19 billion. The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas, with $ 15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts. In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed. With its population density and its extensive exposure to global travelers,

1246-485: A speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of the New York Daily News as "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD." The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed and granted oversight authority over the city's finances. While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into

1335-544: A tour in Europe; this was finalised in 1834 with the condition that Hamblin was not to remarry as long as his ex-wife lived. Hamblin continued his womanising undaunted; he saw a young actress named Naomi Vincent for a time, and she even came to be known as "Mrs. Hamblin". When she died in childbirth in July 1835, Hamblin entered a relationship with playwright Louisa Medina. He also pugnaciously brooked no opposition. He got into

1424-483: Is a global center of finance and commerce , culture , technology , entertainment and media , academics and scientific output , the arts and fashion , and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations , international diplomacy . With an estimated population in 2023 of 8,258,035 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km ), the city is the most densely populated major city in

1513-467: Is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023 , New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has by a wide margin the highest U.S. city residential rents; and Fifth Avenue is the most expensive shopping street in the world. New York City is home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires , individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$ 30 million), and millionaires of any city in

1602-552: Is the most populous city in the United States , located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors . The city comprises five boroughs , each coextensive with a respective county . The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area , the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area . New York

1691-656: Is very capacious, and two large galleries were so crowded that I could scarcely find standing room behind the benches . . . . In its later years, the church became a hotel. The building has since been demolished, and the land is now the site of a Metropolitan Correctional Center federal facility housing male and female pre-trial and holdover inmates, serving the Southern District of New York . 40°42′47″N 74°00′11″W  /  40.713°N 74.003°W  / 40.713; -74.003 New York City New York , often called New York City or NYC ,

1780-866: The Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes . Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall , a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants . In 1831, New York University was founded. Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant , Washington Irving , Herman Melville , Rufus Wilmot Griswold , John Keese , Nathaniel Parker Willis , and Edgar Allan Poe . Members of

1869-909: The Crown , with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent. When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands of freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia , England, and the Caribbean . The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin , and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776. Shortly after

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1958-742: The New York City Fire Department and 71 law enforcement officers. The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center , the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and other new buildings and infrastructure, including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , the city's third-largest hub. The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the seventh-tallest building in

2047-1000: The Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company . He sailed up what the Dutch called North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange . Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland (' New Netherland '). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City

2136-576: The Statue of Liberty , a gift from France , was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they came to the U.S. via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace. In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate city),

2225-709: The Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village . They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights . Wayne R. Dynes , author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality , wrote that drag queens were

2314-612: The steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River , killing 1,021 people. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards. New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890. New York City

2403-535: The waterfronts since Dutch colonial times; reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such as Battery Park City in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in Manhattan. Thomas S. Hamblin Thomas Souness Hamblin (14 May 1800 – 8 January 1853) was an English actor and theatre manager . He first took

2492-568: The 1840s, increased competition in New York City prompted Hamblin to stage even more spectacular melodramas and to book more variety entertainment such as minstrel shows and circus acts. After a fire in 1845, Hamblin tried to build a new theatre on Broadway , but local residents opposed the plan. Instead, he rebuilt the Bowery once more. Tastes were becoming more upscale, and Hamblin turned over active management to A. W. Jackson . He faced health problems, and his acting career stalled as his style became outmoded. The Albion reported that The dignity,

2581-552: The 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free. The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger , who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby , helped to establish freedom of the press in North America . In 1754, Columbia University

2670-538: The 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center , as well as by European immigration, respectively. The city adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected

2759-537: The Bowery Theatre burnt down in 1836, it was the most popular playhouse in New York City. Hamblin bought out the remaining shares and rented the property to W. E. Dinneford and Thomas Flynn . They oversaw the theatre's reconstruction while Hamblin acted in various venues and took care of his debts. Hamblin rebuilt yet again after a fire in 1838 and returned to active management with a bigger Bowery in May 1839. In

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2848-700: The British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York destroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, including Trinity Church . In January 1785, the assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital. New York was the last capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation and the first capital under the Constitution of

2937-530: The Bronx , and Staten Island . Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District, Manhattan , New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022 , the New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world , with a gross metropolitan product of over US$ 2.16 trillion. If

3026-575: The County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens. The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. In 1904,

3115-603: The Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies ). In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as the last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000. Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned

3204-544: The Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit , as charged by the Dutch West India Company , purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie , a small Lenape band, for "the value of 60 guilders " (about $ 900 in 2018). A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan was purchased for $ 24 worth of glass beads. Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly. To attract settlers,

3293-613: The Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen ( patroons , or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success. Since 1621, the Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General . In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth,

3382-597: The Native Americans and epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670. By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200. New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone. In the early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as

3471-480: The New York metropolitan area were its own country , it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world . Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system , New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion . The city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq . New York City

3560-616: The Park Theatre in the summer of 1848. He renovated the building and reopened in September to mixed reviews. The building burnt down in December. Hamblin's personal life was controversial. Although he was "noted for his correct business habits, promptitude, and open-heartedness", he was a well-known philanderer. Newspapers and rumours alleged that he had many sexual affairs . In 1831, his wife filed for divorce after returning from

3649-716: The Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. The New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children. It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state . Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black). Also in

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3738-465: The United States . As the U.S. capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President, George Washington , and the first Congress , at Federal Hall on Wall Street . Congress drafted the Bill of Rights there. The Supreme Court held its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790. In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassed Philadelphia as the nation's largest city. At

3827-436: The United States . As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world. New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement

3916-416: The United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles , the nation's second-most populous city. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities . The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to

4005-723: The area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême ). A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V , arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of the Hudson River , which he named Río de San Antonio ('Saint Anthony's River'). In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for

4094-493: The beginning of the 1990s. By the mid-1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification , and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. New York City's population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the 2000 United States census ; further records were set in 2010 , and 2020 U.S. censuses. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley , emerged in

4183-479: The building the American Opera House. He offered two seasons of primarily light, popular music from 20 May 1829 to 1 September 1829. George Barrett and C. Young took over from him on 24 December, but their tenure lasted less than two weeks. The Opera House became Blanchard's Amphi-theatre on 18 January 1830, which specialized in equestrian entertainment and light drama. S. Phillips followed as manager on 11 March 1831; he lasted until May when Charles R. Thorne took

4272-534: The business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park , which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city. The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city's population. Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860. Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing

4361-415: The chapel was the site of the first national Sunday School convention in the United States. Over the next ten years, at first here, then from 1835 to 1836 at the massive new Broadway Tabernacle , Finney gave sermons each Sunday to crowds as large as 3000 and led revivals three times a week. The Sacred Music Society, a popular religious choir , rented the building for two nights a week in this period at

4450-510: The city from New Jersey. The East River—a tidal strait —flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River , another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River , which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County , is the only entirely freshwater river in the city. The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along

4539-439: The city rapidly replaced Wuhan , China as the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, straining the city's healthcare infrastructure. Through March 2023, New York City recorded more than 80,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications. New York City is situated in the northeastern United States , in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston . Its location at

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4628-447: The city's economy. The advent of Y2K was celebrated with fanfare in Times Square . New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks . Two of the four airliners hijacked that day were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from

4717-615: The city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on. Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863 , whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class. The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for

4806-456: The colony and allowed for religious freedom. In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War , the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname , which they had gained from the English, and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after the Duke of York (the future King James II and VII). The duke gave part of

4895-442: The colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley . On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it "New Orange" after William III , the Prince of Orange . The Dutch soon returned the island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674. Several intertribal wars among

4984-417: The development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County , with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York's global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world. In 1969,

5073-406: The end of 1790, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia . During the 19th century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million. Under New York State's gradual emancipation act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties. Together with slaves freed by their masters after

5162-423: The extremity of a public garden, they performed the melo-drama of the Lady of the Lake tolerably well. I was much pleased with the inside of the theatre, and particularly with the decorations; it was full of people, and the heat extreme. Ladies of the first fashion do not go often to the theatre. In the pit persons pulled off their coats, in order to be cool. However, the theatre's location was difficult to find. It

5251-403: The finished and elaborated elocution, and the high artistical execution of that school were occasionally brought most vividly to our remembrance in Mr. HAMBLIN's delineation of Hamlet, weakened however at times . . . by a dash of the melo-dramatic style and the laboured pompousness he has acquired by long practice of his art at the Bowery. He attempted to extend his revenues by buying the lease to

5340-399: The first two American operas, The Sawmill in 1824 and The Forest Rose in 1825. Barrière died on 21 February 1826. On 15 March, the Chatham Garden Theatre was sold at auction to Henry Wallack for $ 4,500. Wallack reopened it on 20 March for a four-month season. He then refurbished and redecorated the playhouse before reopening on 9 October 1826. However, Wallack went bankrupt , and he

5429-457: The founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island . In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam , later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island. The colony of New Amsterdam extended from the southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street , where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids. In 1626,

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5518-410: The ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers. The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay . Between New York City and Troy, New York , the river is an estuary . The Hudson River separates

5607-434: The last American stronghold in Manhattan, causing George Washington and his forces to retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey , pursued by British forces. After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America. The city was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by

5696-636: The lease and rebuilt when the theatre burnt down later that year. Hamblin catered to the tastes of the rowdy audiences of New York's Bowery district. These " Bowery B'hoys " were working class, primarily male, and socially conservative., and Hamblin accordingly staged blackface performances, circus acts, English farce , American melodrama , and Shakespeare to please them. Hamblin himself preferred upper-class entertainments like ballet and opera; nevertheless, he relegated these to infrequent bookings. Under Hamblin, American working-class theatre, emphasising brilliant spectacle and plot-based narrative, emerged as

5785-419: The most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London . The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity . The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance. Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and

5874-437: The mouth of the Hudson River , which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean , has helped the city grow in significance as a trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. During the Wisconsin glaciation , 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet . The erosive forward movement of

5963-425: The normal season. The theater was an ornate structure designed by architect George Conklin . It had no gallery , and it did not admit African Americans . The balcony was on the same level as the lobby and fronted the garden. The walls had slits and the doorways only blinds to facilitate airflow. Karl Bernhard , a visitor to New York in 1825–26, left this description: . . . in Chatham [Garden] Theatre, situated at

6052-445: The only " transgender folks around" during the June 1969 Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality. In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates. Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; President Gerald Ford gave

6141-418: The playhouse "the American Theatre, Bowery" after an anti-British riot at the Park Theater. The message was clear: The Bowery was the theatre of Native American drama. Hamblin was careful to cultivate good favour with his patrons outside of the theatre, as well. He regularly provided space to the fire department for their annual ball, for example. On another occasion, he loaned the Bowery's in-house orchestra to

6230-404: The role. Finally, Thomas S. Hamblin purchased the theatre in late June 1831. The 1831–2 season was its last. Since Barrière's death, the Chatham Garden had slipped to the low end of New York's entertainment industry. It was known for fistfights among its patrons, drunken brawls, and openness to prostitution. Of New York's three big theatres (the Park and the Bowery being the other two), it had

6319-460: The roughest reputation. Brothels thrived on the same block. Frances Trollope described the playhouse in no uncertain terms: The Chatham is so utterly condemned by bon ton , that it requires some courage to decide upon going there; nor do I think my curiosity would have penetrated so far, had I not seen Miss Mitford 's Rienzi advertised there. It was the first opportunity I had had of seeing it played, and in spite of very indifferent acting, I

6408-628: The stage at New York's Park Theatre in early November, where he tackled a number of roles: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Petruchio, Pierre, Rolla, the Stranger, William Tell, and Virginius. Later that month, he appeared opposite Edwin Forrest at the Albion Theatre . Critics praised Hamblin; the Albion calling him "a very excellent actor". Theatre historian T. Allston Brown attributed his success to these factors: As an actor, he possessed

6497-483: The stage in England, then immigrated to the United States in 1825. He received critical acclaim there, and eventually entered theatre management. During his tenure at New York City's Bowery Theatre he helped establish working-class theatre as a distinct form. His policies preferred American actors and playwrights to British ones, making him an important influence in the development of early American drama. Although he

6586-606: The theatre may not have been as raffish as its reputation made it sound. The presence of a nursing mother suggests that the theatre was lower-class, certainly, but also family-oriented. In the spring of 1832, Lewis Tappan and William Green rented the building. They offered it to the Presbyterian minister Charles Grandison Finney , a radical abolitionist who converted it into the Free Presbyterian Chatham Street Chapel. In October 1832,

6675-496: The valuable accessories of a fine person, a good voice, and careful education. . . . In person he was tall and commanding, but so admirably proportioned as in a measure to conceal his almost towering height. Deep set eyes as black as jet were surmounted by a lofty brow, crowned by clusters of curling dark hair in such rich profusion as is seldom seen, except in some of the models which have been handed down to us from remote antiquity. To see him dressed for Brutus, Coriolanus, or Virginius

6764-529: The world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year of U.S. independence . The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide. New York City

6853-564: The world. In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England ). James's elder brother, King Charles II , appointed the Duke as proprietor of the former territory of New Netherland , including the city of New Amsterdam , when the Kingdom of England seized it from Dutch control. In the pre-Columbian era , the area of present-day New York City

6942-422: Was Juan Rodriguez , a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with the local population as a representative of the Dutch colonists. A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States , with

7031-566: Was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Sandy's impacts included flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system and flooding of all East River subway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel . The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since the Great Blizzard of 1888 . At least 43 people died in New York City as

7120-602: Was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition . The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height. New York City became

7209-410: Was a study for a painter. Francis Wemyss disagreed at least in part, saying that Hamblin's acting was "more than balanced by the husky, disagreeable tones of his voice, which always gave the appearance of hard labour to everything he undertook." Hamblin began his tenure as manager of New York's Bowery Theatre with partner James H. Hackett in 1830. Hackett left a month later, and Hamblin obtained

7298-420: Was delighted. The interest must have been great, for till the curtain fell, I saw not one quarter of the queer things around me; then I observed in the front row of a dress-box a lady performing the most maternal office possible, several gentlemen without their coats, and a general air of contempt for the decencies of life, certainly more than usually revolting. Nevertheless, Mrs Trollope's description reveals that

7387-487: Was forced to close the Chatham Garden Theatre in April 1827. Later managers changed the theatre's focus from upper-class drama and opera to fare that appealed to the lower classes . A man named Megary took over as lessee and managed a short season beginning 16 June 1827 and another beginning on 3 December. Kilner and Maywood followed him, with a season beginning 9 June 1828. In 1829, James H. Hackett took over and renamed

7476-571: Was found dead within ten days of publication from "inflammation of the brain caused by the violent misconduct of Miss Missouri's mother and the publication of an abusive article in The Polyanthos. " The allegation was not out of character, and many people believed it. Hamblin reacted in his usual fashion: Hamblin's ex-wife died in 1849, and he married actress Elizabeth Mary Ann Trewar Shaw . They had four more children: Alla, Constance, Edith, and William Snowden Hamblin. Thomas Hamblin died of

7565-807: Was founded. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there. The Battle of Long Island , the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War , was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn. A British rout of the Continental Army at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 eliminated

7654-534: Was inhabited by Algonquians , including the Lenape . Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking , included the present-day areas of Staten Island , Manhattan , the Bronx , the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens ), and the Lower Hudson Valley . The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano . He claimed

7743-500: Was known as a fair (if shrewd) businessman, Hamblin's reputation was marred by his well-known womanising and brawling. He had affairs with several up-and-coming actresses at his theatre, and he assaulted at least two newspaper editors who had published unflattering stories about him. His behaviour eventually cost him his first wife and resulted in one conviction for assault. Hamblin was born in Pentonville, England. He apprenticed in

7832-468: Was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York , before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. New York City was the U.S. capital from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs : Manhattan , Brooklyn , Queens ,

7921-431: Was only accessible by passing through private buildings on the west side of Chatham Street. The New-York Mirror offered these instructions: [T]he entrance to the theatre is through the hall of [a] dwelling house on Chatham Street. . . . [Y]ou proceed onward to the fountain, which throws up a refreshing column of pure water directly in front of the folding doors to the theatre. Passing through these doors you ascend, by

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