The Astor Place Riot was a riot that occurred May 10, 1849 at the Astor Place Opera House in New York City which resulted in over 22 people being killed. Riots occur when crowds of people have gathered and are committing crimes or acts of violence usually due to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: Big Apple Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ...

The Bowery Theatre had opened in New York in 1826. By the late 1840's it catered mostly to a working class audience from the notorious, immigrant-heavy Five Points section of lower Manhattan a mile and a half to the south. Its lead actor was Edwin Forrest. Wealthier patrons, to avoid mingling with the immigrants and the Five Points crowd, had built the Astor Place Opera House on the corner of Broadway and Astor Place in 1847, a twelve minute walk to the north. Cigarette trading card featuring the Bowery Theatre, New York City. ... Five Points (or The Five Points) was a notorious slum centered on the intersection of Worth St. ... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... This photograph of Edwin Forrest was taken by Matthew Brady. ... A view of Broadway in 1909 Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City, and is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Edwin Forrest had recently completed a European tour, which was a failure, in large part due to the actions of William Charles Macready, a former friend and competing actor. Macready then came to New York to perform Macbeth in the Astor Place Theater. In competition, the Bowery Theater decided to offer Macbeth on the same nights but starring Edwin Forrest in the leading role. William Charles Macready (March 3, 1793 - April 27, 1873), English actor, was born in London, and educated at Rugby. ... Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer This article is on Shakespeares play, for other meanings see Macbeth (disambiguation). ...

On May 7, 1849, the first night of Macready's performance, an unruly mob of Edwin Forrest fans infiltrated the audience at the Astor Place Theater and pelted Macready with rotten eggs, potatoes, and a bottle of a liquid believed to have been asafetida, which is nicknamed "devil's dung" and even old shoes and a copper coin. Macready completed the performance but decided not to complete the run until he was convinced to do so by City Elders including American authors Herman Melville and Washington Irving. On May 10 he took the stage again. May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Binomial name Ferula assafoetida L. Asafoetida (Ferula assafoetida, family Apiaceae) is a species of Ferula native to Iran. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, essayist and poet. ... Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American author of the early 19th century. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ...

The crowd began gathering early in the day. By the time of the performance, over 20,000 people filled the streets around the theatre.

Reported the New York Tribune: "As one window after another cracked, the pieces of bricks and paving stones rattled in on the terraces and lobbies, the confusion increased, till the Opera House resembled a fortress besieged by an invading army rather than a place meant for the peaceful amusement of civilized community." The police force could not quell the riots so the National Guard from the Seventh Regiment, already mobilized and prepared, was called in. They fired into the crowd. The New York Tribune was established by Horace Greeley in 1841 and was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States. ...