By the 1820s, New York City had grown tremendously. What had been villages on its outskirts, including Chelsea and Greenwich, were now being swallowed up as part of the city. Leading the northward expansion were the rich, who bought land as investments, anticipating a rise in property values. The Astor clan, among the city's wealthiest landlords, was headquartered at Astor Place near Greenwich Village. A riot among slum dwellers in 1849 made the neighborhood `undesirable.' The Astors soon decided to build mansions on the former Thompson property, about a mile to the north.
