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Brooke Astor's New York City

Society matriarch and philanthropist Brooke Astor passed away on Monday, but her legacy survives--and not just in New York City. Astor ancestor John Jacob was considered the country's first millionaire, emigrating here from Germany to make his fortune in real estate and fur trading. The Astors ran New York society as well as two hotels (now The Waldorf Astoria), as well as providing a hip landing pad for Cooper Union and NYU kids in Astor Place. The states of Illinois, Oregon, Florida and South Dakota all have Astorias, as does the borough of Queens. (Brooke Astor's father-in-law, John Jacob IV, was the richest person to die on the Titanic.)

As a young divorcee, Astor, a former writer for Vogue and Town & Country, took up residence in Gracie Square (East 84th Street and Eats End Avenue). In her later years, she divided her time between her Park Avenue duplex in the city and Holly Hill, her country house in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. (where she passed away). The Astors held court throughout the city over the years, from a 34th Street mansion with a ballroom that held 400 of society's creme de la creme (it's now the site of the Empire State Building) to the now-razed mansion at Fifth Avenue and 65th Street (today the site of Temple Emanu-El).

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[Photo: theage.com.au]