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The story of New York's precipitous rise as a world financial center can be read in structures

and symbols all over town. But in two very different corners of Manhattan, objects hidden

in plain sight reveal a more specific tale, the ascent of a single family that would leave

an indelible mark on the city itself.

In the opulent lobby of the newly reopened Waldorf Astoria, New York, stands a clock like no other. Built for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, its surface is crammed with meaning.

Release of presidents, Washington, Jackson, Harrison, Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland,

alongside Queen Victoria, the Brooklyn Bridge, even scenes of American sport. Above its four faces,

birds stretch their wings. At the tippy top, Lady Liberty presides. It is a nation of a sort

in miniature, gilded in gold.

By contrast, far downtown on the edge of the East Village, in a dank, concrete tunnel beneath the

streets, are the decorative ceramic tiles of a subway station, each bearing a quaint motif,

the image of a beaver in the wild.

Installed high on the walls, the tiles are missed by most passengers waiting on platform.

One gleams, the others are covered in grime.

Together, these objects frame the remarkable rise of one of America's most important and

influential families. The Astster's of New York.

Greetings all, I'm Don Wildman, and today we investigate a family, which was, for a long time,

the wealthiest in America, leaders of New York society, shapers of the city and the nation.

Who were the Aster's, and from whence did their riches arise, and what divisive dramas came

...