PAPER 2
Tenement Housing In 19th Century New York City
Stephanie Meyer
Molloy College
New York City is known for its skyscrapers, crowded streets, busy lifestyle and luxurious residential apartment buildings. These luxurious apartment buildings were not always so desirable. In the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of immigrants flooded the Lower East Side of New York City. To accommodate the increase in the population, tenement buildings were constructed. These buildings housed numerous families in cramped three room apartments. Each of the five floors contained four apartments, usually with no running water, electricity or even bathrooms inside. Suddenly, twenty plus families are living in one tenement building (Dolkhart, 2014). Buildings as a whole were expected to share an outdoor bathroom, and one outdoor water source on the ground or cellar level. These characteristics made tenements overcrowded, and most of the time, very unsanitary. These first multiple family dwellings were erected largely for the poorer immigrants, with very few amenities (Dolkhart, 2014). Laws started to mandate rules for the buildings, like ventilation and fire escapes, but they were generally ignored by the owners because they did not want to spend the time or money renovating, and in reality there was no way of making sure that the rules were followed (Dolkhart, 2014).
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located on the corner of Orchard and Delancey, allowed us to walk through and get a sneak peek of what the living conditions were like in 19th century tenement housing. The recreated rooms gave us insight on the suffocating spaces that the families lived in, and the extended story of one family that resided in the building, allowed us to paint a fuller picture of life in the 19th century. The Tenement Museum building was built in 1863, and housed an abundance of different families over the years. After the building was shut down in 1935 and sat abandoned for many years, it was founded in 1988 and turned into the museum it is today (Russo & Cullinan, 2014). Not knowing that this museum even existed, it was awesome to see a part of history still standing almost exactly how it was in the 19th century. The building luckily didn’t fall victim to gentrification (not that gentrification is a bad thing), and it lets individuals flash back to New York’s past. Walking through the museum, and hearing the story of a family that once lived in the very building, made everything more real. The visual recreation allowed me to connect the story to the family, especially seeing the little girl clothes in the room. It made me realize that these two immigrants who married did not only need to provide for themselves, but for their three very young daughters as well. The tour guide spoke of the death of the youngest little girl, who passed away as an infant. She spoke of the possible causes, one being the tarnished milk that may have been constantly fed to her. The milk would travel for multiple days un-refridgerated, and then laced with all kinds of unsanitary water and even chalk, so that the sellers would make more money. “Inadequate food storage have long been identified as contributing to the spread of infectious diseases” (Krieger & Higgins, 2002). A lack in affordable housing is linked to inadequate nutrition, especially in children, meaning families may not be able to spend a large amount of money on fresh, non-laced milk for their children because of the struggle they are already in paying rent. The residents of the tenements use all of their resources to maintain shelter, and less for necessities such as food (Krieger & Higgins, 2002). Lack of safe drinking water, absence of hot water for washing and unsuccessful waste disposal also account for the spread of infectious deadly diseases (Krieger & Higgins, 2002). Crowded living spaces, such as those in the tenements, are associated with the rapid transmission of diseases, such as tuberculosis and other respiratory infections (Krieger & Higgins, 2002).
A tenement reformer, Ernest Flagg, once said the “greatest evil which ever befell New York City was the division of the blocks into 25x100 feet”, meaning the tenements were the worst thing to happen to the city (Dolkhart, 2014). The conditions were so bad. Poor sanitation, inadequate ventilation and overcrowding were the key objectives associated with tenement housing. Health officials began to target these since housing is an important determinant of health, but all too many times these rules were implemented too late. The terribly crowded conditions were able to be seen through the recreation of a tenement apartment in the Tenement Museum. Being able to physically walk through gave each of us a real life experience of walking through what life must have been like in the 19th century.
Stephanie Meyer
Molloy College
New York City is known for its skyscrapers, crowded streets, busy lifestyle and luxurious residential apartment buildings. These luxurious apartment buildings were not always so desirable. In the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of immigrants flooded the Lower East Side of New York City. To accommodate the increase in the population, tenement buildings were constructed. These buildings housed numerous families in cramped three room apartments. Each of the five floors contained four apartments, usually with no running water, electricity or even bathrooms inside. Suddenly, twenty plus families are living in one tenement building (Dolkhart, 2014). Buildings as a whole were expected to share an outdoor bathroom, and one outdoor water source on the ground or cellar level. These characteristics made tenements overcrowded, and most of the time, very unsanitary. These first multiple family dwellings were erected largely for the poorer immigrants, with very few amenities (Dolkhart, 2014). Laws started to mandate rules for the buildings, like ventilation and fire escapes, but they were generally ignored by the owners because they did not want to spend the time or money renovating, and in reality there was no way of making sure that the rules were followed (Dolkhart, 2014).
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located on the corner of Orchard and Delancey, allowed us to walk through and get a sneak peek of what the living conditions were like in 19th century tenement housing. The recreated rooms gave us insight on the suffocating spaces that the families lived in, and the extended story of one family that resided in the building, allowed us to paint a fuller picture of life in the 19th century. The Tenement Museum building was built in 1863, and housed an abundance of different families over the years. After the building was shut down in 1935 and sat abandoned for many years, it was founded in 1988 and turned into the museum it is today (Russo & Cullinan, 2014). Not knowing that this museum even existed, it was awesome to see a part of history still standing almost exactly how it was in the 19th century. The building luckily didn’t fall victim to gentrification (not that gentrification is a bad thing), and it lets individuals flash back to New York’s past. Walking through the museum, and hearing the story of a family that once lived in the very building, made everything more real. The visual recreation allowed me to connect the story to the family, especially seeing the little girl clothes in the room. It made me realize that these two immigrants who married did not only need to provide for themselves, but for their three very young daughters as well. The tour guide spoke of the death of the youngest little girl, who passed away as an infant. She spoke of the possible causes, one being the tarnished milk that may have been constantly fed to her. The milk would travel for multiple days un-refridgerated, and then laced with all kinds of unsanitary water and even chalk, so that the sellers would make more money. “Inadequate food storage have long been identified as contributing to the spread of infectious diseases” (Krieger & Higgins, 2002). A lack in affordable housing is linked to inadequate nutrition, especially in children, meaning families may not be able to spend a large amount of money on fresh, non-laced milk for their children because of the struggle they are already in paying rent. The residents of the tenements use all of their resources to maintain shelter, and less for necessities such as food (Krieger & Higgins, 2002). Lack of safe drinking water, absence of hot water for washing and unsuccessful waste disposal also account for the spread of infectious deadly diseases (Krieger & Higgins, 2002). Crowded living spaces, such as those in the tenements, are associated with the rapid transmission of diseases, such as tuberculosis and other respiratory infections (Krieger & Higgins, 2002).
A tenement reformer, Ernest Flagg, once said the “greatest evil which ever befell New York City was the division of the blocks into 25x100 feet”, meaning the tenements were the worst thing to happen to the city (Dolkhart, 2014). The conditions were so bad. Poor sanitation, inadequate ventilation and overcrowding were the key objectives associated with tenement housing. Health officials began to target these since housing is an important determinant of health, but all too many times these rules were implemented too late. The terribly crowded conditions were able to be seen through the recreation of a tenement apartment in the Tenement Museum. Being able to physically walk through gave each of us a real life experience of walking through what life must have been like in the 19th century.