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History Of The New York State Tenement House Act

1029 Words5 Pages

Annalee Allen

Intro to News Writing

Mr. Mike Stedham

6 March 2015

Jacob Riis

In the 1890’s, there was much corruption and chaos when it came to how the underprivileged people of New York, New York lived. The tenements were in some of the poorest conditions and it seemed as though no one was willing to do anything to help these poor, unfortunate people. The government thought that it was of no concern of theirs since the wealthier people were in charge of these tenements. They did not want to be involved, since there were no laws or rules in place mandating that the government improve the housing conditions. The wealthy tenement owners only saw improving the houses as a burden. They were already prospering off the poor and remodeling …show more content…

The House act states that there will be a “ban on the construction of dark, poorly ventilated tenement buildings in the state of New York.” Among other sanctions, the law required that new buildings must be built with outward-facing windows in every room, an open courtyard, proper ventilation systems, indoor toilets, and fire safeguards.

Many other “Tenement House Acts” had been enacted, but none were forced to be recognized and most did not cover the major problems that plagued the current tenements. The First Tenement House Act required fire escapes for each suite and a window for every room. The Second Tenement House Act closed a loophole, set by the first one, by requiring windows to face a source of fresh air and light, not just a hallway.

In 1901, after Riis’ book “How The Other Half Lives” was published, the government made it mandatory to follow the strict guidelines addressed in the New York State Tenement Housing Act. This meant improvement with the sewage systems, indoor plumbing and garbage collection.

After the great success of his book, Riis career of social reform was launched. He devoted the rest of his life to “raising awareness about the grim realities facing poor immigrants” inside of New York City’s slums. All the publicity brought him to the attention of one very important, influential man, Theodore

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