Landlords: The First New York Tenements

The first New York tenements began construction in the 1850s. Landlords had realized that they could make a large profit by building inexpensive housing for the poor. For many years, there were no laws requiring developers to provide their tenants with gas, running water, plumbing, or decent lighting and ventilation. Developers wanted to maximize their rent and cut costs as much as they could. A total of 15,309 tenements existed in New York by 1865. More than sixty-five percent of New York’s population lived in those tenements. Tenements were a large source of suffering for new immigrants and their families. This is mainly due to their unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. The tenement conditions were horrendous and appalling. Large rooms

New York has a tremendous population of small-wage earners that they should house decently, which are not being housed decently. Suburban life is unpractical; however, if they pay high enough rent, they should be entitled to their utopian lifestyle. They must pay to be decently housed with rightful security, sanitary, moral, and economic grounds. The tenement is not going anywhere; it is a solution to another problem of housing the multitudes of immigrants. Therefore, they must work hard and put in the effort and financials to make it decent and livable housing. However, the developers and owners of the tenements do not care about anything except for their money. All they do is slap a coat of paint on the grotesque exterior without even thinking about the horrendous living conditions on the inside. The landlords do not care and will not help New York tenement occupants get out of their filth. They must work together. The tenants have to care about their conditions and develop some pride in their home. They must get rid of their horrible and gross habits and clean up their home. The developers and landlords must also take pride in their properties. They should develop and maintain something they could be proud of. Eventually the living conditions will begin to improve and less lives will be lost due to the unsanitary and cramped conditions

This way can be proven by an example of Miss Ellen Collins who owned three Water Street houses. Her first task was to allow light in which caused the piles of trash by the sick to vanish and some of the most stubborn tenants. The tenants who stayed abided by the new rules that were set. Collins’ tenants were some of the poorest out there and she did it as an experiment between tenant and landlord. She even lowered the rent as low as possible to still be making a reasonable profit to still be considered successful. She also added proper plumbing and hired a capable janitor to oversee the tenants while she was not there. After the rules were put in place, the houses started to run themselves and less supervision of the tenants was