19th Century Tenements
During the period of 1800-1880 New York City’s population doubled. With no place to house everyone building owners began to invest in tenements. “A tenement is a substandard multi-family dwelling in the urban core, usually old and occupied by the poor.” As New York became more and more crowded with immigrant’s tenements started popping up through the city. There was approximately more than 80,000 tenements build by 19th century. It is said that they housed approximately 2.3 million immigrants. Tenements featured small cramped apartments with poor ventilation and lack of indoor plumbing. “A typical tenement building had five to seven stories and occupied nearly all of the lot upon which it was built (usually 25 feet wide and 100 feet long,
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Immigrants cooked on wood and coal burning stoves, shared bathroom and faced harsh prejudice in the work form. With the story types associated with immigrants many immigrants growth and was stifled for a long time. This made it difficult to become employed and cause some of these immigrants to turn to illegal activities as a source of income. “In 1892: - two rooms in an attic cost $3 to $ 5 per month - three rooms (kitchen and two bedrooms) cost $6 to $12 per month - four rooms as described above cost $12 to $16 per month.”
My overall experience at the tenement museum was almost like a flash back to my younger years. I thought to myself although the living conditions in those days were horrible what did the residence think. I say this because I lived without running water in my house, which meant I had to go outside to use the bathroom and I lived in an area that wasn’t necessarily the healthiest in terms of medicine but that didn’t bother me. I like the immigrants did not have something to miss because I at that time had not experienced what are the “basic” necessities for life. I just can’t help but think that the reason why immigrants allowed their land owners to treat them horribly for years and tenement owners were able to take advantage of some people was because they didn’t have anything to compare it too and maybe in their heads they were living the American dream. It also make you question what is the American dream, is it to have millions of dollars and live in a mansion or is it just to live in
Immigrants cooked on wood and coal burning stoves, shared bathroom and faced harsh prejudice in the work form. With the story types associated with immigrants many immigrants growth and was stifled for a long time. This made it difficult to become employed and cause some of these immigrants to turn to illegal activities as a source of income. “In 1892: - two rooms in an attic cost $3 to $ 5 per month - three rooms (kitchen and two bedrooms) cost $6 to $12 per month - four rooms as described above cost $12 to $16 per month.”
My overall experience at the tenement museum was almost like a flash back to my younger years. I thought to myself although the living conditions in those days were horrible what did the residence think. I say this because I lived without running water in my house, which meant I had to go outside to use the bathroom and I lived in an area that wasn’t necessarily the healthiest in terms of medicine but that didn’t bother me. I like the immigrants did not have something to miss because I at that time had not experienced what are the “basic” necessities for life. I just can’t help but think that the reason why immigrants allowed their land owners to treat them horribly for years and tenement owners were able to take advantage of some people was because they didn’t have anything to compare it too and maybe in their heads they were living the American dream. It also make you question what is the American dream, is it to have millions of dollars and live in a mansion or is it just to live in