1850s The first tenements are built along Cherry Street and Gotham Court as a result of the ever increasing number of immigrants in the Lower East Side.

 

1860 Railroad provides additional transportation throughout the country, linking nearly every major city by this time.

 

1861-1865 The American Civil War occurs.

 

1863 New York Draft Riots occur as a result of the discontent of working class immigrants who were unable to afford a substitute, and therefore forced to enlist in the American Civil War.

 

1867 First Tenement Act is passed in the state of New York in an effort to improve the squalid conditions of the tenements. It required fire escapes and a window for every room in each unit to be installed.

 

1870s-1880s Jewish Immigrants begin to settle in the Lower East Side.

 

1879 Second Tenement Act passes as a revision of the 1867 Act. The Second Act requires all windows to face a source of fresh air and light.

 

The Board of Health and The Plumber and Sanitary Engineer Magazine sponsor a competition for new tenement design.

 

The first prize is awarded to James E. Ware for his “dumbbell” tenement design.

 

1883 Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge provides transportation across the East River to Brooklyn

 

1890 Danish immigrant and reformer, Jacob Riis, publishes How The Other Half Lives, a book bringing further attention to the condition of people living in tenement houses.

 

1901 Final Tenement Act final revision know as the “New Law” requires new tenements to have proper ventilation, indoor toilets, open courtyards, and fire escapes.