What was the purpose of the Tenement House Act?
Two major studies of tenements were completed in the 1890s, and in 1901 city officials passed the Tenement House Law, which effectively outlawed the construction of new tenements on 25-foot lots and mandated improved sanitary conditions, fire escapes and access to light.
What caused the New York State Tenement House Law?
The 1879 law was the result of a campaign by reformers who had become concerned about conditions in New York’s increasingly congested neighborhoods. The result, the Tenement House Act of 1879 or “old law”, actually did not greatly improve conditions.
What is the Tenement House Act of 1867 and why was it necessary?
New York State passed a Tenement House Law on 14 May 1867, the nation’s first comprehensive housing reform law. It established the first standards for minimum room size, ventilation, and sanitation. It required fire escapes and at least one toilet or privy (usually outside) for every twenty inhabitants.
What was the Tenement House Act of 1879?
The Tenement Reform Law of 1879 enacted minimum requirements for light and air. As a result of this law “dumbbell” tenements were constructed, so-called because of the shape of their perimeter. The dumbbell shape allowed for air shafts between tenements.
What was the tenement manufacturing ban and why was it significant?
One of the reforms of the Progressive Era, the New York State Tenement House Act of 1901 was one of the first such laws to ban the construction of dark, poorly ventilated tenement buildings in the state of New York.
What does tenement mean in history?
a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, especially in a poor section of a large city. Law. any species of permanent property, as lands, houses, rents, an office, or a franchise, that may be held of another.
What were the conditions of tenements like?
Cramped, poorly lit, under ventilated, and usually without indoor plumbing, the tenements were hotbeds of vermin and disease, and were frequently swept by cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis.
What is the tenement reform law?
The New York State Tenement House Act of 1901 was one of the first laws to ban the construction of dark, poorly ventilated tenement buildings in the state of New York. This Progressive Era law required new buildings to have outward-facing windows, indoor bathrooms, proper ventilation, and fire safeguards.
How was the tenement problem solved?
Building engineers solved this problem by developing a “dumbbell” blueprint in which the air shaft running through the building was indented, thereby providing air to all rooms. This same law required toilets in all tenements to be hooked up to sewage lines and equipped with a way to flush after use.