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Tag: Tenement House Act of 1901

The Birth of the Tenement Fire Escape

On February 2, 1860, a terrible fire broke out in a tenement at 142 Elm Street (today Lafayette Street, just north of Howard Street in SoHo). The building was occupied by 24 families, according to The New York Times account at the time, and the fire started in a bakery in the basement. Ten women […]

    Eight Years Off the Grid

    GVSHP launched our blog Off the Grid on February 25, 2011, to share news, research, viewpoints, and historic information about our neighborhoods and beyond. Since then, we have written over 2,000 blog posts (wow!). In honor of our 8th Anniversary, we wanted to look back at our most popular blog post of each year:

    Tenement House Act of 1901

    April 12, 1901 marks the date when the New York State Legislature passed the Tenement House Act of 1901, more commonly known as the “New Law” or “New Tenement Law.”   This significant moment in New York City housing history resulted from intense pressure by housing reform groups, leading to Governor Theodore Roosevelt appointing a commission to […]