Jacob Riis ("The Downtown Back Allies").
The "down town back allies" depicts how the lower class of .
New Yorker's lived. Riis writes of disgusting, dilapidated conditions of .
tenement housings. Families are packed into small windowless rooms where .
they are forced to live due to insufficient funds. People had more trust in one .
other in those times. They would keep their apartment doors open for air. .
Because of this neighbors developed a closer relationship. The buildings these .
people lived in were run down for various reasons. Tenants did not have much .
money to fix their houses up and landlords cared more about their wallets than .
people. There were often fires and hazardous conditions in these buildings. .
Both the tenants and the people were to blame for these things because .
neither did much to better their situations.
.
These buildings were specifically built for poor people by the rich .
to make money. Diseases like small pox were rapidly spread in these areas due .
to poor health conditions. Often, there was no heat or cool air and many .
suffered from these circumstances until the end of their lives. Many of the .
tenants were poor immigrants. This populace tended to flock together so, .
most neighborhoods became ghettos.
.
Conditions like these can be found throughout New York in this day .
and age. Many tenants and landlords do not pay satisfactory attention to their .
living quarters. Tenants blame it on landlords and visa versa.
One can see these types of conditions in the neighborhood Brighton .
Beach(Brooklyn,N.Y.). Many of the people who live in this area are immigrants .
and do not speak English. Due to the language barrier the tenants are ashamed .
to speak to their landlords. Tenants continue living in their unpleasant .
conditions while the landlords take frequent vacations because of the money .