Tenement House Act

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The Tenement House Museum on New York's Lower East Side

The Tenement House Act were laws of the State of New York , through which the living conditions for the residents of tenements ( Tenements should be improved).

The Tenement House Acts were enacted in response to the dire living conditions in the city's immigrant neighborhoods, such as the Lower East Side . The Tenement Laws were one of the earliest approaches to social law and housing in the United States, and also established the state's right to intervene in urban development to protect the health and prosperity of residents. In this context, the Tenement Laws are seen as the forerunner of the New York Zoning Resolution .

Tenement House Act of 1867

The Tenement House Act of 1867 (also known as the " Old Law ") stipulated that apartment buildings had to provide a toilet for every 20 residents that was connected to the sewer system. Bedrooms that did not have a window were required to have at least a three square foot ventilation opening above the door.

Tenement House Act of 1879

Another Tenement Act, passed in 1879, required builders to equip the bedrooms of all newly built apartment buildings with a window. This was solved by light shafts, which gave the floor plan of a building the appearance of a dumbbell (hence the English name " dumb bell building ").

Tenement House Act of 1901

The next major revision of the Tenement House Act came in 1901. The act banned the construction of new apartment houses on lots less than 25 feet and now had to provide partitioned toilets with windows for every other apartment. Old homes where rooms had no windows now had to have at least a 3 by 5 foot opening to a ventilated space. Buildings built under the Tenement Act of 1901 are also known as " New Law Buildings ".

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