New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-07
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE on TEN
ANT HOUSES IN EEW-YORK.

TIE SPECIAL Committee appointed under resolution
Of the Assembly 70 wat and examine Tenement boases
| in New York, beg respectfully to report
Tka, 10 accordance With the above resolution, 'heJ
proee. ded 10 Eev-YOk 90 the 18th March and again
On the 27d March and spent, On the fret vsf' hree
dsy. aud The lat oor days IN personal Inspection
Of ,Cue Of the best known tsnantbouses IN the clyi
and in receiving from the prop'r suth,riie' saes w
formation herewith a. wa IN their po yer
to furrh. n the bnef space OF time allowed then ioI
| the iDv.-tgsiioo your Committee have been eaao'5d
10 90 than % glance al sVIs oil soco mAShIuIe
a. 10 mpeTsiivelJ demand a thorough su1 eeafcnIoS
srufiLy AID thy sensible N u their ebOs VIII De
unattended by any particular r-.ult, uneo. toey sue
ce.d IL impr ssILg Up,n your honorable body coaY|-
ton Of the u.cese!y thar exit for ertnion ct -ir
powers, with vie 10 p-recfing some p AZ Vi rei'fn
| ulon which future J. gslatIOn may Dr. b1sei.
At this late period Of the ses-ion, wAel legislative
acton cannot be taken, i would be needless en-
| coscLu.nt upon yolr time -ho1ld your Committee ey
before you in detail al t1e f.cts they have elected aad
all IT, th. have witnessed in the exploration Of
the haunt OF misery, poverty and wee 10 Tue neuop
OLE rbey deem il sufficient for their presen, parpo-e
TO state generally that the examination they have
he- convinced them that the eys -ought TO be
eded are Of serious nature, requiring TIE atten-
ton II the Safe legislature, end demanding such
action at The haods Of the present Assembly vii
! ,ecure their ultimate removal.
| In order, however, that Your honorable body may
appreciate the magnitude Of these evil. and the IL
jSus infueDcss they must exert upon the prosperity
| health, and hsppiness Of the community your Com
Htee deem eIpedient 10 set before yoa me Follow
| ing condemns. q facts:
Partial returns, made up hurriedly by the Captains
OF Police for the OF the Committee, show that 10 ~
Districts there 200 tenement houses, OF the
lowest description occupied by Lot -e than ten f,mi-
LIS each In some Of these &c many a. 10 different
families reside ard into few 100 families
crowded. A number OF these dwellings, were visited
by your Commiiee. In building ll2 families are
gathered, some Of them numbering eight or ten men,
bers occupyii close apartment, and Others hud-
d., Unfortunately in damp fol- cellars, TO breathe
the air OF which is 70 inhGle disease. Here, IN their
very wont Aspect TO be seen the horrors OF such
mOGe Of living. Here are 70 be found drunken and
diseased adults Of both lying IN the midst OF their
filth; oiOtic and crippled children suffering from neglect
and i'll treatment; srs, just springing into woman.
hood, living unfortunately in the same apartment
With Of all ages and Of all color; babes left 80
destitute Of and Dolrshment 10 be fitted only
for jail hospital In after year, If they escape The
blessing Of an early grave. Indeed no language
could faithfully depict the suffering and misery wit
messed in the buried visits id by the Committee
to these lotbeds Of immortality drunkenness, debauca-
cry and DIS. ace.
In the IXth District, out Of 10 houses reported by
the Captain Of Police being let IL tenemeDts 70 not
ess than 10 families, 40 are designated as 10 very
filthy condition, aIht for human haotatlon and al OF
these occupied by from 10 10 80 families eac1 IN
the Xth Drtct, out OF 81 houses, several are occu
pied BY a. many 20 distinct families, and report
filthy condition, without ventilation, aud des
tute of the sccommoda ions necessary for the use Of
civil zeo beIgs. In the Xth District, 10 which are
rome seventy houses OF like description, The report
Folsom Barracks and the Cottages are tbe most
wfttched and hltby-alke dirgrsceiul to the owners
of the property and the city that toerates such NUS
an..s. Ii could not fs to be matter Of surprl-e to
" any one who would 20 through and examine them,
tLat the occupants od not all die Of pestileuce gener
ated by their unspeakable filth and dkso!ute haolts
IL the Thirteenth Ward, in building known g.
Manhattan place, there are go separate apartments
These Inhabited by li6 familee-or more than !!
family to each roOm-numberiDg in all 577 personsor
about individual TO each single room. The report
Of The Health Warden setting forth these facts, says
bese premises three stories high the cellars
" in bad condition, the silks filthy and the ventla
ton pooT IL the Summer season these prenieee are
knOS TO be very filthy, ard not the least attention
lie paid 10 ths whatever by either owner or agent
" their sole aim apparently being to make money
ex uiiing in the same an entire disregard 70 al law
whatever"
In tn. houses visited by your Committee sights were
presened TO them alike startling and painful ~ behold
In msny, Whites and blacks were living indiscrn:
Dat, y together, negro men with white women, aud
white men with negro women. Young fscee, bsggard
with want and bearing that peculiar look Of premature
age impaired by early Elm, peered at them from every
CONFER uisery and vice, In their most repulsiye fea
lures mt tn. m at every -tep Scarcely an apartment
free from sickness and disease, and the bLghting
curse Of drunkenness had fallen upon almost every
family. Here and there might be found it is true.
att mpt at cleanliness some display Of love Of
home, some evidence Of industry and sobnety, with
their internal Accomplishments, cheerulness snd good
health. But these your Committee found, were 10
ants oi the neigbborhoods in which they lived. The
demorahz alton and ruin apparent al around had not
had time their work them IL is TO be feared
that TOO the miasmal air will creep into their sys
tenn, undermining the sturdy constitution, aud pros
| traiing lie victims bed Of sickness. Health fell
IL, 10, will follow; and tDeu mast come Gro wd
| ing Ispicly upon them neglect OF home, neglect OF
children, uncesniness, drunkenness aud SIN. his IA
DO fsIcy tk.tcL-no future of the imagination. II
reality enacted every day in the midst of luxury
and weatL-the natural and fearful result OF the
| pacity of landlords in overcrowded city, unre-
strained by conscience, and wholly unchecked By leg
| islstiOp.
| Mary OF the buildings that are thus rented 10 the
poo, /, siIe 10 their larger annual lnoomee
uan do the frs, clsss dwelling houses in the best per
Of the city. And yet they estimated by The Assoc
sors almost vaueless, and escape anything Like
fair taxation, not outstanding they the prncipA
cause Of the heavy burdens imposed upon the citi-
Of New York for TIE support OF the CRIMINAL and
the poor This 10 OF itself orcbe Argument IN favor
OF some active eglsti.n upon the subject Of tene-
| mint louses.
In thee building, thus crowded With human beings
there Is with scarcely exception, but one narrow
stairway AID eeress to the multitude insde, IN ca7e OF
| fire, is an impo-sibihty Common humanity demands
| some law against t3is evil
| Every underground cellar in these tenement baid-
ines that s not abolutey flooded by water and 9Th,
il ade a lodging room for more wretcbed fami-
bee. AL Of these destitute Of any species OF ven
| tlstiop in mOs. of them the hoors thick with
| putrid mud and the pipes and sinks communicating
with item from the upper apartments give out Their
ofens,ye and deadly gas ana pollute the ar OF the
Whole peghborhood. One Of the provisions Of q law
regulating there matters should be elected against per
hitting underground apartment u: eny description
| 20 be !, mt d a tene ment.
IL would be an unnecessary encroechment upon your
tine TO present in detail the numerous suggestion
made by practical builders and by the police and
BE- alth Ccers Of NevYork who appeared before your
Committee in n ference TO the bees mode OF eectng
the much detned refrm in tue construction AMI man