New York Cities Summary

A series on the BBC channel, titled “Filthy Cities – Episode 3 Industrial New York” explains how New York- one of America’s most diverse cities during the 19th century, became of the filthiest cities of the world. With greedy bosses and landlords, seeking opportunities to gain money from the incoming hordes of immigrants, they helped to facilitate a growing contamination within the streets, and eventually the people living there. This led to a movement that would reform public health, encouraging the rise of inventions, such as motor cars and fridges, that would both help and harm New York City. The problems associated from the influx of immigrants came with disease and corruption, both factors leading to New York City being one of the world’s

With reports of a new wave of cholera coming in 1865, this brought extreme importance to New York’s government. This prompted them to form America’s first independent board of health, giving Dr. Smith the lead role in preventing any more spread of cholera. He tackled this by sending a team of cleaners to clean out the city streets and the tenements, which was deep in human and animal bodies and waste. By the time cholera reached New York, Smith’s work was partially successful – 591 people’s lives were claimed by it, cutting down its deaths by about 80% when compared to the cholera outbreak in

Major global events, such as the Irish Potato Famine and religious persecution in Europe, encouraged the widespread of immigration into America. However, two major factor played crucial roles in why New York was sitting in heaps of filth during that time: one being disease, as immigrants hopped onto boats, in where groups of people were huddled close together. This became a vector for disease to spread via body lice, as well as roaches. By the time the immigrants reached America, the pests were able to flourish, thanks to the unkempt and unsanitary conditions within the slums and tenements that the landlords neglected. In regards to landlords, corruption played a key role as well, as politicians from Tammany Hall’s political machine also neglected the general public health, leaving unregulated streets feet high in ‘corporation pudding’ composed of human/animal waste as well as manufacturing waste from the breweries and slaughterhouses. It wasn’t until Dr. Smith’s health campaign that would eventually spur government regulation on public heath, which helped to decrease the number of public deaths from food and disease. Technology became innovated in a way, to combat the waste: the invention of Ford Motors reduced the amount horse waste in the streets, while the refrigerator by General Electric helped food to last longer, without worries of being spoiled quickly. It is important to