Riis states that by 1855, "the tenement-house population had swelled to half a million souls…and on the East Side…it was packed at a rate of 290,000 to the square mile, a state of affairs wholly unexampled." Furthermore, the rooms within the tenement houses themselves were often partitioned into smaller rooms to house greater numbers: "where two families had lived, ten moved in." These rooms were hardly large enough for an individual, let alone a family. For example, one family of three living on West Third Street was forced to confine itself "to a single room…so small that [Riis] was unable to get a photograph of it…Three short steps across either way would have measured its full extent." In addition to being overcrowded, the tenement houses were often filthy and
Riis states that by 1855, "the tenement-house population had swelled to half a million souls…and on the East Side…it was packed at a rate of 290,000 to the square mile, a state of affairs wholly unexampled." Furthermore, the rooms within the tenement houses themselves were often partitioned into smaller rooms to house greater numbers: "where two families had lived, ten moved in." These rooms were hardly large enough for an individual, let alone a family. For example, one family of three living on West Third Street was forced to confine itself "to a single room…so small that [Riis] was unable to get a photograph of it…Three short steps across either way would have measured its full extent." In addition to being overcrowded, the tenement houses were often filthy and