Lot #45: 59 St Marks Place - Old Law Tenement

Overview

- Tenements, in the context of New York City, are multi-family dwellings that housed immigrants and workers from the countryside during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.
- Old Law Tenements refer to tenements built in New York City after the Tenement House Act of 1879 and before the New York State Tenement House Act of 1901.
- Under the Tenement House Act of 1879, it was required that every inhabitable room have a window opening to plain air, leading to the development of tenements that included air shafts between adjacent buildings.
Old Law Tenements are often called “dumbbell tenements” after the building footprint shape; the airshafts give the tenements a narrow-waisted shape with wide streetfronts and backyards.

Greenwich Village Block 450 - Theme 3: Immigration History
updated 04/2013 by NYU Tourism Maps