pf_03007 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

conduce to the health of the occupants...there is no necessity for legislative compulsion on a landlord to distribute water through the stories of his building; since if tenants require it, self-interest and the rivalry of competition are sufficient to secure it...now, if it be competent for the legislature to impose an expense upon a landlord in order that tenants be furnished with water in their rooms instead of in the yard or basement, at what point must this police power pause?...a conclusion contrary to the present decision would involve the essential principle of that species of socialism under the regime of which the individual disappears and is absorbed by a collective being called the 'state', a principle utterly repugnant to the spirit of our political system and necessarily fatal to our form of liberty. Fortunately, 3 years later, the city health department was granted an appeal from the court order, and eventually the constitutionality of the law was upheld. Jacob A. Riis, Lawrence Veiller, and others did much during this period to champion the cause of better living conditions. Their efforts resulted in the Tenement House Act of 1901, a milestone in housing and an extremely comprehensive document for its time. It began with concise definitions of certain terms that were to become important in court actions. It contained provisions for protection from fire, requiring that every tenement erected thereafter, and exceeding 60 feet in height, should be fireproof. In addition, there were specific provisions regarding fire escapes on both new and existing houses. More light and ventilation were required; coverage was restricted to not more than 70 percent on interior lots and 90 percent on corner lots. There were special provisions governing rear yards, inner courts, and buildings on the same lot with the tenement house. At least one window of specified dimensions was required for every room, including the bathroom. Minimum size of rooms was specified as were certain characteristics for public halls. Significantly included were provisions concerning planning for the individual apartments in order to assure privacy. One of the most important provisions of the Tenement Act was the requirement for running water and water closets in each apartment in new tenement houses. Special attention was given to basements and cellars, the law requiring not only that they be damp proof but also that permits be obtained before they were occupied. One novel section of this act prohibited the use of any part of the building as a house of prostitution. The basic principles and methodology established in the Tenement Act of 1901 still underlie much of the housing efforts in New York City today. Philadelphia, a city that can be compared to with New York from the standpoint of age, was fortunate to have farsighted leaders in its early stage of development. Since 1909, with the establishment of the Philadelphia Housing Association, the city has had almost continual inspection and improvement. Although Chicago is approximately two centuries younger than New York, it enacted housing legislation as early as 1889 and health legislation as early as 1881. Regulations on ventilation, light, drainage, and plumbing of dwellings were put into effect in 1896. Many of the structures, however, were built of wood, were dilapidated, and constituted serious 3