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The Fire on Woodycrest Avenue On a chilly winter evening, a fire breaks out in the basement of a multiple family home and quickly spreads through the building. Men, women, and children clustered by the windows, screaming for assistance; some gather the courage to jump and escape the fire. Despite the efforts of firefighters, the fire burns so quickly that tenants on the upper floors are unable to escape and perish. It is the worst residential fire New York City has seen in decades. While this may sound like the fire that struck a townhouse in the High Bridge section of the Bronx last month, this calamity took place in 1860 in an Elm Street tenement on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Though the two tragedies are separated by 147 years, reactions by the neighborhood and the City have been much the same. Immediately after both fires, neighbors and concerned residents throughout the City sought to assist the survivors. Like today, charitable organizations in 1860 organized relief efforts. And like today, New Yorkers focused on what had gone wrong and what could be done about it. Like the building on Woodycrest Avenue in the Bronx, the Elm Street tenement was not considered substandard by the City. It had received no fire code violations; there was no apparatus for regularly inspecting buildings for fire safety in the winter of 1860. Except for requiring buildings to be constructed out of a fireproof material, there existed none of the fire regulations we take for granted today. No smoke alarms, sprinklers, or fire escapes existed in the tenement on Elm Street. The only means of escape provided was a narrow, wooden staircase. Both fires initiated a civic dialogue about fire safety. In 1860, outrage about the Elm Street fire led to calls for improvements to multiple family homes “to ensure easy egress in case of fire.” Months later, the New York State legislature enacted a law requiring fire escapes on the exteriors of multiple family homes. Although it came at a terrible price, the Elm Street fire raised awareness about the need for fire safety and helped New Yorkers redefine what they considered acceptable housing. What will be the legacy of the fire on Woodycrest Avenue?		Tenement Artifacts Although tenements were required to have fire escapes, observers from the late 19th century noted that landlords and their tenants were wise to keep ladders, hoses and fire buckets like the one above (found in 97 Orchard Street) in their homes. Gods of Chinatown, the Museum's new digital arts project, is nominated for a Webby Award. This is a people's choice award, so please vote for Gods--you'll find it in the Travel category. Thanks for voting! Celebrate the experiences of immigrants in New York City. From April 16 - 22, the city hosts an array of great programs, including two events at The Tenement: Crossing the BLVD, a multimedia performance about the immigrants and refugees living in Queens. Paging Through the Dictionary, a free performance by Pablo Hilguera, creator of A Dictionary of Foreign Time, the art installation now on display in The Tenement Windows.
This metal “Incendiary Bomb Sand Pail” was discovered in 97 Orchard Street. It is painted with "Instructions for Use" that read "IMPORTANT - STAY AWAY FROM BOMB FOR TWO MINUTES" During World War II, incendiary bombs were commonly used to start fires and wreak destruction. Europeans seemingly relied on such buckets of sand to combat this threat—-the sand was to be poured upon the bomb prior to explosion, thus preventing a fire. How and why did this pail find its way to 97 Orchard Street, a building that was all but shuttered in 1935? Tell us what you think! If you have any comments or questions, please drop us a line.