Question

Tenement houses in New York City:_______.

a. had higher mortality rates than among the general population
b. were cramped, yet offered more privacy than apartments
c. usually had two to three families in each building
d. were urban, yet their courtyards offered children a sense of nature e. were clean

Answer 1

The best answer is "A"

had higher mortality rates than among the general population

Explanation: Tenement refers to a form of narrow, low-rise apartment buildings that were erected for immigrants seeking a better life than the one they had left behind. They were characterised with having cramped, poorly lit lacking indoor plumbing and proper ventilation.

A typical tenement building had five to seven stories. Many tenements began as single-family dwellings, and many older structures were converted into tenements with little space to manage between buildings little air and light could get in. At a Later stage new tenements were built with the use of cheap materials and construction shortcuts which is quite uncomfortable and at worst highly unsafe. This brought about high morality rate than among the general population.

Answer 2

Answer: B. were cramped, yet offered more privacy than apartments

Explanation: Tenements were most common in the Lower East Side of New York City, the area in which a majority of immigrants found themselves settling in. Tenements were notoriously small in size, most contained no more than two rooms. One of the rooms was used as a kitchen, and the other as a bedroom.

Tenements were low-rise buildings with multiple apartments, which were narrow and typically made up of three rooms. Because rents were low, tenement housing was the common choice for new immigrants in New York City. It was common for a family of 10 to live in a 325-square-foot apartment.