These riveting accounts by Jacob A. Riis are from the late 19th century, when lower Manhattan was teeming with struggling, near-starving immigrants crammed into wretched fire-prone tenements. Riis writes compassionately of these people who were nevertheless incredibly resilient and ever aspiring to a better life; of children, lovers, parents, policemen and firemen; of moments of joy, holidays, tragedies, and much more. –Lee Smalley “Since I wrote ‘How the Other Half Lives’ I have been asked many times upon what basis of experience, of fact, I built that account of life in New York tenements. These stories contain the answer. They are from the daily grist of the police hopper in Mulberry Street…. They are reprinted from the columns of my newspaper and from the magazines as a contribution to the discussion of the lives and homes of the poor…. In this discussion only facts are of value, and these stories are true….” J.A.R.