The

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Metropolitan Board of Health was the first modern municipal

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

authority in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was founded in 1866 by the New York City Common Council at a suggestion by the

New York Academy of Medicine The New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy) is a health policy and advocacy organization founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health r ...

, following a campaign led by Dr. Stephen Smith. The several powers and duties of the health officers are set forth in detail in chapter xix of the first charter creating the

City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the Merger (politics), consolidation of the New York City, City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx ...

(January 1, 1898; amended, 1901). In 1915 the health department was administered by a board of health, consisting of a commissioner appointed by the mayor, the commissioner of police, and the health officer of the port.

History

The Board of Health, later known as the Metropolitan Board of Health began after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

on February 18, 1865, when the first Report of the Council of Hygiene and Public Health of the Citizens' Association of New York (known as ''Citizen's Association Report on the Sanitary Condition of the City'') was written: Poor

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

and filthy streets threatened both the physical health of the public as well as the economic welfare of the developing metropolis in the mid nineteenth century. The sanitation of the city went under city politics. Most of city sewage and welfare in New York City was headed by

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

. In 1863 Tammany Hall nominated City Street Inspector Francis I. A. Boole for mayor. Reformists discovered that street cleaning was deeply embedded in

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. Workers were paid by Tammany Hall below minimum wage and forced to sign contracts that gave up half of their paycheck to Boole. After the release of the ''Citizens'' ''Association'' ''Report'' in late 1865, the new board began to manage New York City's worst environmental problems. The Board of Health in New York, inspected at least 500

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

in the area and demanded that the factory owners decrease the amount of toxic air they released which they say was becoming a major health risk as well as the dirty tenements that contained new immigrants into the area. A

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

official in 1866 wrote of the tenements in a 300-page document, entitled Inspection of Tenement living: The Board of Health helped encourage scientists and doctors to help cure diseases as well as join reformers in bringing attention to tenement law and work laws. By 1915 many of the powers originally possessed by the health department as to

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

houses had been transferred to the tenement-house department, which was charged with enforcing the tenement-house law in all flats and apartments. New International Encyclopedia

References

Healthcare in New York City Health departments in the United States Medical and health organizations based in New York City New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene{{Health departments in the United States

History

See also

References