As the population of New York City swelled in the 19th century, the city's reservoirs were built to supply a growing population with a safe and reliable water supply.

For much of New York's history, its Easter Parade was one of the most important parts of the Easter holiday. Starting in the 1880s, it quickly became one of the social events of the season.

The New York City Department of Sanitation was established in 1881 to attack an overwhelming problem. New York City of the late 19th century was plagued with relentless filth. Horses left 2.5 million pounds of manure and 60,000 gallons of urine on the streets every single day. The unceasing expansion of the city left layers of grime on the streets.

"White Wings" on Parade, ca. 1896. Pictured here are the White Wings: a brigade of street cleaners who were established by Street Commissioner Colonel George E. Waring Jr. in 1895. Waring treated the sanitation department as an army, mandating his workers to wear all white uniforms and caps. He believed that their white attire portrayed a sense of cleanliness, as much as they helped keep workers conspicuous while on the job, discouraging slacking off at the local saloon. These "White Wings" kept streets cleaner than at any previous time in the city's history. Regulation whites remained in effect until the 1930s (when someone finally decided that whites were not appropriate for street sweeping).

One of the most drastic New York City #transformations of all time! From 20 million gallons of 💧to 1 million 📚

Though today the stretch of Fifth Avenue from 40th to 42nd Street looks onto Bryant Park and the New York Public Library, in the late 18th century, passersby would be met with a vastly different sight: 50 feet high and 25 feet thick granite walls that could hold up to 20,000,000 gallons of water. This was the Croton Distributing Reservoir and served a crucial role in the development of New York City. The concept of a municipal supply of water began after the growing city had been hit by waves of epidemics due to a lack of clean water (which was only accessible by wells or cisterns). The public outcry that followed prompted the military to create the Aqueduct, which started at dams at the Croton River in Westchester and ended at the Reservoir. The Croton Distributing Reservoir allowed New Yorkers the ability to have running water in their homes and served as the predecessor to the tap water available to us today. Outstripped by the growing city, the Croton Distributing Reservoir became obsolete and eventually was torn down. However, photographs of the imposing walls with their Egyptian facade provide a reminder of this essential relic of city infrastructure that occupied four acres of Midtown.

Man and microbes have always co-habited, and their relationship has had a profound influence on human history—especially in cities, the crossroads of the movements of people, goods, and germs. Germ City: Microbes and the Metropolis explores the complex story of New York’s long battle against infectious disease—a fight involving government, urban planners, medical professionals, businesses, and activists.