10. Photograph of Bandit’s Roost

Jacob Riis-Under the Dump at West 47th Street-Museum of the City of NY-Jacob Riis Revealing New York's Other Half Bandits RoostBandit’s Roost. Photo by Jacob A. Riis. Image via Museum of the City of New York, Gift of Roger William Riis

This is possibly our favorite image in the exhibition – a documentation of the lawlessness and self-policing occurring downtown. Bandit’s Roost was an alley off Mulberry Street, near Riis’ office across from police headquarters. Of course, the casual posed nature of the people in the foreground likely suggests some form of complicity between subjects and photographer.

Check out Jacob Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half at the Museum of the City of New York and look for the museum’s special programming around this exhibit and Affordable New York: A Housing Legacy.