The book "How the other half of humanity lives: Studios among the high-rise buildings of New York" by Jacob A. Ries is a cult work on the topic of social inequalities and the life of ordinary people in the metropolis. The author conducted an in-depth study of housing conditions in the slums of New York City, revealing the appalling conditions in which tenement families lived at the time. Rhys not only describes the life of tenement residents, but also makes an attempt to change society's attitude to these problems, calling for social reforms. This book shocked contemporaries with its directness and caused a wave of social changes in the city and then throughout the country.