Unfortunately, the instability of the landfill under the tenements caused the buildings to partially sink and become prematurely old. Basements (many inhabited by immigrants) and streets frequently flooded when it rained, creating a damp, decaying, and unhealthy atmosphere. Most of the streets were not connected to sewers and people used basement or outdoor privies which were rarely cleaned and constantly overflowed, filling backyards with human excrement which in turn flowed to the streets, and joined up with the tons of horse manure and leftover industrial waste. These filthy conditions plus contaminated water contributed to the high death rate in Five Points. According to the AICP (Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor), based on data from the years 1850 to 1860, seventy percent of the children under the age of two died each year. Pulmonary diseases, poor nutrition, cholera, and typhus epidemics took a heavy toll. Many infants died from drinking foul milk which was extracted from diseased cows by unscrupulous profit seeking dairy owners. Once the diseased cows died, they were doctored up and sold for meat.
