A series of photos of the most prosperous city in the world more than 200 years ago surprised viewers!

These images will show a completely different perspective of New York City in the 19th century .

As the city with the most millionaires at the present time, New York is always considered a symbol of prosperity. However, few people know that, besides the sparkling images, the iconic skyscrapers, this city also had a completely opposite area.

In the 19th century, New York City had more than 1 million immigrants living in poverty. To get a better look at the "dark side" of the city, Danish photographer Jacob Riis decided to capture the deprived, poor lives of people living in the slums of New York in his book "How the Other Half Lives".

The book is said to have raised awareness of poverty in New York and promoted measures to support those in need. Insider said that photographer Jacob Riis himself had a difficult childhood when he had to experience the feeling of having no place to live and no money to spend. Therefore, he fully understands the lives of these people.

Mulberry bend area in New York's Little Italy circa 1890

A child holding a baby sits outside a house in New York City circa 1890.

Three boys huddle together for warmth in New York, 1895.

Children play with barrels in an alley between apartment buildings at Gotham Court in New York City circa 1890

A Jewish cobbler in a coal mine in New York, where he lives with his family in 1887

A poor family living on the Lower East Side of New York, circa 1890

Workers make ties inside an apartment building in Little Italy, New York City, circa 1890.

People gather in the common room of an apartment building in New York City in 1905.

An Italian immigrant sits with her child in a rundown tenement on Jersey Street, New York City, 1887.

A man smokes a pipe in the cellar of a New York City tenement house in 1891.

A shoeshine boy named Tommy, holding a shoe shine kit on a sidewalk in New York City in 1890.