From what I've seen the residents from the 1900s were mostly some of the poorest immigrants from Ireland, Italy and Poland who couldn't afford to leave after getting through Ellis Island. Most of the waterfront was docks and industrial, pretty much everything is an improvement. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82197.Five_Finger_Discount is a good read btw

Surely this is because we're an Abbott district with lots of poverty and inner city schools that deserve extra state funding because the residents can't afford it. JC taxpayers are taking more of the burden as the city gentrifies but we aren't all there yet.