{"id":18520,"date":"2026-04-29T12:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/?p=18520"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:12:13","slug":"cholera-one-cholera-two-cholera-three-how-brooklyn-learned-to-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/eternal-18520-cholera-one-cholera-two-cholera-three-how-brooklyn-learned-to-survive","title":{"rendered":"Cholera\u2014one. Cholera\u2014two. Cholera\u2014three. How Brooklyn Learned to Survive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the 19th century, cholera struck Brooklyn three times\u2014at that time still a separate city with ambitions, though lacking even basic sanitation. It arrived uninvited, lingered for a long time, and left behind not just mortality statistics, but thousands of shattered lives. Water, which was supposed to give life, became a source of death\u2014and this is not a metaphor, but a rather mundane reality for the city\u2019s residents at the time, the current borough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The irony is that it was precisely these disasters that forced the city to grow up. After each wave, Brooklyn seemed to wake up and acknowledge the obvious: it would no longer be possible to carry on living with a \u201cwhatever happens, happens\u201d attitude. Ultimately, water problems\u2014a key factor in the spread of the disease\u2014became one of the arguments in favor of merging with New York City. For more details on the course of the three waves of the cholera epidemic in Brooklyn, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\">i-brooklyn.com.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a0c4d4dc39a2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a0c4d4dc39a2\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/eternal-18520-cholera-one-cholera-two-cholera-three-how-brooklyn-learned-to-survive\/#The_first_wave_of_the_epidemic\" >The first wave of the epidemic<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/eternal-18520-cholera-one-cholera-two-cholera-three-how-brooklyn-learned-to-survive\/#Experience_did_not_help%E2%80%94the_second_wave_of_the_epidemic\" >Experience did not help\u2014the second wave of the epidemic<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/eternal-18520-cholera-one-cholera-two-cholera-three-how-brooklyn-learned-to-survive\/#The_third_wave_of_the_epidemic_is_the_last_one\" >The third wave of the epidemic is the last one<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/eternal-18520-cholera-one-cholera-two-cholera-three-how-brooklyn-learned-to-survive\/#Working_on_mistakes\" >Working on mistakes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_first_wave_of_the_epidemic\"><\/span>The first wave of the epidemic<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1810\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-103.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-103.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-103-300x265.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-103-768x679.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-103-1536x1358.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-103-696x615.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1832, cholera reached New York on ships from Europe\u2014faster than the news and far more convincing than any warning. It was believed that the <a href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/eternal-the-story-of-cutlers-drug-store-a-brooklyn-pharmacist-and-military-man\">disease<\/a> had been \u201cbrought\u201d by immigrants, although it is now clear its true ally was not nationality, but unsanitary conditions. And while the city argued over who to blame, the contagion was already firmly taking hold on the other side of the river\u2014in Brooklyn, which at the time had neither the resources nor the experience to handle such a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reaction was almost predictable: the wealthy packed their bags and fled the city, while the poor stayed behind and counted not the days, but their losses. Narrow streets, wells next to cesspools, water of dubious quality\u2014a perfect recipe for disaster. Back then, they didn\u2019t know about bacteria, but they believed in \u201cbad air,\u201d so they <a href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/uk\/eternal-istoriya-bruklinskoyi-psyhiatrychnoyi-likarni-kingsboro\">treated<\/a> it accordingly: with bloodletting, opium, alcohol, and, just to be sure, prayers. The result was consistent\u2014the disease wasn\u2019t affected by such methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The situation with water and sewage looked like an unsupervised experiment: wastewater seeped into the ground, wells became contaminated, and a centralized water supply system was virtually nonexistent.&nbsp; People drank whatever they had, and often\u2014what was actually killing them. Only later would it become clear that water was the primary vector of <a href=\"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/ru\/eternal-bolshaya-pandemiya-1918-goda-kak-v-brukline-ukroshhali-smertelnuyu-ispanku\">infection<\/a>, but in 1832 this understanding had not yet reached city officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact figures for Brooklyn vary, but the death toll ran into the hundreds\u2014a significant number for the city at that time. In total, across New York City, there were over three thousand deaths. And although this wave eventually subsided, it left behind something crucial: the feeling that the problem hadn\u2019t gone away, but had merely paused. And that next time it would return\u2014this time with experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when this wave finally receded, it felt more like a lull than a victory. In 1832, cholera had not been defeated\u2014it had simply lost momentum. With the onset of cold weather, the bacteria became less active; the most vulnerable had already been infected, and those who could left the city, reducing the density of contact in Brooklyn and New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Add to this the chaotic attempts to restore at least some semblance of order and the simple human fear that drove people to avoid dangerous places\u2014and you get an effect that was easy to mistake for the city\u2019s recovery at the time. In reality, however, this was merely the lull before the next, more persistent wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Experience_did_not_help%E2%80%94the_second_wave_of_the_epidemic\"><\/span>Experience did not help\u2014the second wave of the epidemic<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1375\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-104.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-104.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-104-300x201.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-104-768x516.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-104-1536x1031.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-104-696x467.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The second major cholera epidemic struck Brooklyn in 1849, and this time it came not as a surprise but as an unwelcome acquaintance. Once again\u2014transatlantic routes, once again\u2014New York\u2019s ports, and once again the city received a \u201cgift\u201d along with passengers and cargo from Europe, where the epidemic was already raging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike in 1832, the panic here was more \u201corganized.\u201d People already knew what to fear. The wealthy left again, but more quickly and decisively. The poor stayed behind, but they were already trying to take action: they boiled water (not always understanding why it worked), avoided questionable sources, and ventilated their homes more often, as much as possible.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>City officials also pretended to have the situation under control: they cleaned the streets, tried to manage the drainage, and imposed local quarantines. The problem was that the underlying issue remained unchanged\u2014the water was still dangerous, and the sewer system existed more in the imagination than in reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The consequences were more severe than during the first wave. In Brooklyn alone, the toll had already reached thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths, and in New York City as a whole, the death toll once again reached several thousand. The disease struck quickly and left little chance of recovery: a person could appear relatively healthy in the morning and die by evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The irony is that the experience of the first wave helped\u2026 but it wasn\u2019t enough. People became more cautious, and the city became a bit more active, but without systemic changes, it was like patching a boat that had long been leaking at the seams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This wave ended much as the previous one had\u2014without any triumph. By the fall and winter of 1849, the spread had begun to subside. The reasons were the same: the cold slowed the growth of bacteria, part of the population had already been infected, and social contact had decreased. This wave of the epidemic left behind a glaring question: how many times can the city afford to learn from its own mistakes before it begins to correct them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_third_wave_of_the_epidemic_is_the_last_one\"><\/span>The third wave of the epidemic is the last one<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1986\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-105.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-105.jpeg 1986w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-105-291x300.jpeg 291w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-105-768x792.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-105-1490x1536.jpeg 1490w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-105-696x718.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1986px) 100vw, 1986px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The third major cholera epidemic struck Brooklyn in 1866, long after John Snow had effectively proven the obvious in 1854: the disease was transmitted through water. It would seem that this was the moment of truth. But between the discovery and its actual implementation lay a chasm of skepticism and bureaucracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some doctors had already embraced the new theory and were trying to act accordingly: they recommended boiling water, avoiding wells with a questionable reputation, and isolating the sick. Others, however, continued to fight the \u201cbad air\u201d by ventilating rooms without really addressing the root of the problem. City residents, having learned from previous outbreaks, behaved more cautiously: they trusted tap water less, avoided large crowds, and those who could\u2014left. But the main weakness remained unchanged\u2014the infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite gradual improvements, the city\u2019s water supply remained unsafe, and the sewer system was still patchy. That is why the consequences were once again quite severe: in Brooklyn, the death toll ran into the hundreds, and across New York City, into the thousands. At the same time, this wave took on a somewhat different character. For example, compared to the previous one, the death toll was lower than it would have been if the city had learned nothing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The irony of the situation is that the truth was already right there on the surface\u2014literally in the water. But it took another painful series of losses for the city to finally move from speculation to systemic solutions: water supply control, sewer system development, and stricter sanitary oversight. It was only after this wave that it became clear: next time, either the city would change\u2014or the scenario would simply repeat itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Working_on_mistakes\"><\/span>Working on mistakes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1460\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-106.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-106.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-106-300x214.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-106-768x548.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-106-1536x1095.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.i-brooklyn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/04\/image-106-696x496.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The three cholera outbreaks in Brooklyn became not just a tragedy but a matter of survival. The city lost thousands of people but ultimately gained what it had previously chronically lacked\u2014systematic organization. A few months before the 1866 outbreak, the Metropolitan Board of Health was established in New York\u2014an organization that was no longer limited to offering advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It took tough and, for the first time, consistent action: disinfection, isolation of the sick, and clearing the streets of trash and dirt became not just recommendations, but standard practice. And although this did not stop the epidemic immediately, it was these steps that set a new standard for city management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main thing, however, is that the city has finally tackled the root of the problem: water. A systematic rethinking of water supply and drainage began. And if the first two waves were lessons, the third became a test, after which Brooklyn could no longer afford to remain the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bklynlibrary.org\/podcasts\/cholera-brooklyn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bklynlibrary.org\/podcasts\/cholera-brooklyn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcny.org\/story\/echoes-epidemics-past\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.mcny.org\/story\/echoes-epidemics-past<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nyamcenterforhistory.org\/2015\/02\/03\/cholera-comes-to-new-york-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/nyamcenterforhistory.org\/2015\/02\/03\/cholera-comes-to-new-york-city\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcny.org\/story\/germ-city-epidemics-throughout-new-yorks-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.mcny.org\/story\/germ-city-epidemics-throughout-new-yorks-history<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the 19th century, cholera struck Brooklyn three times\u2014at that time still a separate city with ambitions, though lacking even basic sanitation. It arrived uninvited, lingered for a long time, and left behind not just mortality statistics, but thousands of shattered lives. Water, which was supposed to give life, became a source of death\u2014and this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":332,"featured_media":18521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4817],"tags":[7428,5892,7427,7429,7115,7419,7349,7431,7432,5862,7434,7436,7430,7437,7435,7433],"motype":[4825],"moformat":[83],"moimportance":[32,35],"class_list":{"0":"post-18520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthy","8":"tag-19th-century","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-cholera","11":"tag-cholera-epidemic","12":"tag-history-of-brooklyn","13":"tag-history-of-medicine","14":"tag-history-of-new-york","15":"tag-infectious-diseases","16":"tag-john-snow-physician","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-public-health","19":"tag-sanitation","20":"tag-urban-epidemics","21":"tag-urban-infrastructure","22":"tag-urban-studies","23":"tag-water-supply","24":"motype-eternal","25":"moformat-longread-short","26":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","27":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/332"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18536,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18520\/revisions\/18536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18520"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=18520"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=18520"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-brooklyn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=18520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}