Drastic inequality is by no means new in New York. Jacob A. Riis was called a muckraker after he chose to spotlight the city’s poverty at the turn of the 20th century by photographing it. Here: Sweatshop in Hester Street, 1889-1890. (Photo by Jacob A. Riis/Museum of the City of New York, Gift of Roger William Riis)

A woman jumps in the air as she poses for a photo during New Year celebrations in the Manhattan borough of New York, January 1, 2016. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Revellers take part in New Year celebrations in Coin, near Malaga, southern Spain, January 1, 2016. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

Fireworks illuminate the Ampera Bridge during a New Year's Eve celebrations in Palembang, Indonesia on January 1, 2020. (Photo by Muhammad Tohir/Sijori Images via ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstoc)

A man stands by an installation depicting “2019” in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia on December 17, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Charlotte Roirdan, from Lyon and Turnbull, poses near portrait of a woman wearing a bikini made entirely out of postcards of the Queen on April 20, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The portrait Girl in a Yellow Bikini by David Mach, is estimated to raise between £4000 to £6000 at their Scottish Contemporary Sale to be held on April 25. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell)

Workers attach 288 new Waterford Crystal Triangles on the 2012 Times Square New Year's Eve Ball at One Times Square on December 27, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Koreans spin fire cans during “Jwibulnoli” a South Korean folk game at Han River on February 5, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. The event is part of a “Daeboreum”, a Korean holiday that celebrates the first full moon of the lunar new year. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)