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)

Nurse's Home, North Brother Island, New York. Photographer Christopher Payne specializes in the documentation of America’s vanishing architecture and industrial landscape. His new book, North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City, explores an uninhabited island of ruins in the East River of New York City. (Photo by Christopher Payne)

A member of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association displays his balancing skills atop bamboo ladders during a New Year demonstration by the fire brigade in Tokyo, Japan, January 6, 2017. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

People line the streets as a dragon passes by during the Chinese New Year parade on January 29, 2012 in New York City. Thousands of people turned out to see the event which celebrated the Year of the Dragon. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Crowds Gather For New Year's Ball Drop In Times Square on December 31, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Camels walk down a street at the end of the Three Kings Day Parade in East Harlem on January 6, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Comic Con fans in costume arrive for the 2nd day of the 2016 New York Comic Con at the Jacob Javits Center on October 7, 2016. The four- day event which runs October 6-9 is the largest pop culture event on the East Coast. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

A model has her hair done backstage before the Taoray Wang fashion show during New York Fashion Week in New York, New York, 09 February 2019. New York Fashion Week for designer's autumn and winter lines is being held from 06 to 13 February 2019. (Photo by Peter Foley/EPA/EFE)