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 man stands by an installation depicting “2019” in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia on December 17, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/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 performer dances in the Chinese New Year parade in Sydney on February 17, 2013. The parade featured more than 3,500 performers from Australia and China, including 120 performers from Shenzhen, Sydney's offical partner city for this year's festival. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

A member of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association displays his balancing skills atop bamboo ladder during a New Year presentation by the fire brigade in Tokyo January 6, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

People hold out money as butchers sell their remaining produce of the year at discounted prices during the traditional Christmas Eve auction at Smithfield's market in London December 24, 2015. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

A person drags a suitcase as a boy clings to it on a square in front of a railway station ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Qingdao, Shandong province, January 28, 2014. About 3.62 billion trips will be made during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started from January 16, reported Xinhua News Agency citing a government official. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Swimmers in fancy costume take part in the New Year's Day swim at Saundersfoot in Wales, Britain, January 1, 2017. (Photo by Rebecca Naden/Reuters)