STUNNING pictures from the 1910s have revealed the poor, unfortunate souls who found themselves begging on the streets of New York. The incredible images show a relatively well-dressed man whose clothes have started to become a little tattered sitting with his eyes closed and his hand out, a woman begging with a young child in her arms and a man who appears to only have one leg looking desperate between two crutches. Other striking shots show a man with a deformed face who appears to be missing his nose as well as another beggar who has managed to get himself some company although his dog looks much happier than him. During the years of 1898–1945, New York City consolidated and came to dominate American life. The era began with the formation of the consolidated city of the five boroughs in 1898, with a total population of 3.4 million. New transportation links, especially the New York City Subway, opened in 1904, bound together the new metropolis. Increased immigration of unskilled Catholic and Jewish workers from Southern and Eastern Europe expanded the labour force until the World War ended immigration in 1914. Mediadrumimages / Considerable