A May Day Tradition: New York Moving Day

“Never knew the city in such a chaotic state. Every other house seems to be disgorging itself into the street; all the sidewalks are lumbered with bureaus and bedsteads to the utter destruction of their character as thoroughfares, and all the space between the sidewalks is occupied by long processions of carts and wagons and vehicles omnigenous laden with perilous piles of moveables.”
-The Diary of Templeton Strong (Cover Photo: May Day in New York, Harper’s Magazine, 1850)

Moving Day…packing boxes, lugging furniture, sore back, searching through piles to find the pan you need to cook dinner. Now imagine going through that chaos once a year AND at the same time as all of your neighbors. From colonial times until World War II, New York City held Moving Day once every year, on May 1st.

The house-wife of New York today who is not so fortunate as to possess a permanent domicil wakes up to other thoughts than those of flowers and green boughs on May morning. To many it is a dream of torment, confusion, and expense, and landlords and real estate agents are the evil spirits that rule the day.
-“May Day”, New York Times, Apr 30, 1873

With an overwhelming demand for moving services on May Day, young men with carts for hauling often charged outrageous prices in spite of the city’s attempt to set standard fees.

How the moving day tradition began

According to legend, the Dutch who bought the island of Manhattan emigrated from their homeland on May 1st. In subsequent years, the Dutch settlers would celebrate this occasion by seeking new housing on May Day. As time went on this became a part of New York tradition. Landowners were required to announce rent increases on February 1st to give tenants time find a new residence if they chose not to renew the lease. By the early 1900’s it is estimated that one million New Yorkers took part every year. This tradition was such an integral part of the fabric of life that it was unfashionable to not move, as described in this letter by Lydia Maria Child, a New York editor:

Then stand on the side-walks of New-York, and watch the universal transit on the first of May… However, human beings are such creatures of habit and imitation, that what is necessity soon becomes fashion, and each one wishes to do what everyone else is doing. A lady in the neighbourhood closed all her binds and shutters, on May-day; being asked by her acquaintance whether she had been in the country, she answered, ‘I was ashamed not to be moving on the first of May; and so I shut up the house that the neighbours might not know it.’ One could not well imagine a fact more characteristic of the despotic sway of custom and public opinion, in the United States, and the nineteenth century.”
-Lydia Maria Child, Letters from New York

Moving day began to decline once rent protections were introduced in 1920. The tradition ceased completely in the 1940’s between World War II, when the men were away at war, and 1943 when rent control laws were made permanent.

Tracing new york ancestors for your family tree

It’s a challenge to track ancestors who lived in New York during this period of time since they likely did not remain in a residence for long. In my own tree, the New Yorkers were primarily Irish immigrants (Duffy‘s, Sherlock‘s and Carroll‘s) with common Irish given names, which makes the task even harder. New York City Directories are of some help if you know your ancestor’s occupation. Simply understanding that Moving Day occurred may alleviate uncertainties about varying addresses for your NYC relatives throughout the years.

While Moving Day isn’t the worst tradition in our shared past, it is a great illustration of how our society is compelled by tradition, groupthink and the need to fit in.