The 13th chapter “The Color Line in New York,” Jacob Riis discusses the way communities of different races and ethnicities are formed in New York City.  The clear distinctions in neighborhoods in New York City between races is important to understand the working-class communities of New York City.  Riis describes the influence that landlords and city planners have over determining the ethnic composition.  He challenges the notion that those communities are spontaneously created, but rather created by the landlord themselves.  This is highly reflective of the situation in East Harlem, where the big land developers determine the ethnic composition of the neighborhood through the decision of what type of housing to build.  If they wish to gentrify the neighborhood they will build the luxury condominiums  whereas public housing will be created to keep the working-class nature of the neighborhood.  Finally, the way Riis describes ethnic succession is extremely reflective of the East Harlem experience, especially reflective on the competition between ethnic groups.