- City:
- New York, New York City, NY
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Athletic Courts and Fields, Landscaping and Tree Planting
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civil Works Administration (CWA), Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1934
- Completed:
- 1938
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Though Central Park was originally established in the 1850s, New Deal workers carried out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. Work included the creation of the park’s Great Lawn.
The site was formerly the Lower Reservoir, which had recently been drained only to become a ‘Hooverville’ of people left unemployed and homeless by the Great Depression. With the help of CWA funding and labor in 1934 and most likely further WPA aid in 1935, the Parks Department had transformed the area into today’s Great Lawn by 1936, featuring 8 ball fields and a promenade around the perimeter. (www.kermitproject.org)
Source notes
https://www.kermitproject.org Rosenzweig, Roy, and Elizabeth Blackmar, The Park and the People: A History of Central Park, Cornell University Press (1992), pp.448-451. Caro, Robert A., The Power Broker - Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Vintage Books (1974), pp.368-372. The Report of the Department of Parks to August 1934: Memorandum on 1935 Budget Request of the Department of Parks, NYC Department of Parks archive. New York City Parks Department photo archive, negative number 14257. https://www.kermitproject.org/newdeal/centralpark/bridlepath1.html https://www.kermitproject.org/newdeal/centralpark/greatlawn2.html https://www.kermitproject.org/newdeal/centralpark/northmeadow1.htmlSite originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on March 1, 2017.
At this Location:
- Central Park: Robert Bendheim Playground - New York NY
- Central Park Zoo - New York NY
- Central Park: Adventure Playground - New York NY
- Central Park: Conservatory Garden - New York NY
- Central Park: Mariners' Playground - New York NY
- Central Park: Harlem Meer Improvements - New York NY
- Central Park: Rudin Family Playground - New York NY
- Central Park Improvements - New York NY
- Central Park: Tarr Family Playground - New York NY
- Central Park: Heckscher Playground Improvements - New York NY
- Central Park: Rumsey Playfield - New York NY
- Central Park: Arsenal Improvements - New York NY
- Central Park: Bridle Paths - New York NY
- Central Park: Arsenal Murals - New York NY
- Central Park: North Meadow Ball Fields - New York NY
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