Central Park: Tavern on the Green – New York NY

City:
New York, New York City, NY

Site Type:
Parks and Recreation

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Started:
1934

Completed:
1937

Quality of Information:
Very Good

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

Based on Department of Parks press releases from the 1930s, researcher Frank da Cruz describes the role of federal funding in constructing this restaurant in Central Park:

“What we know today as the Tavern on the Green in Central Park at West 66th Street was originally a “sheep fold”; that is, a barn for the sheep that used to graze on the Sheep Meadow.” Meanwhile the Central Park Casino, an exclusive club for the rich and powerful[2,pp.397-401] situated across the park, was deemed an improper use of public land and torn down and the sheep fold converted into a ”popular priced restaurant”[3] open to the public[4].”

The press releases cited show that the initial conversion of the barn into a restaurant was funded by Work Relief funds in 1934, and renovated and expanded in 1937. The restaurant continues to operate today.

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