Tavern on the Green
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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tavern1-r2
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Tavern on the Green, 1934
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Tavern on the Green
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Tavern on the Green
Source notes
https://www.kermitproject.org/newdeal/centralpark/tavern1.html
New York City Parks Department press release of April 3, 1937.
New York City Parks Department press release of October 29, 1934.
Project originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on July 23, 2015.
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