Jackson Square Park Improvements – New York NY

Description

This small triangular park at the intersection of 8th Ave., Horatio St. and Greenwich Ave. in Greenwich Village is one of New York City’s oldest parks. It dates back to the 19th century. In 1934, it was renovated by the Department of Parks, which announced that the area had “been designed principally for the use of mothers and infants and will be provided very generously with shade trees and benches.” The NYC Parks website further explains that during this renovation “seventeen pin oaks were planted on the perimeter, the shower basin was replaced by a new wading pool, and new benches were installed.” The park was next renovated in 1990.

Although these sources do not explicitly mention federal involvement in the park, federal funding for laborers, materials, architects, landscapers and engineers employed on Parks projects is acknowledged in about 350 press releases from 1934 to 1943. As researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, from these and further sources, it can be confidently stated that all New York City parks projects from 1934 to 1938 and almost all from 1939-1943 were completed in whole or in part with New Deal funding and/or labor.

Given the early date of this playground project, the CWA most likely played an important role in its development. (From 1935 on, the WPA became the primary agency involved in NYC park development). A December 1943 Parks Department press release summed up the massive amount of work accomplished on playgrounds alone with federal funding by the end of the New Deal era, saying, “In 1934 there were 119 playgrounds in the five boroughs, 67 of which have been reconstructed. There will be, with this new addition [of a playground on Brinckerhoff Avenue in Queens], 489 playgrounds in the park system.”