- City:
- New York, NY
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities, Landscaping and Tree Planting, Flood and Erosion Control
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Work Relief Programs, Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA)
- Started:
- 1934
- Completed:
- 1941
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that a major part of the New Deal creation of what is now Riverside Park involved completely re-shaping the land itself. The park was re-engineered from its natural rather steep slope “into two relatively flat areas separated by a retaining wall… The train tracks run behind the retaining wall and under the upper level of the park. The lower level…is on the same level as the river and contains a vast amount of parkland and numerous ball fields, athletic fields, game courts, and playgrounds.” In addition to shaping the land itself, New Deal workers also built “rip-rap walls” of rocks along the riverbank at many points to prevent erosion. As da Cruz says here, all this “was an almost inconceivably massive earth-moving and construction project that required four years and unknown thousands of workers.”
Source notes
https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/riversidepark/riverside2.html https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/riversidepark/riverside69.html https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/riversidepark/riverside1925.htmlSite originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on August 6, 2015.
At this Location:
- Henry Hudson Parkway - New York NY
- Riverside Park: Grant's Tomb Improvements - New York NY
- Riverside Park: Grant's Tomb Sculptures - New York NY
- Riverside Park Reconstruction - New York NY
- Riverside Park: 79th Street Boat Basin - New York NY
- Riverside Park: Joan of Arc Statue Restoration - New York NY
- Riverside Park: Firemen's Memorial Restoration - New York NY
- Riverside Park: 106th St. Overlook Cafe - New York NY
- Riverside Park: Playgrounds - New York NY
- Riverside Park: Athletic Fields - New York NY
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation