- City:
- New York, New York City, NY
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Work Relief Programs, Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
Helen Tangires writes, “During the New Deal, public markets were vital to government efforts to reduce agricultural surplus in the countryside and high food prices in the cities. Under the direction of Fiorello LaGuardia, New York’s mayor from 1934 to 1945, municipal architects working in the Department of Markets developed a series of enclosed market houses to replace pushcart markets.” With funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), New York City’s Department of Public Markets constructed partially enclosed market sheds, and revitalized former pushcart markets including the Washington Public Market (“Public Markets” by Helen Tangires).
The market burned down in the 1950s, and was not rebuilt as supermarkets began to replace farmers markets (Ephemeral New York).
Source notes
National Archives and Records Administration, Negative 18642-D National Archives and Records Administration, Negative 18640-D National Archives and Records Administration, Negative 18639-D National Archives and Records Administration, Negative 10347-D "Public Markets" by Helen Tangires, page 29-30, last accessed October 2015 "West Washington Market," Ephemeral New York, October 2015 "New York Food Museum", last accessed October 2015Contribute to this Site
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