- City:
- Brooklyn, New York City, NY
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Completed:
- 1937
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
A federal WPA grant enabled the construction of a modern transmitter building and radio tower for the fledgling WNYC radio station along the East River in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. WNYC transmitted from the site until 1990. (The broadcast studios remained in the Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. in Manhattan). The transmitter site is now a park named WNYC Transmitter Park, dedicated in 2012. The building still stands. New York Public Radio CEO Laura Walker spoke about the significance of the site during the park’s dedication ceremonies:
“With the help of a $30,000 grant from the Federal Works Progress Administration and the allocation of this land by the city, plans to build a state-of-the-art radio transmission center took shape. When it opened in 1937, the building displayed large WNYC call letters. There were two 304-foot towers resembling the Eiffel Tower on either side and state-of-the-art micro-ray technology, that at the time was only in use at the Vatican.”
Source notes
https://www.wnyc.org/story/236355-wnyc-transmitter-park/
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on August 4, 2014.
Additional contributions by John Stehlin.
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tony giordano
Gabriel Milner
In 1940 there was a photo showing the beginning of work on the Gowanus Highway and in the background there were two tall metal structures – similar to today’s power line supports that carry electric current across the nation. But these have no wires and we don’t know of any power line supports in NYC. The location seems to be 2nd to 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn from 31st to 30th Street (today’s parking lot of the former Federal Naval Storage Facility).
We can’t find any mention in the Brooklyn Eagle or on old maps – wondering if this was part of a communication network in preparation for WW2. We imagine it may have been built by the wpa. Do you know of any wpa records that would relate to this location? Also adjacent to Bush Terminal/Industry City and east of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT). thank you for your time.
Can anyone out there help Tony?
Some WNYC transmitter related material:
https://www.wnyc.org/story/155872-wnyc-am-transmitter-1937
https://www.wnyc.org/story/123806-artist-and-architect-a-g-lorimer/
https://www.wnyc.org/story/236323-blog-transmitter-park/