The 227th Street Playground in Bronx Park, June 2015, built by the New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) and opened on June 25, 1941. From the NYC Parks Department press release: The new development covers an area of about two… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with… read more
“The Allerton Ballfields are not mentioned by name in the NYC Parks Department Press releases because they were part of the same project: the construction of a large playground alongside four ball fields. Today they have separate labels: French Charley’s… read more
The historic Arthur Avenue Retail Market, located in the heart of the Bronx’s Little Italy, was constructed with the assistance of the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA). The market, one of eight similar projects in the city, opened October 29, 1940.
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with… read more
The New York Times reported in 1941 that WPA labor was to develop a playground at Bailey Avenue and West 234th Street in the Bronx. Bailey Playground now resides on that site: “WPA crews are busy on twelve other parks… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with… read more
NYC Subway Station on the IND Concourse Line. Part of the IND Subway Line construction in the 1930s, built with the aid of PWA funds along with other IND stations of the time.
Parks first constructed a playground at the intersection of 182nd St. and Belmont Ave. in 1937. A press release from July of that year announced the opening of “five playgrounds, constructed by the Department of Parks with relief labor and… read more
The historic Boulevard Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building is still in use today.
The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) put many men to work starting in 1935 with street repair and maintenance projects that improved roads throughout the Bronx. The work pictured here shows WPA laborers on the Bronx Boulevard construction project.
The Bronx County Courthouse was built on the cusp between FDR’s governorship in New York and the federal New Deal of his presidency. It was approved in 1928 and construction begun in 1931, but the work was not completed until 1933 or… read more
Later known as the Bronx House of Detention for Men, the Bronx County Jail was constructed during the 1930s, a project aided by federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. NY 9050X). Located at East 151st St. and River[a] Ave.,… read more
The historic Bronx General Post Office was built from 1935 to 1937. It was designed by consulting architect Thomas Harlan Ellett (1880-1951) for the Treasure Department’s Office of the Supervising Architect, Louis Simon. The building is constructed of smooth gray… read more
The Bronx General Post Office houses a set of 13 magnificent mural panels—collectively titled “Resources of America”— by Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn. A Lehman College Guide to Public Art in the Bronx has this to say about the… read more
The Bronx General Post Office contains superb examples of New Deal art, added in 1938-39 under the Treasure Section of Fine Arts program. Inside are 13 mural panels by Ben Shahn and his wife, Bernarda; on the exterior wall, flanking the entrance, are two… read more
The Bronx General Post Office contains superb examples of New Deal art, added in 1938-39 under the Treasure Section of Fine Arts program. Inside are 13 mural panels by Ben Shahn and his wife, Bernarda; on the exterior wall, flanking the entrance, are two… read more
“Until 1937, the north portion of Bronx Park was owned by the NY Botanical Garden and the NY Zoological Society and had no public facilities such as paths, lighting, playgrounds, or athletic fields. As part of the Bronx River Parkway… read more
New York City’s Parks Department writes: “Ranaqua, the Bronx headquarters of the Department of Parks & Recreation of the City of New York, is located in the southeastern part of Bronx Park, east of the northbound lanes of the Bronx… read more
Researcher Frank da Cruz has done some serious groundwork to uncover the history of Reiss Field on the east side of Bronx Park, opposite Reiss Place, just north of Pelham Parkway. This ball field stands precisely where the Parks Department… read more
Researcher Frank da Cruz has gathered research from a variety of sources here to conclude that the New Deal had some role in the development of the Trojan Courts area of the east side of Bronx Park: This area includes… read more
“Waring Playground in Bronx Park, across Bronx Park East from the block between Waring Avenue and Thwaite Place, June 17, 2015. It opened on September 28, 1939, as part of the larger project of developing the land turned over by… read more
The WPA dredged the Bronx River between East 177th St. and East 180th St. during the 1930s. A 1935 allotment provided $7,426 for the project. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-446(?).
During the last decade of the 1800s, John Grignola carved this granite statue of a Civil War Union soldier for Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. After years of neglect, WPA workers located the statue in the Bronx River, refurbished it, and… read more
From 1934 to 1935 the Bronx Terminal Market expansion project took place with New Deal support. The Market was one of eight indoor markets that New York Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia built or expanded with federal support. It was part of… read more
From 1938 to 1939 federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers constructed a freight shed at the north end of the Bronx Terminal Market. Much of the funding for the project came from a $250,000 allocation from the New Deal Reconstruction Finance Corporation… read more
The Triborough Bridge is one of three major bridges, along with the Henry Hudson and the Bronx-Whitestone, built during the New Deal era to link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, and tie together the expanding highway system… read more
A New York City Parks Department press release from August 26, 1939 describes the WPA’s role in developing what is now known as Bufano Park: “The Department of Parks announces that the two acre playground bounded by Bradford, Edison, LaSalle… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with… read more
The New York City Department of Parks announced the opening of Cedar Playground, along with twelve other playgrounds, in December 1935. Although the release does not explicitly mention federal funding, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here why “it is safe… read more
The building housing FDNY Engine 70, Ladder 53 on City Island was constructed in 1939 by the Work Projects Administration. This firehouse has a plaque confirming its New Deal origin. This is one of the few New Deal plaques in… read more
City Island Road, between Pelham Bridge and the City Island Bridge, was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
The WPA developed a “wholly new sewage system” for City Island, which had previously “depended on an antiquated system of individual street sewers, cesspools and septic tanks.”
The 17-acre Claremont Park in the Bronx was extensively renovated and improved in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration. The renovated park opened on December 7, 1940. A press release from opening day describes WPA work in the park: “This… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with… read more
“This Olympic-size swimming pool and bathhouse complex opened on July 24, 1936. It was one of ten dedicated that year by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981). The project, funded by a special Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant of $10 million,… read more
The park existed before the Depression, but was completely rebuilt in 1934-41 by the WPA: “As ice skating grew popular in the Bronx around the turn of the century, Parks paved the perimeter of Indian Pond and installed a warming… read more
“Indian Pond and boathouse at Crotona Park, June 2014. The boat house was [] built by the WPA as part of the massive reconstruction of Crotona that was completed in 1941. The pond is covered with algae and choked with… read more
Devoe Park “dates from 1915, but the playgrounds and athletic facilities were added by the Parks Department and WPA in 1935. This is one of seven NYC parks opened (or re-opened) on Friday, November 22, 1935, in a ceremony where… read more