Brooklyn Sites

Roosevelt Hall is one of the five original buildings on the Brooklyn College campus, then serving as the school's gymnasium.  It was built as part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression, 1935-37. Construction took place ca. 1936. Unfortunately Brooklyn College intends to demolish Roosevelt Hall. "A recent feasibility study determined that Roosevelt Hall and Roosevelt Hall Extension cannot be transformed into the science facilities envisioned by the 1995 Master Plan Amendment. This project will demolish the Roosevelt Hall buildings and construct a 180,000-square-foot science facility with high-tech instructional laboratories, general-purpose classrooms and support spaces."

Under the WPA Federal Arts Project, artist Monty Lewis installed a large double fresco depicting "The Cotton Industry in Contemporary America" in 1936. The fresco may be in the auditorium or in a corridor. At the time of installation, this building was the High School of Industrial Arts. It later became the Sarah J. Hale High School and then, in 2001, the Brooklyn High School of the Arts.

In 1936, "when the United States was still reeling from the Great Depression, a series of murals was commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP), to be painted in the community rooms at the Williamsburg Public Housing development in Brooklyn, NY. This development was built in 1936-37, designed by the chief architect William Lescaze. The head of the New York Murals of the FAP division in 1937 was Burgoyne Diller. It was a brave move to commission a series of abstract murals from avant-garde, relatively unknown artists. At the time, most murals (perhaps all) were figurative... The artists whose murals were found in the...

The WPA contributed to several improvements at the Brooklyn Museum during the 1930s. According to the Federal Writers' Project: "During the past few years a WPA project has been making the useum one of the most modern and pleasantly arranged in the country. The most striking change has been the removal of a monumental stairway which originally gave access to the third story, and the building of a new entrance hall at the ground level."

In 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Brooklyn and Queens received their largest allotment of funds to-date, "in the government's drive to spread employment and aid industry." Improvements to drydock 2 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, were part of the Public Works Administration's (PWA) metropolitan-wide program which added "1,079,328 man-months of direct employment," as well as indirect employment, much of it in the construction trades (Brooklyn Daily Eagle). Forty percent of the $250,000,000 that the PWA allocated to the New York metropolitan area went to Brooklyn and Queens. A significant portion of these funds were used to improve and extend the city's transportation system,...

The Light Cruiser USS Brooklyn CL40 was built in the New York Navy Yard (commonly known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard) between 1933 and 1936. It started out as a PWA project, but at the last minute, its funding was redirected toward the construction of another ship at a Massachusetts shipyard. Nevertheless, USS Brooklyn is a member of a new class of cruisers that the PWA funding introduced. Furthermore, since the Brooklyn Navy Yard was heavily staffed by WPA workers, the Brooklyn was likely constructed with New Deal labor. The Brooklyn Navy Yard operated as a Navy facility from 1801 until 1966. It built...

The USS Erie was built in the New York Navy Yard (Brooklyn Navy Yard) between 1934 and 1936. It was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The Brooklyn Navy Yard operated as a Navy facility from 1801 until 1966. It built two warships, USS Brooklyn and USS Erie under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA). NIRA gave president Franklin D. Roosevelt the authority to build ships and an agency, the PWA, to pay for them.

Formerly known as Public School 142, what is now the Brooklyn New School building received a five-story addition in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $191,250 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $339,052. PWA Docket No. NY 1450

A WPA photo of students of the Brooklyn Technical High School says that the school itself was constructed by the PWA. The school's website says that ground was broken on the site in 1930 and the school was ready for partial occupancy in 1933, so most likely construction began before the New Deal but was completed by the PWA.

The school's main lobby features a large oil on canvas WPA mural painted by Maxwell Starr in 1941 . Entitled "History of Mankind in Terms of Mental and Physical Labor," the mural "traces developments from the Stone Age through the 1930s and portrays notable scientists and inventors." The mural was restored in 1998 by the Tech Alumni Association.   (https://www.bths.edu)  

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, runs under the East River to connect lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. The tunnel was begun in 1940 with PWA and Reconstruction Finance Corporation Funds, though it was not completed until until 1950: "The total cost of the tunnel and the attendant roadways was $105 million. La Guardia knew the city was incapable of financing the project so he dunned the Reconstruction Finance Corporation chief Jesse Jones, a Houston millionaire and Roosevelt confidant, for the funding. La Guardia's hopes of obtaining approval for government assistance were probably based in no small...

Then known as Bedford Park, this Brooklyn Park was first established in the 1890s. Since 1899, the Brooklyn Children's Museum has been located on the property. The park was renamed Brower Park in 1923. In 1941, the Department of Parks announced that the WPA had significantly reconstructed the park and area around the museum: "The new development, which reserves 80% of the area for passive enjoyment of broad tree-dotted lawns, also provides a new playground for youngsters where they may safely play on a variety of exercise units. The museum...has been provided with a spacious block paved terrace extending around all sides....

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed sewers in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. A 1936 photo shows construction at Bushwick Ave. & Vanderveer St.

The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: "Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster Avenues, Park and Nostrand Avenues and Eastern Parkway Extension and Fulton Street." In November 1942, the Department of Parks announced that the WPA had completed the first part of the construction of a new playground at the last site mentioned above. The press release explained that Parks had received the land in 1940, with some restrictions for the nearby subways, and...

In 1941 The New York Times stated: "At present WPA workers are engaged in building Canarsie Beach Park on the Belt Parkway, a shorefront play area which will eventually offer bathing, fishing and boating."

Carroll Park has been a public park since the 1850s. A March 27, 1936 Department of Parks press release announced the opening of this new WPA playground in the park: "The Department of Parks will open ten new playgrounds Saturday, March 28, making a total of 125 added to the recreational system in two years. …at Smith Street, Carroll Street and First Place there will be four hand-ball courts, four shuffleboard courts and six horseshoe courts… All of these playgrounds were constructed es Works Progress Administration projects." Further improvements to the playground, including basketball courts and a play apparatus for older children, were announced...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) undertook several road improvement projects along roads in Brooklyn, New York. One such project involved the removal of malls and other repair work along the modest stretch of Caton Avenue from McDonald Ave. to Fort Hamilton Pkwy.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the Central Court Building, which presently houses the Kings County Criminal Court.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the no-longer-extant Children's Court building at 113(?) Schermerhorn St.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the no-longer-extant Civil Prison at the southeast corner of Willoughby Ave. and Raymond Ave. (now Ashland Pl.). The land is now occupied by The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

A former military facility, the Coast Guard Air Station at Floyd Bennett Field was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. "The City of New York under the direction of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, deeded a portion of New York City's only municipal airport at that time, Floyd Bennett Field, to the Coast Guard air arm on 9 July 1936.  The station was constructed at a cost of $399,800.00. Dedication ceremonies were set for 23 April 1938." CGAS Brooklyn was decommissioned May 1998.  

Originally known as "City Park," the oldest park in Brooklyn dates back to 1836. The park became a popular place after the WPA significantly redeveloped the park in 1939-1940. The WPA relocated old trees and constructed baseball, football, basketball and handball facilities. On June 7, 1940, the Parks Department held a ceremony to celebrate the park's official re-opening. Robert Moses, Mayor LaGuardia and the NYC Work Projects Administrator presided, and the ceremony was attended by 2,000 people. The following year, the WPA completed further work, erecting chain link fences and portable bleachers for the park's two baseball diamonds.

"The Coney Island and Brighton Beach boardwalks were rebuilt ."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a sewer construction project by Coney Island Creek at Shell Road in 1936.

One of the five restored Alice in Wonderland murals painted by Abram Champanier in 1938-40 is hung in the Cumberland Center at 100 N Portland Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205.  The mural was originally created for the Gouverneur Hospital children’s ward in lower Manhattan, but was neglected and then restored in the early 1990s. The mural is listed on the New York Health and Hospitals Corporation art collection website, dated 2006. The present status of the mural is unknown to us. A 1994 New York Times article on WPA murals in NYC notes it is in the E.R. of Coney Island Hospital.

This PWA pumping station is still standing. A 1939 PWA publication described it as follows: "This interesting structure is approached by a wide walk between lawns which leads to the main entrance flanked by sculptured twin representations of Pegasus. The main floor is 12 feet below grade to permit the pumps to be placed below the intake water level, and at the grade level is a gallery extending around the entire building. An overhead traveling crane serves the five electrical pumps which are capable of discharging 13,500 gallons of water per minute at a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch. The...

The Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant came into operation in 1935. It was constructed with the help of the PWA.

Continental Army Plaza was built by the New York City Department of Public Works in 1903.   In 1936, Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds – and presumably workers – were used to renovate the plaza in order to improve access to the Washington monument, repair the stone balustrade, and install street lighting.  It looks to us like they also added chessboards and benches, as well.  In 1938 the plaza and monument were transferred to the custody of the Department of Parks. The department did a renovation of the park in 1997.  

Cooper Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was improved by the WPA during the 1930s. According to the New York City Parks website, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper's "descendants sold the site of the old glue factory to the City of Brooklyn for $55,000. Within a year the site, known as Cooper Park, was outfitted with a playground and landscaping. By 1905 the limestone and brick shelter pavilion had been erected. In the late 1930s construction carried out by the Works Progress Administration transformed Cooper Park into a modern recreational facility. New features included a roller-skating track, sitting area, horseshoe and shuffleboard courts,...

This Brooklyn courthouse was constructed by the PWA in 1938 and today still houses a New York appellate court. A 1939 PWA publication described the then new courthouse: "This building houses the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Second Division, State of New York, and is in the Borough Hall section of the city, near other city and State buildings. On the first floor it contains a courtroom 55 by 57 feet which extends through the second story in height. The judge's chambers, court officials' rooms, and a large library, 38 by 58 feet, are also included. The plan is rectangular in...

This playground is named for the first African American to be killed in the American War of Independence. It opened on October 28, 1934, along with two other playgrounds, one in Manhattan and one in the Bronx. The press release announcing the opening ceremonies explained that "All three playgrounds have recreation buildings and are fully equipped with play apparatus for children, and have space for basketball and handball courts. Each of the new playgrounds in Manhattan end Brooklyn will have a wading pool..." In addition to speeches, the opening ceremonies involved a "rendition of the Star Spangled Banner; games and...

One of the five restored Alice in Wonderland murals painted by Abram Champanier in 1938-40 is hung in the Cumberland Center at 100 N Portland Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205.  The mural was originally created for the Gouverneur Hospital children's ward in lower Manhattan, but was neglected and then restored in the early 1990s. The mural is listed on the New York Health and Hospitals Corporation art collection website, dated 2006. The present status of the mural is unknown to us.

The WPA undertook work during the 1930s to improve Brooklyn, New York's Cypress Hills National Cemetery (the only National Cemetery in New York City). One $110,000 project entailed: "ehabilitate grounds and buildings which includes tree surgery, aligning, setting and resetting headstones, improvement to iron and chain link fences, laying concrete curb and other improvements to grounds and buildings ..." WPA Official Project No. 266-97-8000.

The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: "Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster Avenues, Park and Nostrand Avenues and Eastern Parkway Extension and Fulton Street." D'Emic Playground , so named in 1973 after a local community stalwart, is, according to New York City's Parks Department website, "bordered by 3rd Avenue, 34th and 35th Streets. The City of New York acquired the site in 1940 in connection with acquisition of land for the Gowanus Expressway,...

Now known as Decatur Playground, this playground adjacent to Public School 35 opened in September 1942. It is jointly operated by Parks and the Board of Education. A press release announced the completion of the playground: "The playground, approximately 200 feet square, lies immediately west of the existing school which will be considerably expanded after the war… A softball field with hooded backstop, one basketball court with removable standards, two practice basketball standards and four handball courts have been provided. The construction of the playground was done by the Work Projects Administration from plans prepared by the Department of Parks." It is still in...

In 1937, the Works Progress Administration built a "low art moderne warehouse for the New York City Department of Purchase, directly under the Brooklyn Bridge and opposite Pete’s Downtown. Approved by the New York City Art Commission, it was designed by Michael J. Mongiello as a long, sleek piece of streamlining with strip windows and orange brick. The roof was specially designed to resist damage from debris falling from the bridge." The building took 18 months to construct, with $635,000 in Federal funds. The Warehouse was built in the Fulton Ferry district at the Brooklyn Bridge. The 1939 W.P.A. Guide to New York City,...

On October 1937, Parks announced the opening of a new playground in what later became known as Dome Playground: "At Dahill Road and 38th Street, also in Brooklyn, the new playground, the wading pool section of which was opened some time ago, has facilities for handball, basketball, volley ball, soft ball games, a roller skating track, horizontal ladders and bars and a generously equipped small children's playground with slides, swings, see-saws, playhouse and sand tables. Shade trees and permanent concrete benches are also included in the design. This area is another one of the twenty-four sites selected by the Commissioner of...

"One of several small monuments in the vicinity of what is known as the “Battle Pass” in Prospect Park, the Dongan Oak Monument commemorates events which took place in this area during the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. During this significant battle of the Revolutionary War, a large white oak mentioned in 1685 in the patent of Governor Thomas Dongan (1634–1715), was cut down by Colonial soldiers and thrown across the road to impede the advance of the British army."   (www.nycgovparks.org) In the 1930s, the sculpture was restored with federal funding under Karl Gruppe, "chief sculptor of the...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the water pumping station at "Pt. of Douglass St.", believed by Living New Deal to be located at the end of Douglass St. at the Gowanus Canal. A municipal site presently located at this spot is called 'Gowanus Facilities.'