New York City Sites

Formerly Tottenville High School, Totten Intermediate School was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

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 Traffic Court Building at the corner of Bedford Ave. and Lafayette Ave.

Until 1987, Tremont Park was a part of Crotona Park, which was completely redone by the WPA in 1934-41. "When the Cross-Bronx Expressway was built in 1948-1972, Crotona Park was split into two parks. The larger piece south of the Expressway is still called Crotona Park; the smaller piece to its north is now called Tremont Park. This explains why in some places, Crotona Park is said to have 155 acres, and in others only 127. Even though its name changed (twice), Tremont Park was indeed a WPA project. It was still called Crotona park until 1987, then it was...

Triboro Hospital for Tuberculosis in Jamaica, Queens was established in 1941. The Public Works Administration (PWA) approved a $1,317,825 (45%) grant for construction of the project in 1938.

The Triborough bridge linking up Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan over East River, is still known to New Yorkers by that name, even though it was officially renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in 2008. 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 in and out of New York City.  Construction on the Triborough bridge began in 1929, but the Depression soon slowed progress on the project. In 1933, Robert Moses, head...

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House was constructed in 1902-1907. In the 1930s and early 1940s, federal funding was used to make several improvements to the building, including the addition of a copper apron to the dome in 1933; improvements to the elevators in 1937; and the installation of revolving doors at the Bowling Green entrance in 1941. The building now serves as the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian, a part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The old Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House dates to 1902-1907 and today serves as the New York branch of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, as well as housing the New York branch of the National Archives and the records of Reginald Marsh. During the Great Depression, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) funded artist Reginald Marsh to decorate the main rotunda ceiling with a series of massive frescoes.  The frescoes, painted in 1936-37, depict eight New York Harbor scenes and eight portraits of great navigators. The ensemble is one of the most magnificent of New Deal mural installations in New York City.  

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 penetrated macadam. Roads improved included stretches of Underhill Avenue: (a) from Patterson Ave. to Randall Ave.; and (b) from 177th St. to Havemeyer Ave—a project which might seem rather odd, given as these two cross-street intersections with Underhill Avenue do not presently exist.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the equestrian George Washington monument in Union Square during the mid-1930s.

The NYC Parks Department website explains that: "Although this flagstaff commemorates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is also known as the Charles F. Murphy Memorial Flagpole. The intricate bas-reliefs and plaques were completed in 1926 by sculptor Anthony De Francisci (1887–1964), and feature a procession of allegorical figures representing democracy and tyranny, the text of the Declaration of Independence, and emblems from the original 13 colonies. The enormous flagpole, said to be one of the largest in New York State, is capped with a gilded sunburst." In the 1930s, the sculpture was restored with...

Queens's Union Turnpike, then an "unimportant stretch less than two miles long," was developed as a paved, 100-foot-wide artery featuring a four-foot "center mall," as a large Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in anticipation of the 1939 World's Fair. Work focused on development of the road from Utopia Parkway east to the Nassau County line. "This six-and-a-half-mile short-cut," a $1,250,000 project, was constructed entirely by the WPA. The road was officially dedicated on June 30, 1939.

The Destroyer USS Cummings DD-365 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York City, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Cummings was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941 it was docked at Pearl Harbor during the attack, suffered only minor damage, and immediately went on patrol searching for the enemy strike force without success. After that it served as a convoy escort in the Pacific for several years. In 1944,...

The Destroyer USS Mahan DD-364 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Mahan was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941, it was at sea in the Pacific when Pearl Harbor was attacked; it searched for the enemy strike force without success. It was sunk in 1944 as a result of kamikaze attacks. The Mahan won five battle stars. The United Dry Docks...

The Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts, located on West 129th Street in Manhattan, was originally built as the Manhattanville Junior High School during the 1930s. Construction benefited from federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds as part of PWA Docket No. NY 8000. PWA documents state that the four-story school measures 300 ft. by 200 ft. and is 60 feet tall. Ground was broken May 10, 1935; work was completed September 1, 1937; and the school was occupied that month. The 56-room school featured the following classrooms: art weaving; woodworking; novelty; sheet metal shops; office practice; science; drawing; sewing; cooking; geography;...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement on the training ship USS Illinois (later USS Prairie State), stationed off 135th Street on the Hudson River. The boat was sold for scrap in 1956. WPA project details: “Alter and rehabilitate U.S. Naval Training Ship "Illinois" at 135th Street and North River, including installing water lines, heating lines, ventilating ducts, and electrical work, replacing toilet and other partitions, tile floors and roofing, painting boat and superstructures” Official Project Number: 765‐97‐2‐8 Total project cost: $63,300.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 3rd Naval District, U.S. Navy

The New York Times reported in 1941 that the WPA was to be involved with several street improvements in Brooklyn, including the "elimination of a mile-long traffic hazard on Utica Avenue between the trolley track areas." A trolley line ran along a 4.2-mile stretch of Utica Avenue between Fulton Street and Avenue N, making it difficult to determine the stretch of Utica Avenue affected by this project.

In Sept. 1941 the New York Times described a playground being constructed by the WPA in Queens at "Utopia Parkway and Seventy-third Avenue." This site, Utopia Playground, is still in use today. New York City's Parks Department writes: "Utopia Playground was opened on January 1, 1942. Parks acquired the majority of the site, which was formerly the home of an old country school, on March 7, 1940. The remaining portion was obtained on January 7, 1941 by condemnation and immediately became part of the original Parks property. In 1943, Local Law 32 gave the playground its current name."

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains: "Van Cortlandt Golf Course occupies the center of Van Cortlandt Park. When it opened in 1895, it was the nation's first municipal golf course, and the first one open to the public. Worked on and ultimately heavily modified by the Parks Department using New Deal funding and relief labor, 1936-1941." The golf course was improved with funds from the CWA, TERA, and WPA.

The New Deal Network's website explains that in the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) National Youth Administration (NYA) constructed a foot path in Van Cortlandt Park that divided two picnic areas within the park. The website tells us that the foot path consisted of "...over 13,000 feet of paved path all completed by NYA." The work included pouring "...4 inches of cinder concrete and then, 2 inches of colprovia for the finished surface. Gutters built adjacent to the paths for drainage."

The New Deal Network Website explains that the retaining wall pictured here was constructed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) National Youth Administration (NYA) in Van Cortlandt Park. The photo's caption notes that "The bridle path is cindered; the complete length, which was constructed entirely by the boys, is 8,000 linear feet." This was one of three retaining walls in the park. The retaining wall shown in the photo encircled the entire area (NDN).

The Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground is a 43-acre field on the southwest edge of Van Cortlandt Park. Researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that it "was built in 1901 as a training area for the New York National Guard. In the 1930s, Robert Moses, New York City's first citywide parks commissioner, redesigned the Parade Ground as athletic fields. Today it is a large flat area where every conceivable kind of game is played, from Irish football to bocce ball to cricket, not to mention (American) football and soccer (fútbol)." Three baseball fields were opened on the Parade Grounds in May,...

Van Cortlandt Park's Southwest Playground opened in 1939 as part of Van Cortlandt Stadium, a New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. A Department of Parks press release shows that the WPA (the agency involved in almost all Parks work at the time) had also already constructed six handball courts in this corner of the Park by December 1936.

The NY Parks Department website explains: "Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Van Cortlandt Stadium opened on September 22, 1939. New York City, under the direction of Moses and Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947), was able to secure a great deal of WPA funding. Park construction was one of the many projects undertaken by the WPA, an unprecedented federal program initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) as a component of the New Deal. Mayor La Guardia and Parks Commissioner Moses conducted the opening ceremonies with an exhibition football game between Manhattan College and Fordham University." The 1939 press release...

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Staten Island 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 bituminous macadam. Roads paved included the stretch of Van Name Avenue between Forest Ave. and Walker St.

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains why this playground almost certainly benefited from New Deal programs. As the New York City Department of Parks website states, “In August of 1913, the City of New York acquired the parcel of land, bounded by White Plains Road, Unionport Road, and Mead Street, on which now sits. In April of 1922 the land was placed under Parks jurisdiction. By 1934, the triangular area around the monument contained Norway maple trees and a flagpole, all of which have subsequently been removed. In addition to the monument in honor of fallen soldiers, the park also...

Originally known simply as the playground at 99 Thompson St., this was one of fourteen new playgrounds throughout New York to open in August, 1934.  The labor and materials for all these playgrounds were provided by "Work Relief funds." Given the timing, Relief funds mentioned most likely came at least partly from the CWA. The Parks Department press release announcing the opening described this playground as containing: "Recreation building, a wading pool in the center of the play area, and usual apparatus for small children including sand tables, see-saws and slides. This is distinctly a playground for small children." At the time, the park...

The WPA installed 22-inch safety curbing on the 155th Street viaduct near what was then the Polo Grounds.

The historic Boulevard Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1941. The building, which contains a New Deal mural in the lobby, is still in use today.

The Wakefield Station post office in the Bronx, New York contains a 1942 Section of Fine Arts entitled “Washington and the Battle of the Bronx” painted by Irving A. Block and Abraham Lishinsky.

"Under the auspices of the New York Department of Sanitation, between 1937 and 1944, three new wastewater treatment plants were constructed — Wards Island in Manhattan, and Bowery Bay and Tallman Island in Queens. These facilities were designed to reduce pollutants in the Harlem River and in the East River, whose dark and murky waters had some of the lowest dissolved oxygen concentrations in the harbor. During the summer months, dissolved oxygen levels were often zero, which caused unpleasant odors. The city and its waterways benefited from an infusion of funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), an ambitious public...

The Washington at Valley Forge memorial is an equestrian statue of George Washington   (1732–1799), Commander in Chief and first President of the United States (1789–97), sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady in 1901.  It is the centerpiece of Brooklyn’s Continental Army Plaza. In the 1930s, the memorial was restored with New Deal funding, initially from the Public Works of Art Project and later by the WPA.  The work was overseen by Karl Gruppe, chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department from 1934 to 1937.  The restoration work was filmed and can be found here. The sculpture and...

The bridge carrying Washington Avenue in Brooklyn over the railroad tracks by Prospect Park was rebuilt during the 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

This bust of Washington Irving has an interesting history: "In the late 1800s to early 1900s, a large bronze bust of Washington Irving, mounted on a granite pedestal, stood in the south side of Bryant Park. The author of “Sleepy Hollow” and many other works, Irving was one of the first American writers to gain international acclaim. The statue was donated to the City of New York in 1885 by Joseph Weiner, a German physician and admirer of Irving’s. Sculpted by artist Friedrich Beers, the bust was originally intended for placement in Central Park. Upon completion some members of the NYC...

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,...

Washington Square playgrounds were improved during the 1930s with the help of the New Deal. In 1935, Robert Moses proposed a major renovation of the park but he encountered neighborhood opposition. The agencies involved in funding or completing improvement work are unknown to the Living New Deal. During his tenure as Parks Commissioner, Moses used New Deal funding and labor to build public park facilities, yet rarely credited the New Deal agencies that supported the projects. Because he prohibited the placement of New Deal plaques and corner stones, we have few sources that tie public parks in New York to...

Washginton's Walk is an area of parkland extending along the south edge of Jerome Park Reservoir, stretching roughly from Strong Street Playground to Old Fort Four Park. Although we have yet to uncover direct textual evidence of New Deal involvement in the development of this stretch of parkland along the south end of Jerome Park Reservoir, researcher Frank da Cruz makes a persuasive case here for the likelihood of New Deal involvement in building Washington's Walk. First, photos of the area from 1924 show that the park did not exist at that point. So, da Cruz explains, "unless the Bronx...

According to a budget report, New York City's massive Water Tunnel No. 2 was completed in 1936, in part with funds granted by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

The 3.3-acre Watson Gleason Playground, located in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, was constructed with WPA labor. New York City's Parks Department writes: "In 1938 the City of New York acquired the entire block bounded by Watson, Noble, Gleason, and Rosedale Avenues. Designed by the Parks Department and built with labor provided by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), the playground opened one-and-one-half years later. Parks Commissioner Robert Moses presided at the dedication ceremony, which featured Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Borough President James J. Lyons, Acting WPA Administrator Major Edmond H. Leary, and President Roderick Stephens of the Bronx Borough of Trade. The...

The WPA allocated $409,637 to conduct repairs along Webster Avenue in the Bronx during the 1930s. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-439(?).

This small Brooklyn playground was opened by the Department of Parks in December 1935. The press release announcing the opening explained that it, and the other 12 playgrounds opened on the same day, collectively contained: "88 small swings; 72 large swings; 36 seesaws; 14 playhouses; 15 large slides; 11 sand tables; 10 garden swings; 7 small slides; 7 small tables; 6 handball courts; 6 jungle gyms; 5 shuffleboard courts; 5 wading pools; 4 parallel bars; 3 horizontal bars; 3 horizontal ladders; 3 horseshoe pitching, etc.; 2 basketball courts, 1 shower." As researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, almost all New York...