1 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
  • Welfare Island Prison Hospital (demolished) Improvements - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration spent $1,500,000 for miscellaneous alterations, additions, renovations, grading, and landscaping of grounds at hospital and institutions to New York's Charity Hospital. In addition, a nurse's home and a power plant were constructed at the hospital in the 1930s with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Originally named Penitentiary Hospital and located on what was then known as Blackwell's Island, the first hospital was built in 1832 to serve the prisoners housed at Blackwell's Penitentiary. After the hospital was destroyed by a fire in 1858, architect James Renwick, Jr. designed a new building to be called City Hospital, on...
  • West 14th Street Armory (demolished) Improvements - New York NY
    The WPA provided assistance in repairing and otherwise improving the Ninth Regiment / West 14th Street Armory in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The building is no longer extant. "The (22nd) Twenty-Second Regiment / 14th Street Armory (1863) building was replaced with the (9th) Ninth Regiment / West 14th Street Armory (1894-1896) building, which was later replaced by (42nd) Forty-Second Division / West 14th Street Armory (1971) building, which in turn was replaced by a mix use structure, all on the same site." (Wikipedia)
  • West 231st Street and Sidewalk Repairs - Bronx NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) 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 street and sidewalk repairs on West 231st Street from Corlear Avenue to Riverdale Avenue.
  • West Farms Station Post Office - Bronx NY
    The historic West Farms Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building is still in use today.
  • West Side Riverfront Improvements - New York NY
    WPA Official Project No. 65-97-60 allocated $2,267,810 for "repair and reconstruction of the waterfront between 23 and 34 Streets" in the west side of Manhattan along the Hudson River. Another document referred to the project as "modernizing" the area. Much of where the work occurred is now known as Hudson River Park.
  • Westchester Avenue Bridge - Bronx NY
      Federal Public Works Administration funds were used to construct a span for Westchester Avenue over the Bronx River during the 1930s (Docket No. NY 1376 R). In one photo caption it is called "Bridge at Whitlock and Westchester Aves."; Whitlock Avenue lies west of what is not the Sheridan Expressway. The span has since been modified and has otherwise lost its Art Deco character. The 6 subway line travels on an elevated train bridge above this Westchester Avenue span.
  • Westchester Avenue Repairs - Bronx NY
    The WPA allocated $149,064.73 to conduct repairs along Westchester Avenue in the Bronx during the 1930s. They conducted work specifically along the 0.6-mile stretch of the avenue between Metcalf Ave. and Grant Circle. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-442.
  • White Playground - New York NY
    A June 1936 press release announced the opening of a new playground at Lexington and 106th. It was equipped with "horseshoe pitching courts as well as an open play area for adult children." The NYC Parks site expands on the history of this park: "This small playground has been a part of the Harlem community since the early part of the twentieth century. The Italian Benevolent Institute was the first organization to operate a playground on this site. In 1936, the City of New York acquired a 0.52-acre plot of land from the Institute and transferred jurisdiction over the property to Parks....
  • Whitehall Street Army Building Improvements (demolished) - New York NY
    The Work Projects Administration worked to "improve and alter" the old U.S. Army Building, located at 39 Whitehall Street, during the early 1940s. The building was demolished in 1983.
  • Willard Parker Hospital Laboratory (demolished) - New York NY
    The former Willard Parker Hospital received an addition to its laboratory during the 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The hospital was located at E 16th St. along the East River. The hospital closed during the 1950s and has since been demolished.
  • William Cullen Bryant High School Sculpture - Queens NY
    The school grounds contain a small New Deal sculpture by Hugo Robus entitled "Girl Weeding." It was made in 1938, probably under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project of the WPA.
  • William Cullen Bryant Memorial Restoration - New York NY
    This large bronze and marble memorial in Bryant Park commemorates the 19th c. poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant. The statue was created by Herbert Adams in 1911. In the 1930s, the it was restored with federal funding under Karl Gruppe, "chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department, from 1934 to 1937." The program was initially supported by federal funding from the Public Works of Art Project (Lowrey, 2008), and later by the WPA.
  • William J. Gaynor Junior High School - Brooklyn NY
    William J. Gaynor Junior High School, I.S. 49, in Brooklyn, New York, was constructed during the 1930s with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA docket number was NY 1075R. The building is still in use today.
  • William McCray Playground - New York NY
    From NYC Parks: "William McCray Playground is one of nine playgrounds that was built by the Parks Department through a war memorial fund, and was opened simultaneously on July 15, 1934. The War Memorial Fund of $250,000 was established in 1921 with monies collected by the Police Department, and by 1934 the fund—never spent—had grown in value to $350,000. Seeking additional open spaces for children, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses obtained a legal ruling which permitted use of the fund for playground development. Marked with a commemorative tablet, each property was to honor the memory of a soldier who gave his life...
  • William Sheridan Playground - Brooklyn NY
    NYC Parks' website explains that "The City purchased this land for park purposes in 1934, and Adolf A. Berle, Jr. signed the deed as trustee of the War Memorial Fund, which donated the playground in Sheridan’s name. One of nine memorial playgrounds, it was dedicated on July 15, 1934." This was one of nine playgrounds constructed with War Memorial and TERA funds in 1934.
  • Williamsbridge Oval Park - Bronx NY
    From 1934 to 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed workers to construct Williamsbridge Oval in The Bronx's Norwood neighborhood, one of the most diverse areas of the City. Researcher Frank da Cruz notes the WPA Classic Moderne Style of its recreation center that he tells us was "constructed from granite quarried and cut on the site by WPA workers." He also points out that the park got it's name because of its oval shape which is "inherited from the reservoir it replaced." Da Cruz goes on to explain that Oval Park was, "Originally the site of Gun Hill Williamsbridge Reservoir, constructed in 1884-89, that supplied...
  • Williamsbridge Road Paving - Bronx NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with street repair and maintenance projects that improved roads throughout the Bronx. A 1.9-mile stretch of Williamsbridge Road was surfaced with penetrated macadam as a result of one $115,000 WPA project.
  • Williamsburg Bridge Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    According to a digitized project card at the National Archives, the WPA dedicated more than $400,000 in 1935 toward the construction of a new roadway on the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan in New York City. Among the improvements, was the construction of a new eastbound lane. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-34. There were no records in The New York Times confirming WPA involvement with the Williamsburg Bridge. However, newspaper records and National Archives documents prove Public Works Administration (PWA) involvement with such a project, which occurred in 1938-9. The PWA provided a $239,319 grant for the roadway reconstruction; the total project cost was...
  • Williamsburg Child Health Clinic - Brooklyn NY
    Originally called the Williamsburg-Greenpoint Health Center, it was the fourth of eight clinics to be built in New York City with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funding during the Great Depression. The project was part of a city-wide public health initiative that focused on providing low-cost health care in poor neighborhoods where residents could not afford their own doctors. The Brownstoner reports that "..it was state of the art, and the only health center built in the entire country by the PWA that had a complete range of health and educational programs." The 1937 opening was presided over by Mayor LaGuardia, and, according to the...
  • Williamsburg Houses - Brooklyn NY
    The Williamsburg Houses were opened in 1937, one of three huge public housing projects in New York City funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA), along with First Houses and Harlem River Houses in Manhattan.  New York City was the unchallenged leader in the creation of public housing in the United States, beginning in the 1920s, and the New Deal allowed the city to continue to built high-quality public housing that has stood the test of time. The official PWA history, published in 1939, described the project in detail: "Williamsburg Houses, the 'city-within-a-city' slum-clearance project, erected in the heart of the historic Williamsburg...
  • Willis Avenue Bridge (demolished) Improvements - New York NY
    The original Willis Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River opened in 1901. In the 1930s, the WPA allocated $326,290 toward reconstruction of the roadway crossing the Willis Avenue Bridge, which connects the Bronx to Manhattan in New York City. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-37. Due to its deteriorating condition, the bridge was replaced starting in 2007 when a new bridge was built. The old bridge remained a pedestrian-only bridge for three years, and was then dismantled.
  • Wilson Ave. Public Bath Improvements (demolished) - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths at Wilson Ave. and Willoughby Ave. were constructed in 1908; the building has since been demolished. The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.
  • WNYC Studio: Browne Mural - New York NY
    New York's largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building's Studio B received four WPA Federal Art Project murals by Stuart Davis, Byron Browne, Louis Schanker and John von Wicht. At the live dedication of the murals, Davis made important and controversial remarks about the state of art, politics and the New Deal, referring to what this summarizer of the broadcast refers to as: "the flux and struggle around the issue of abstract art during the previous two decades,...
  • WNYC Studio: Davis Mural - New York NY
    New York's largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building's Studio B received four WPA Federal Art Project murals by Stuart Davis, Byron Browne, Louis Schanker and John von Wicht. At the live dedication of the murals, Davis made important and controversial remarks about the state of art, politics and the New Deal. This summary of the broadcast explains that: "In a ceremony clearly designed to be light and “festive,” according to the announcer, Davis squarely addresses the...
  • WNYC Studio: Schanker Mural - New York NY
    New York's largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building's Studio B received four WPA Federal Art Project murals by Stuart Davis, Byron Browne, Louis Schanker and John von Wicht. Schanker's is the only one still remaining in the building (no longer operating as the WNYC center). At the live dedication of the murals, Davis made important and controversial remarks about the state of art, politics and the New Deal, referring to what this summarizer of the broadcast...
  • WNYC Studio: von Wicht Mural - New York NY
    New York's largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building's Studio B received four WPA Federal Art Project murals by Stuart Davis, Byron Browne, Louis Schanker and John von Wicht. Schanker's is the only one still remaining in the building (no longer operating as the WNYC center). At the live dedication of the murals, Davis made important and controversial remarks about the state of art, politics and the New Deal, referring to what this summarizer of the broadcast...
  • WNYC Transmitter Building (former) - Brooklyn NY
    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...
  • Women's House of Detention (demolished) Mural (missing) - New York NY
    This image shows artist Lucienne Bloch at work on a fresco entitled "Cycle of a Woman's Life" for the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village, New York City. The mural was completed in 1936 under the WPA's Federal Art Project. The concept for the mural was influenced by Bloch's apprenticeship with Diego Rivera, in which he urged her "... never paint mere decorations, but to always include a message appropriate to the building, Bloch s proposal for Cycle of a Woman's Life was accepted and the project was completed in 1936. Now lost, the mural pictured a children's playground in a...
  • Woodhaven Boulevard Development - Queens NY
    Woodhaven Boulevard was widened and improved during the late 1930s; much of the work was undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Work included the filling in of spaces where trolley tracks had been removed.
  • Woodhaven Station Post Office - Jamaica NY
    The historic Woodhaven Station post office in Jamaica, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds between 1939 and 1940. The building, which contains a New Deal Ben Shahn mural in the lobby, is still in use today.
  • Woodhaven Station Post Office Mural - Jamaica NY
    The Woodhaven Station post office in Jamaica, New York contains a 1941 Section of Fine Arts mural painted by Ben Shahn entitled “The First Amendment.”
  • World's Fair Parking Lot (no longer extant) - Flushing NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a "seventy-five-acre parking field ... for the city north of the World's Fair grounds." 1,950 men worked on the parking lot project, which occupied land north of Roosevelt Ave. The site was on what is now the parking lot for Citi Field.
  • World's Fair Playground - Queens NY
    On June 19, 1939, the Department of Parks announced the opening of two playgrounds in Flushing Meadows Park, one along the Grand Central Parkway, just south of Horace Harding Boulevard. This is most likely what is now known as the World's Fair Playground. The 1939 press release explained that: "These two recreation areas are part of the plan for the ultimate development of the park after the Fair is over and will provide recreation facilities for the present children of the adjacent communities and for an increase in population as additional housing develops around the park. In the playground near Horace Harding...
  • Zimmerman Playground - Bronx NY
    "Zimmerman Playground, a block east of Bronx Park on the south side of Britton Street between Barker and Olinville Avenues. One of nine War Memorial Playgrounds opened by Mayor LaGuardia on July 15, 1934. The Parks Department press release credits the 'Works Division of the Department of Public Welfare' for some of the labor. Beyond that, there is no mention of how the playgrounds were designed and built. But by the reasoning laid out here, it's almost inconceivable that federally-funded work relief was not involved. But in any case, the playground was expanded a few years later, as described in a...
1 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22