The Heating Plant at Brooklyn College is one of the original buildings on the school’s campus, constructed as part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression. Construction was completed c. 1936.
Ingersoll Hall is one of the original buildings on the Brooklyn College campus, constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression, 1935 t0 1937.
The buildings of Brooklyn College were financed by a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression. After the buildings were constructed, Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers worked on improving the campus, primarily through landscaping efforts, beginning in 1938…. read more
The Brooklyn College Library is one of the original buildings on the campus, part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken in 1935-37. Construction on the library building began in 1936. The library houses WPA murals by Olindo… read more
Brooklyn College Library contains two WPA Federal Arts Project murals entitled “Famous Libraries of the World” painted by Olindo Mario Ricci in 1936-1939. A plaque on the wall near the murals reads: “Gracing the Library’s grandest reading room are murals of… read more
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…. read more
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… read more
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,… read more
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 [Brooklyn M]useum one of the most modern and pleasantly… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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… read more
In November 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of a new playground at Weller Ave. and Brookville Blvd in Brookville Park: “the new playground is equipped with swings, seesaws, slides, jungle gym, sand tables, playhouses, ping pong tables,… read more
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… read more
Bryant Park was redesigned and rebuilt between 1933 and 1935 with the help of New Deal funding and Civil Works Administration labor. The project was supervised by the Parks Department, led at the time by Robert Moses. The central role… read more
The Works Progress Administration set up an outdoor library in Bryant Park. The “Reading Room” began in 1935 and closed in 1944. Today the park still serves as the site of an outdoor library, opened in 2003.
“This bronze sculpture depicts William Earl Dodge (1805–1883), one of the founders of Phelps, Dodge, a leading mining company. Dodge helped organize the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States and served as the president of the National… read more
The NYC Parks Department website explains that: “Architect Charles A. Platt (1861–1933) designed this elegant black granite ornamental fountain to commemorate social worker and reformer Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843–1905). Shaw, who is said to be the first woman to be… 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 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… read more
The Canal Street Station post office in downtown Manhattan was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1937. It was designed by architect Alan Balch Mills. The two story building in the Moderne Style is clad in terra cotta panels, with a black base,… read more
The federal Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts funded a terra-cotta relief by Wheeler Williams entitled “Indian Bowman” to be installed in the newly constructed Canal Street post office. The sculpture was installed in 1938.
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.”
The NYC Parks Department website explains: “This impressive monument to soldier, statesman and journalist Carl Schurz is the result of a collaboration between the distinguished sculptor Karl Bitter (1867–1915) and renowned architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). Built in 1913, the monument… read more
An August 1935 Parks Department press release lists what is now Catbird Playground in Carl Schurz Park as one of seventy-three play areas developed in the preceding year with “city, state and federal relief funds.” The release describes this park… read more
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,… read more
This WPA photo shows WPA workers “cleaning, straightening, and improving [a] storm drain” on Casleton Ave. in Staten Island (then known as the Borough of Richmond).
The historic Cathedral Station post office in New York, New York is located on West 104th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. It was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. The post… read more
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… 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 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,… read more
The former Queens Central Library, located at 89-14 Parsons Blvd., “opened in 1930 and was expanded with WPA funds in 1941.” “The current Central Library is a product of its era. In the mid-1960s, instead of renovating the existing library… read more
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… read more
Central Park was originally established in the 1860s, but New Deal workers carried out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. In addition to the many specific projects listed by name, there were any number of improvements done with… read more