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  • Garrison Playground (demolished) - Bronx NY
    Researcher Frank da Cruz makes a convincing argument that this former playground was built with New Deal funds: "According to a present-day NYC Parks Department web page, 'This property, bounded by East 146th Street, Walton Avenue, and the Grand Concourse, was acquired by the city in 1913 and assigned to Parks in 1934. Garrison Playground opened in 1936, and reopened in 1940 after the widening of the Grand Concourse' (which was a WPA project). The playground was open as recently as June 2014 (next image) but in June 2015 when I took these photos the entire block was being demolished,...
  • Gates Avenue Court Building (former) Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    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 old Gates Avenue Court Building.
  • General Hancock Sculpture - New York NY
    "This monumental bronze portrait bust, dedicated in 1893, depicts Civil War General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824–1886), and was created by American sculptor James Wilson Alexander MacDonald (1824–1908)." (www.nycgovparks.org) In the 1930s, the bust 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.
  • George Cromwell Recreation Center (demolished) - Staten Island NY
    "In 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) converted an eleven-year-old pier into a waterside recreation center at a cost of one million dollars. ... Opened in 1936, the George Cromwell Recreation Center soon came to play a vital role in Staten Island’s sports and recreational activities. President Roosevelt hosted a gala ball there in 1939, and Sugar Ray Robinson fought his last amateur fight there in 1940." "(...) the city took $1 million from the federal Works Progress Administration, which was headquartered at the pier, to convert the structure — known as Pier 6, located on Murray Hulbert Avenue — into a...
  • George Washington High School (former) Mural - New York NY
    Lucienne Bloch's mural, "The Evolution of Music", encircles the upper wall of the old music classroom at the former George Washington High School.  As the NY Public Schools Public Art for Public Schools website states: "Among New Deal New York City public school murals, the most outstanding example by a female artist is Lucienne Bloch’s The Evolution of Music, painted in a former high school music room. Bloch was one of the few WPA/FAP artists who had prior training painting murals, and she was well suited to her assignment at George Washington High School.  She had already successfully completed one WPA/FAP fresco...
  • Gertrude B. Kelly Playground - New York NY
    Gertrude B. Kelly Playground was one of five model playgrounds designed after Robert Moses assumed control of the New York City Parks Department in 1934. These playgrounds were "meant to serve as templates for further playground designs and included standard features such as a play house, flagpole, chlorinated footbath, wading pool, handball and basketball courts, play equipment, drinking fountains, shade trees, and shrubs." (nycgovparks) Mayor LaGuardia presided over the dedication ceremony for this playground in August, 1934. A Parks Department press release announcing the opening of this and several other playgrounds explained that "The labor and materials for the construction of...
  • Gilbert Ramírez Park - Brooklyn NY
    A March 27, 1936 Department of Parks press release announced the opening of this new WPA playground: "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 White, McKibben and Bogart Streets there will be three hand-ball courts, three shuffle-board courts, three horseshoe pitching courts, three basketball courts and swings… All of these playgrounds were constructed as Works Progress Administration projects." In July of the same year, Parks announced the further completion of "a large game area, a wading pool and complete apparatus for children" and benches "placed...
  • Giuseppe Verdi Monument Restoration - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Giuseppe Verdi Monument during the mid-1930s.
  • Glendale Branch Library - Glendale NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a new public library in Glendale, Queens. The WPA also constructed additions to other libraries in the borough.
  • Glendale Playground - Glendale NY
    In Sept. 1941 the New York Times described a playground being constructed by the WPA in Queens at "Central Avenue and Seventieth Street." This site, Glendale Playground, is still in use today. The site is also known as the "Uncle" Vito E. Maranzano Glendale Playground. New York City's Parks Department writes: "In 1940-41 Parks acquired the school property and an adjacent parcel for a new playground, which opened in 1942. On the cleared site, laborers from the Federal Works Projects Administration built handball and basketball courts, a softball diamond, swings, slides, seesaws, a jungle gym, a comfort station, and a free play...
  • Goldwater Memorial Hospital Murals - New York NY
    Then known as the Welfare Hospital for Chronic Disease, this hospital on New York's Roosevelt Island opened in 1939. The hospital soon received three rare 7 x 50 foot WPA murals by Ilya Bolotowsky (1907-1981), Joseph Rugolo (1911-1983) and Albert Swinden (1901-1961). "The murals must have caused a sensation in the early 1940s, when they were installed in the patients’ circular day rooms by the federal Work Projects Administration. Not your standard W.P.A. social-realist allegories, these were works of almost pure, jazzlike abstraction, bold fields of color that barely suggested any literal imagery."   (nytimes.com) At some point in the following years, all three...
  • Gorman Playground - East Elmhurst NY
    Gorman playground at 84th St. and 25th Ave. in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens was one of five “model playgrounds” designed as templates for further playground development by Robert Moses and his team after Moses assumed control of the New York City Parks Department in 1934. According to a Department press release announcing the opening, when Gorman Playground, then named "Jackson Heights Model Playground," opened in 1934 it contained a: "Recreation building containing a large play room, lavatories, mothers room, directors' room and storage space. The rear wall of the recreation building will be used for 4 handball courts. The...
  • Gouverneur Hospital (former): Alice in Wonderland Murals - Manhattan NY
    In 1936, Abram Champanier painted a large, multi-panel mural, entitled "Alice in Wonderland," in the children's ward of the old Gouverneur Hospital on Water Street, with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The oil-on-canvas murals were all seven feet high, of varying widths, with subjects such as, "Alice Steps Out of a Book," "Alice Flies Over the East River Bridges" and "Alice and Her Friends in the Subway," with imaginative images in the social-realist style. Unfortunately, "the murals were left behind, exposed to rain and other infelicities, when the hospital was abandoned in 1961. Nearly two decades later, the building was sold, and demolition threatened. On the...
  • Governors Island Improvements - New York NY
    From 1794 to 1966, Governors Island housed US army facilities. The whole island is now a National Monument and remains a "vibrant summer seasonal venue of art, culture and performance against the backdrop of two centuries of military heritage and the skyline of one of the great cities of the world" (https://www.nps.gov). According to a 1939 Federal Writers' Project publication, "the WPA ha constructed and repaired officers' dwellings, and beautified the grounds ."
  • Governors Island: Pershing Hall Murals - New York NY
    In addition to WPA improvements made around Governors Island, "a mural in the Administration Building, depicting scenes from six American wars, was painted by artists of the Federal Art Project." The Administration Building is better known today as Pershing Hall. The Governors Island Blog states: "Pershing Hall benefited from a FAP commission to Tom Loftin Johnson for murals to adorn its principal hallways. Johnson’s 90 foot mural in Pershing Hall depicts American military history. A close look at these detailed murals reveals many notable national characters, some with particular connections to Governors Island."
  • Grace Playground - Brooklyn NY
    On July 28, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "five playgrounds, constructed by the Department of Parks with relief labor and funds," noting that "These playgrounds are five of the twenty-four sites in neglected areas selected by the Commissioner of Parks and acquired by condemnation after authorization by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment on July 15, 1936." One of these five playgrounds was Grace Playground. The playground has since been expanded, most recently in 1994. Although the 1937 press release does not mention which New Deal agencies were involved, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all...
  • Gracie Mansion Restoration - New York NY
    Gracie Mansion has been the official residence of New York City's mayor since 1942, Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and his family moved in.  It is located on East 88th Street in Carl Schurz park.  The federal style house was built in the 18th century for wealthy merchant Jacob Watson.  In 1798 ship merchant Archibald Gracie traded his Lower East Side townhouse for the Watson mansion in what was then known as Yorkville. The city purchase the Gracie estate in 1886 to expand Carl Schurz park.   For years it served various functions as part of Schurz park, housing public restrooms, an ice cream stand, and classrooms. From 1924 until 1936, it...
  • Grand Army Plaza Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    A Department of Parks press release from March 17, 1935 describes the extensive improvements made to Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza with New Deal support: "The Grand Army Plaza, constituting the main entrance to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, is to be completely rebuilt by the Department of Parks. The general design will remain unchanged but the promenade around the Bailey Memorial Fountain has been redesigned and the north entrances have been relocated away from the existing subway grating which is to be completely shielded by ground covering. The path around the oval is to be relocated somewhat nearer to the street to increase the...
  • Grand Army Plaza: General Sherman Sculpture Restoration - New York NY
    "This majestic, gilded-bronze equestrian group statue depicts one of the United States’ best-known generals, William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 – 1891). Dedicated in 1903, it was master sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s (1848 – 1907) last major work, and serves as the centerpiece of Manhattan’s Grand Army Plaza." In the 1930s, the sculpture 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. The statue's gold leaf...
  • Grand Army Plaza: Pomona Statue Restoration - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Pomona statue (also known as the "Lady of the Plaza") in Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, during the mid-1930s. The statue tops the Pulitzer Fountain in the plaza's southern half.
  • Grand Army Plaza: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch Restoration - Brooklyn NY
    This dramatic arch in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza was created by architect John Hemingway Duncan in 1889-1892. The statuary on the arch was added over the next several years, by several different artists including William Rudolf O'Donovan (men), Thomas Eakins (horses) and Frederick MacMonnies (Army and Navy sculptures and the allegorical crowning sculpture). In the 1930s, the sculpture 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),...
  • Grand Concourse Improvements - Bronx NY
    An article in the April 29, 1942 edition of The New York Times reported that WPA work on the Grand Concourse had begun. The work involved widening the Grand Concourse between 153rd and 161st streets by 6 feet, as well as installing a four-foot-wide center mall.
  • Grant Square: Ulysses S. Grant Sculpture Restoration - Brooklyn NY
    "This large bronze equestrian statue by William Ordway Partridge (1861-1930) depicts Civil War General and 18th United States President Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885). Though Grant’s reputation was tarnished after serving as President amidst one of the most corrupt administrations in the nation’s history, he is revered for his decisive action in bringing about the end of the Civil War... The sculpture of Grant was commissioned by the Union Club of Brooklyn and unveiled on April 27, 1896, the 74th anniversary of his birth. Partridge depicts a determined Grant in his military outfit, including his signature wide-brimmed hat. The work is one...
  • Gravesend Park Playground - Brooklyn NY
    On May 25, 1942 the Parks Department announced the completion of a major reconstruction of the Gravesend Park Playground in Brooklyn. After removing much outdated equipment, the WPA constructed significant new facilities: "The new development permits greater utilization of space by segregation of smaller compact use areas equipped with increased facilities. A central tree shaded bench lined mall extends from the main park gate to the existing comfort station which has been given a new setting of block paving, trees and a flagpole. On both sides of the mall two main fence enclosed sections, approximately 1 acre each, are subdivided into various...
  • Greenleaf Avenue Surfacing - Staten Island NY
    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 Greenleaf Avenue between Constant Ave. and Sawyer Ave.
  • Greenpoint Hospital (former) - Brooklyn NY
    The former Greenpoint Hospital was constructed during the 1930s with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. 9063). According to New Deal New York, "The Public Works Administration helped to finance the construction of a new out-patient building and nurses' homes at this facility." The City of New York ceased operations at Greenpoint Hospital in 1982, and the Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation took over the site.
  • Greenpoint Hospital Mural - Brooklyn NY
    Anton Refregier's first mural assignment under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) in the 1930s was to paint a mural for the children's ward at Greenpoint Hospital in Brooklyn. Joining the WPA rolls allowed him to get off relief. He was paid $23.86 a week and was assisted by five other WPA artists. In an interview conducted for the Archives of American Art Refregier stresses that although he was assigned to be the leader of the mural project, the group decided to undertake the project cooperatively which was more in line with their values. In an interview for...
  • Greenwood Playground - Brooklyn NY
    Today's NYC Parks site explains: "Greenwood Playground is bounded by Fort Hamilton Parkway, and Prospect and Greenwood Avenues." "Greenwood Playground first opened to the public on December 19, 1935, as one of hundreds of Works Progress Administration-era playgrounds commissioned throughout the city, and built under the direction of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981). It contained a recreational building, a large wading pool, and standard playground features such as seesaws, monkey bars, slides, handball courts, and an open play area. At the time, its single acre was surrounded by residential lots to the east and the Greenwood Avenue Methodist Church to the...
  • Grover Cleveland Park - Ridgewood NY
    The land for Grover Cleveland Park was first established in the 1920s. It acquired its present name in 1939. In June 1940, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the WPA's reconstruction of the park: "This five-acre park has been redesigned and reconstructed to provide a wider all year round usage. Approximately three-quarters of the area is set aside for active recreation. There is now a completely equipped separate small pre-school children's playground, a wading pool which can be used for basketball, and three paddle tennis courts, a volleyball court, and three shuffleboard courts for older children. For adults, there is...
  • Grymes Hill-Area Road Surfacing - Staten Island NY
    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 stretches of: Van Cortlandt Avenue between Clove Road and Rugby Ave. Rugby Avenue between Grand Ave. and Highland Ave. Grand Avenue between Rugby Ave. and Victory Blvd. Dudley Avenue between Clove Road and Rugby Ave.
  • Grymes Hill-Area Street Development - Staten Island NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Staten Island project that removed dangerous street ditches from roads throughout the borough. Granite block gutters and headers were installed by WPA laborers along nearly a dozen streets, including the stretches of adjacent Waverly Place and Irving Place between Van Duzer and Targee Streets.
  • Hall of Medicine and Public Health Building Mural - New York NY
    “The third project which Louis Schanker completed while in the Mural Division of the WPA was for the Hall of Medicine and Public Health Building at the New York orld’s Fair (1939-1940). Large sharply angled geometric shapes are the background foil for a variety of organic cell and ameba shapes, an oversized head, and directional symbols such as an arro and dotted lines.” Completed with Abraham Lishinsky.
  • Hamilton Fish Park Pool - New York NY
    Hamilton Fish Park was first opened in 1900, featuring a gymnasium and playground. In 1936, it was thoroughly remodeled and the new WPA swimming pool (the first of eleven to open that summer) became the main attraction. A June 1936 press release announced the opening of the new pool, describing it and the other WPA pools in glowing terms: “Mayor LaGuardia, Park Commissioner Robert Moses and Works Progress Administrator Victor Ridder participated Wednesday in ceremonies in connection with the official opening of the Hamilton Fish Swimming Pool at East Houston and Sheriff Streets, on the lower east side of Manhattan. The...
  • Hamilton Metz Field - Brooklyn NY
    In April 1942, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed the reconstruction of Hamilton Metz Field in Brooklyn. After removing an existing football field and other facilities, the WPA constructed extensive new facilities: "The area has been completely enclosed by chain link fence, a portion of which, along the north and south property lines, is set on new concrete retaining walls. These structures have permitted the grading and paving of level play surfaces. Two gate controlled entrance stairways from Lefferts Avenue will provide access to the one and one quarter acre grass surfaced athletic field, at the west end of...
  • Harlem Hospital Renovations - New York NY
    Renovations to Harlem Hospital were undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
  • Harlem Hospital: Alston Murals - New York NY
    Harlem Hospital murals include two 1940 pieces by Charles Alston, "Magic in Medicine" and "Modern Medicine", painted under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project of the WPA in 1936.  As the New York Times notes, "Harlem Hospital’s were perhaps the first major federal government commissions awarded to African-Americans." "Charles Alston's Magic in Medicine is situated opposite his Modern Medicine, offering contrast and dialogue between traditional and modern healing practices. The diptych imagines the history of healing and medicine in Africa and the United States. The sepia-toned Magic in Medicine incorporates a Fang reliquary sculpture, a type of ritual art piece from Gabon that was widely collected by...
  • Harlem Hospital: Crimi Mural - New York NY
    Alfred D. Crimi painted this 250-square-foot fresco, entitled Modern Surgery and Anesthesia, in 1940 for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). According to the webpage entry "Harlem Hospital WPA Murals" from Columbia University's Institute for Research in African-American Studies,  "Alfred D. Crimi, the only white person employed as a master artist for the Harlem Hospital murals project, was originally commissioned to paint a series of five fresco panels for the Medical Board Room, but he only completed one before leaving to work on another federally sponsored art project in Washington, D.C. He based the subjects for his series on the history of medicine,...
  • Harlem Hospital: Hayes Mural - New York NY
    An eight panel mural by African America artist Vertis C. Hayes, entitled "Pursuit of Happiness," was commissioned for Harlem Hospital Center with funding from the WPA's Federal Arts Project. The mural, which was completed 1937,  "...traces the African diaspora from 18th-century African village life to slavery in America to 20th-century freedom; from agrarian struggles in the South to professional success in the industrialized North." (New York Times). As the New York Times notes, "Harlem Hospital’s were perhaps the first major federal government commissions awarded to African-Americans." This and the other murals, originally in the old hospital and visible only to staff, have been restored for over...
  • Harlem Hospital: Lightfoot Mural - New York NY
    In 1937 Elba Lightfoot completed this mural, entitled "Toy Parade," for the Harlem Hospital Center with funding from the WPA's Federal Arts Program. It was one the first major federal commissions to be awarded to African-Americans. The hospital initially rejected the commission for depicting too much African-American subject matter. The hospital commissioner reversed this decision, however, after public controversy was aroused by protest from the artists and their supporters (New York Times).
  • Harlem Hospital: Seabrooke Mural - New York NY
    Below is a photograph that shows Georgette Seabrooke at work on her mural entitled "Recreation in Harlem" for the nurses' recreation room at Harlem Hospital Center. She made the mural with funding from the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP). The WPA commissioned the mural in 1936.  The New York Times notes that, "Harlem Hospital’s were perhaps the first major federal government commissions awarded to African-Americans." “'Recreation in Harlem' depicts children roughhousing, a couple dancing, a group of women chatting." It was rediscovered during hospital renovation in 2004. This and the other murals, originally in the old hospital and visible only to staff, have been restored for over $4...
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