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  • Lenox Hill Station Post Office - New York NY
    The historic Lenox Hill Station post office in New York, New York is located on East 70th Street, between 2nd Ave. and 3rd Ave. It was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. The post office was initially known as New York, New York’s Station ‘Y’ until its redesignation as Audubon Station on Feb. 1, 1947. The building’s cornerstone dates an initial stage of construction to 1935. The building is still in service.
  • Lewisohn Stadium (demolished) - New York NY
    In the summer of 1935, the College of the City of New York (today's City College of New York), completed construction of the north ramp of Lewisohn Stadium with funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) (CCNY Newspaper). Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater that served as a public space for athletic, musical, and theatrical performances. The stadium was razed in 1973 in order to expand the academic facilities on campus (CCNY Libraries). Lewisohn Plaza now encompasses the area of what was once the stadium (New York Times).
  • Lincoln Tunnel - New York to New Jersey
    The Lincoln Tunnel is a 1.5-mile long tunnel under the Hudson River, from  Weehawken, New Jersey to the borough of Manhattan.  The  project was funded by the New Deal's Public Works Administration and the design was by Ole Singstad. Construction began in March 1934 and the tunnel opened to traffic on December 22, 1937, charging $0.50 per passenger car. The cost of construction was $85,000,000.  The original design called for two tubes. Work on the second was halted in 1938 but resumed in 1941. Due to war material shortages of metal, completion was delayed for two years. It opened on February 1, 1945 at a...
  • Little Flower Playground - New York NY
    "This playground, formerly La Guardia Houses Park, refers to the popular nickname of New York City mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947), Little Flower. The nickname is a literal translation of the Italian mayor’s first name and an allusion to his small physical stature of 5 feet 2 inches." It was completed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA)." It is also the site of Jo Davidson's bust of LaGuardia.  
  • Little Flower Playground Bust - New York NY
    "A bust of La Guardia stands at the southeastern corner of the . The life-size bronze bust was created in 1934 by sculptor Jo Davidson (1883-1952), who also immortalized in bronze Mohandas Gandhi, James Joyce, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Gertrude Stein. The bust remained in Davidson’s collection until he died in 1952, when the La Guardia Memorial Association purchased it. The monument was dedicated and installed in its present location in 1957, when the La Guardia Houses and the adjoining playground were completed."
  • Macombs Dam Bridge Improvements - Bronx NY
    The WPA allocated $157,756 toward reconstruction of the roadway crossing the Macomb's Dam Bridge, which connects the Bronx to Manhattan in New York City. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-36.
  • Madison Avenue Paving - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) assisted in the paving of Madison Avenue from 59th St. to 82nd St.
  • Madison Square Station Post Office - New York NY
    The Madison Square Station post office in New York, New York "was built in 1935, and designed by consulting architects Lorimer Rich for the Office of the Supervising Architect." (Wikipedia) Professor Dolkart of Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation tells us that "Madison Square Station is a Modern Classical structure with an important interior layout, modeled after that of a bank (it was published in the architectural press at the time)." (Dolkart) Wikipedia states that "...the building is a two-to-three story building clad on its main façade with "Dakota Mahogany" granite....The main facade features six two-story Doric order piers and pilaster...
  • Madison Square Station Post Office Murals - New York NY
    The interior of New York's Madison Square Station post office features eight tempera-on-plaster murals entitled "Scenes of New York" (1937-1939), commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts funding.  Four panels are found on each the right and left wall of the post office lobby, surrounding the central postal clerk counters. Professor Dolkart of Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation notes that seven of the eight McLeary murals represent different New York City neighborhoods. In each neighborhood shown, someone is depicted doing a mail-related activity: "Lower East Side (reading a letter to a group); Broadway (carrying a letter); Central Park (reading...
  • Madison Square Station Post Office Reliefs - New York NY
    The exterior of the Madison Square Station post office sports five bronze reliefs above its main entrance (on 23rd St.) known, collectively, as "Communication." Three were cast by Edmond R. Amateis and two by Louis Slobodkin in 1937, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.
  • Madison Square: Admiral Farragut Statue Restoration - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Admiral Farragut monument in Madison Square during the mid-1930s.
  • Manhattan Bridge and Flatbush Avenue Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    Among the traffic improvement projects in Brooklyn undertaken by the WPA and described by the New York Times in 1941 was that which impacted a major traffic artery connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan: the Manhattan Bridge and Flatbush Avenue Extension. The work would " Brooklyn-bound automobiles during the evening rush hours and for a greater diffusion of traffic ..." One notable "hazardous reverse curve and steep grade" was eliminated entirely. The WPA also added additional traffic lanes, removing "heavy granite walls and balustrades" so to ease a major traffic bottleneck. Along the Flatbush Avenue Extension three safety islands were added between Lafayette...
  • Manhattan Criminal Court Building - New York NY
    The criminal court building in Manhattan was constructed with the assistance of the PWA in the late 1930s, for a cost of $14 million.  Construction began in 1938 and was completed in 1941. The site, once known as Collect Pond, was formerly occupied by an 1894 Criminal Courthouse and prison – known as 'The Tombs".  That name is sometimes still used for the present building. The seventeen-story building is composed of four towers, with the tall center tower done in the step-back style popular in the 1920s and 30s. The facade is granite and limestone and the windows and spandrel form long, unbroken, vertical bands. The...
  • Manhattan Municipal Building Improvements - New York NY
    New York's 1 Centre St. Municipal Building received improvements as part of the New Deal, including new elevators installed in part by Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.
  • Marcus Garvey Park Improvements - New York NY
    "Marcus Garvey Park is one of the oldest public squares in Manhattan. Central to the life of Harlem for more than 150 years, it has served as a meeting place for neighbors, a front yard and play area for schoolchildren, and a holy place for members of local churches. Known as Mount Morris Park for more than a hundred years… Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, with the help of the Federal Works Progress Administration, installed playgrounds and a system of stone walls, terraces and stairs that remains in place today. In the mid-1960s the park again underwent dramatic changes. The City constructed a...
  • Mathews-Palmer Playground - New York NY
    NYC Parks states that this small park was acquired by the City in 1936-1938. It opened to the public on April 16, 1937. The press release announcing the opening explained: "the new playground has see-saws, swings, jungle gym, garden swings, slides, sand tables, play houses and game tables for chess, checkers and backgammon, and also benches and shade trees." The site was eventually renamed Mathews-Palmer Playground "after park and community advocates May Mathews and Alexandra Palmer." Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks...
  • Metropolitan Museum Murals - New York NY
    O. Louis Guglielmi completed a mural, entitled "One Third of a Nation," in 1939 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration. It was given by the WPA to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1943. "The title of this work references President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1937 inaugural address, in which he proclaimed, 'I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.' 'One Third of a Nation' is also the title of Arthur Arent’s 1938 play, which emphasized the plight of the poor and was funded by the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project. In this painting Guglielmi draws attention to the horrid...
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art Repairs - New York NY
    The WPA allocated $12,100.41 in 1935 to assist with miscellaneous repairs to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The New York Times reported in Sept. 1935: "A shooting gallery to make the guards more proficient in the use of firearms is only one of the many improvements at the Metropolitan Museum of Art begun within the last two months with WPA funds ..." The WPA also washed the building's exterior, in addition to "pointing up brick and stone masonry and washing it down with muriatic acid." They also constructed what was known as Gallery E-15. Inside they washed the building and undertook "masonry...
  • Midtown North Police Precinct - New York NY
    In 1938-9, the WPA built a new station house for the NYPD's 18th precinct on West 54th St. The building was designed to replace the older 18th precinct building on 47th St. The New Deal structure is still in use and is now known as the Midtown North Precinct. Construction of the four-story limestone and marble precinct building cost $558,233. Modern feature details were described in a New York Times article cited below.
  • Minetta Green - New York NY
    Minetta Green was built circa 1935 with the help of the New Deal. The agency involved in funding or completing the work is unknown to the Living New Deal. During the 1930s, Robert 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 pubic parks in New York to New Deal agencies. However, several of Moses’ statements reveal the large scale of federal funding for parks  For a detailed...
  • Minetta Playground - New York NY
    The NYC Parks site explains the origins of this playground: "In 1934 Board of Transportation granted the Department of Parks a permit to develop this parcel as a playground which opened the following year." The November 1935 press release announcing the playground's official opening explained that it, and the other six playgrounds opened on the same day (one of which was attended by WPA administrator Harry Hopkins), collectively contained: "2 basketball diamonds, 1 basketball court, 4 bocci courts, 4 handball courts, 2 horizontal bars, 2 horizontal ladders and 3 horse shoe pitching courts for adults; for the youngsters, 6 jungle gyms,...
  • Minetta Triangle - New York NY
    Minetta Triangle was built circa 1935 with the help of the New Deal. The agency involved in funding or completing the work is unknown to the Living New Deal. During the 1930s, Robert 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 pubic parks in New York to New Deal agencies. However, several of Moses’ statements reveal the large scale of federal funding for parks  For a detailed discussion...
  • Morningside Park Playground (W. 114th St.) - New York NY
    The playground in Morningside Park located at Morningside Avenue, between W 113th and 114th Streets, was one of seven Works Progress Administration (WPA) playgrounds opened in New York City on November 22, 1935.
  • Morningside Park: Playground 123 - New York NY
    On September 29, 1941, the Parks Department announced the completion of a reconstructed playground in the northeast corner of Morningside Park: "Two bench-lined tree shaded malls extend along the entire north and east sides of the playground connecting the park entrances with the resurfaced park walks. Sloping ground necessitated the construction of the various subdivisions on different levels retained by high curbs and interconnected by short stairways. The following equipment is provided: Brick comfort station 2 handball courts Wading pool 3 shuffleboard courts 3 basketball courts with removable backstops Pipe frame exercise unit Swings 2 slides Kindergarten Apparatus Area: 2 irrigated sand pits and sitting areas Swings 3 slides 8 seesaws The balance of the work...
  • Morris-Jumel Mansion Restoration - New York NY
    This house "was built in 1765 by Roger Morris, a British military officer, and served as a headquarters for both sides in the American Revolution" (wikipedia). It was declared a national landmark in 1961 and is now a house museum. The WPA photos pictured here show that the Jumel mansion was restored with New Deal assistance in the 1930s.
  • Murphy's Brother's Playground - New York NY
    This land was first developed as a playground in 1903 and has been known by several names over the years, including the John J. Murphy Playground and Murphy Park, and now, according to NYC Parks, the Murphy's Brother's Playground. In June 1941, Parks announced the completion of improvements to the park: "This improvement included the demolition and removal of the old wooden pavilion and comfort station and the complete redesign of an outmoded facility, to which a small area has been added because of the alignment of the new East River Drive. Situated in an intensively developed neighborhood, adjacent to the East...
  • Museum of the City of New York Improvements - New York NY
    The WPA undertook a project to improve what was then known as New York's City Museum, during the 1930s. Work included: "Paint interior and exterior, construct exhibition cases, stages, buns, shelves, install ventilating and electrical systems; repair elevators; and make improvements to the grounds of the City Museum in New York City, New York County."
  • New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Murals - New York NY
    "In 1936, under the Works Progress Administration, the artist Abram Champanier created a series of murals for the children's ward . Champanier had done large commercial murals in the 20's for the Roxy Theater in New York and the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, among other works. For the hospital, he painted 16 panels on the theme of "Alice in Wonderland in New York." The oil-on-canvas murals are all seven feet high, but of varying widths. After the first panel, "Alice Steps Out of a Book," they cover subjects like "Alice Flies Over the East River Bridges" and "Alice and Her...
  • New York Public Library Murals - New York NY
    The McGraw Rotunda of the 5th Ave. library building contains a set of WPA murals: "It features The Story of the Recorded Word, a set of four large arched panels by Edward Laning, were executed for the McGraw Rotunda of the New York Public Library Main Branch from 1938 to 1942 as part of a Works Progress Admistration (WPA) Project, with supplies furnished by Isaac Phelps Stokes, author of the Iconography of Manhattan Island. Laning depicted the story of the recorded word across each of the murals. The first mural, to the left of the entrance to the Catalog Room, Moses...
  • New York State Supreme Court: Pusterla Murals - New York NY
    This building, formerly known as the New York County Courthouse, contains several large New Deal murals created by a variety of artists, begun under the Public Works of Art Program (PWAP) in 1934 and continued under the WPA's Federal Art Project. Most of the murals were painted by Attilio Pusterla with the help of several assistants. The vestibule ceiling contains brightly painted murals by Pusterla and his assistants painted in a "grand Italian decorative style" (nytimes). The subject of these murals is the administration of justice, and the murals depict many allegorical figures representing Truth, Error, Protection, Security, Army and Navy among...
  • New York State Supreme Court: Ryland Murals - New York NY
    This building, formerly known as the New York County Courthouse, contains several large WPA murals. Most of the murals, including those in the vestibule and rotunda, were painted by Attilio Pusterla with the help of several assistants. Jury room 448, however, contains a series of 11 paintings by Robert K. Ryland depicting historical New York scenes. The subjects include Henry Hudson's ship, the Half-Moon; an early Indian settlement; Broad Street around 1660, and two panoramas of the city in the 18th century.
  • Old Chelsea Station Post Office - New York NY
    The historic Old Chelsea Station post office on West 18th Street was constructed with Treasury Department funds in 1935-7. The building, which houses examples of New Deal artwork, is still in service.
  • Old Chelsea Station Post Office Sculptures - New York NY
    The historic Old Chelsea Station post office houses examples of New Deal artwork: two sculptures, titled "Deer" and "Bears," by Paul Fiene, housed just inside the public entrance on 18th Street. Made of "cast stone with silver leaf finish," the works were commissioned by  the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1938.
  • P.S. 108 Playground - New York NY
    The New York Times reported that WPA laborers had begun work in late 1941 on a playground on the "eastern half of the block bounded by Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, East 108th Street and East 109th Street." The playground was built for a new school to be built adjacent to it the following year.
  • P.S. 139 (former) Addition - New York NY
    P.S. 139 in Upper Manhattan, New York, received an addition in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $209,250 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $402,059. The former school now houses a senior citizens center operated by the New York City Housing Authority. PWA Docket No. NY 1715
  • P.S. 194: Countee Cullen School - New York NY
    P.S. 194, located on W 144th Street in upper Manhattan, New York, was completed in 1940 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant of $474,300, 45% of the estimated project cost.
  • Park Avenue Underpass - New York NY
    These WPA photos show WPA crews constructing a "vehicular tunnel" along Park Avenue, from 40th to 42st Streets. Current status of the project unknown to the Living New Deal.
  • Passannante Ballfield - New York NY
    According to the NYC Parks website: "The site of this ballfield was acquired by the City of New York for the construction of the Independent Subway whose line curves from the Avenue of the Americas to West Houston Street. In May 1934 the Board of Transportation granted the Department of Parks a permit to develop for playground purposes four parcels on West Houston Street. The park at the northeast corner of West Houston Street and the Avenue of the Americas was one of thirty-eight new playgrounds added to the Park system in the first four months of Robert Moses’s twenty-six...
  • Peretz Square - New York NY
    An August 1935 Parks Department press release lists the site now known as Peretz Square as one of seventy-three play areas developed in the preceding year with "city, state and federal relief funds." The release describes this park as having play areas designed for mothers and infants and older children. The site was acquired by the Parks Department in May 1934. Although the press release does not identify which federal agencies were involved, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that New Deal park projects developed before August 1935 would have been financed by one or more agencies including the CWA, FERA, the...
  • Peter Cooper Statue Restoration - New York NY
    Formerly known as Stuyvesant Square, the park in which this statue sits was renamed Cooper Square after Peter Cooper, a 19th century industrialist and philanthropist. As the NYC Parks site documents: “Following Cooper’s death in 1883, Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), the preeminent 19th century sculptor and one of the earliest alumni of Cooper Union (class of 1864), was commissioned to design a monument in honor of the great visionary. Saint-Gaudens collaborated with the renowned architect Stanford White (1853–1906) who created the piece’s marble and granite canopy… In 1935, coinciding with reconstruction of the park, the newly created Parks Monuments Crew, with funding from...
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