New York Sites

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."

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 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...

A grade crossing construction project in Le Roy, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $47,299 grant toward the $219,469 eventual total cost of the project. Work occurred between April and November 1935. The exact location of this project is unknown to Living New Deal, though it's likely that the grade separation project in question is what carries the railroad above West Main Street at the edge of town. More information is needed. (PWA Docket No. NY 5648)

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...

"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...

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.

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),...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a half-mile storm sewer along Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie, New York, from north of Fulton Ave. to a creek south of College Ave.

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.

The overpass carrying Granite Avenue over what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway) was constructed in 1937, in conjunction with the lowering of the railroad right-of-way, as one link in a massive grade crossing removal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included work elsewhere in Staten Island and even in Manhattan. PWA Docket No. NY 4926.

"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...

Grasslands Hospital (now Westchester Medical Center) in Valhalla, New York received a  New Deal mural, commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), in 1934. The status of this work is unknown to Living New Deal.

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...

The Great Kills station of the Staten Island Railway was redeveloped during the late 1930s, as one link in a large grade crossing removal project sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA). Work included construction of a new station house on Giffords Lane, which is still in use.

Sayville's Suffolk County News reported in 1936 that the WPA had allocated $20,248.50 for "landscaping the Copiague school grounds and laying out a baseball diamond, tennis and badminton courts, at a cost of $20,248.50." Living New Deal believes the school in question to be what is now known as the Great Neck Road Elementary School.

The federal Works Progress Administration worked during the late 1930s to double the size and runway length of what was then known as Rochester Municipal Airport.

A bridge carrying Greaves Avenue over the newly sunken Staten Island Railway was built in the late 1930s, as one link in a large grade crossing removal project sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The project was referred in an article as Great Kills Road (possibly a former name for Greaves). National Bridge Inventory data indicate that the bridge has since been replaced.

"During the Great Depression (1929-1939), the New York State Department of Conservation (under the administration of then-governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and later the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the park's roads, buildings, cabins, golf course and trails. CCC camps for project SP-12 were created on the property of the park. CCC company 1203, and subsequently 2211 (a company of veterans of the 1898 Spanish–American War), were assigned to the project. These men hauled loads of sand from Sylvan Beach (on nearby Oneida Lake) to create a sandy beach; they dug the basements of the park buildings by hand. The CCC...

"Green Lakes State Park has an 18-hole public golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1935. The course was one of Trent Jones' earliest; ultimately, he was credited with designing about 500 courses. In lieu of payment for its design, he was given a ten-year lease for $1.00/year. Jones opened the course on May 6, 1936."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Green Valley Road in the far corner of the Town of Mooers, New York in 1936.

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.

Built in 1937-38 by the Works Progress Administration as part of the Brockport Municipal Park Development Plan. Building has fallen into disrepair and exists at the back end of an otherwise empty lot adjacent to a cold storage plant.

“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 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...

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...

"HAMLIN BEACH PARK is one of the largest county parks of Monroe. It has an area of 600 acres and includes a mile and a quarter of lake frontage with an excellent bathing beach. Extensive road building and other improvements are in progress, carried on by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which maintains a camp near the park. This project includes the construction of a concrete sea wall and promenade along the entire lake front, six long stone and concrete jetties to hold sand for bathing beaches, 3 miles of macadam and 2 miles of hard-surfaced roads, 2 miles of concrete...

The overpass carrying Harbor Road over what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway) was constructed during the mid-1930s, in conjunction with the lowering of the railroad right-of-way, as one link in a massive grade crossing removal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included work elsewhere in Staten Island and even in Manhattan. PWA Docket No. NY 4926.

The Harbor Road railway station was constructed during the mid-1930s as one link in a massive grade separation project along what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway). Developed as a two-track, island platform facility, it was located off Harbor Road to the west. The station was long since abandoned before its demolition in 2004. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included work elsewhere in Staten Island and even in Manhattan. PWA Docket No. NY 4926.

The Cape Vincent Eagle reported that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) was to improve several roads to the Lake Ontario shore in the Three Mile Bay area of Jefferson County, New York, during the summer of 1939. Roads included "Hard Scrabble, from the county road westerly to the lake shore, 1.8 miles."

Renovations to Harlem Hospital were undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

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...

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,...

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...