1 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 44
  • Joyce Kilmer Park - Bronx NY
    A 1935 New York City Department of Parks Press release announced a: 'plan for the reconstruction of Joyce Kilmer Park, north of the Bronx County Court House between Walton Avenue and the Grand Concourse and extending from 161st Street to 164th Street... The new plan calls for the continuation of the Grand Concourse through these small triangles. The panels planted with Linden trees will be also carried through to 161st Street, The diagonal street through the south end of the Park will be closed and the open well on 161st Street in front of the Court House will be covered over... It will...
  • Julia Richman Educational Complex: Knott Mural - New York NY
    In 1936, Ben Knott completed an oil on canvas mural entitled 'Decorative Map of the World' for the fourth floor corridor, East School, of what was then Julia Richman High School, with funding from the Federal Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP). The high school building that housed the mural has since been converted into the Julia Richman Education Complex. The building complex now serves as the site of six separate small schools. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of the mural.
  • Junction Playground - Jackson Heights NY
    On January 4, 1938, the Department of Parks announced the opening of a new playground: "In Queens, at 34th Avenue between 96th Street and Junction Boulevard, the new playground has slides, swings, see-saws, sand table, shuffleboard and handball courts. A rectangular wading pool which can be used for basketball and volleyball in spring and fall is also provided. Shade trees and permanent concrete benches are included in the landscape treatment. In this playground there is also a new building of brick construction, with comfort facilities for boys and girls." There is still a playground located at this site today. Although the 1938 press...
  • Juniper Valley Park - Middle Village NY
    This large park in the Middle Village neighborhood of Queens provides a wealth of leisure and recreational attractions to local residents. Before it became a park, "it was used variously as a farm, a cemetery, a source for peat moss, the property of a racketeer, and a garbage dump...In the early 1930s the City of New York acquired the bog to settle a $225,000 claim in back taxes against the estate of the infamous Arnold Rothstein (1882-1928), who had been accused of fixing the 1919 World Series" (nycgovparks). The WPA greatly transformed the park, first in 1936 and again in...
  • Kaiser Park - Brooklyn NY
    NYC Parks describes the history of this park: "The property on which the park is located was acquired by Parks from the Sinking Fund in two parcels. The first parcel was assigned on July 11, 1934, the second on June 23, 1937. Kaiser Park was formerly known as the Coney Island Lots because the northwestern corner of the park is situated on Coney Island." A Department of Parks press release from November 1936 announced the completion of new facilities at the site, including "a wading pool 54' x 96', two hard ball diamonds for older boys and see-saws, swings, jungle gym,...
  • Keene Central School - Keene Valley NY
    Keene Central School was originally built in 1935-7 as a New Deal project. Its construction was enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA), which provided a $134,000 loan and $63,053 grant, effectively covering the total $253,966 project cost. The building has since been expanded into a larger educational complex. PWA Docket No. NY 3744
  • Kelly Park and Playground - Brooklyn NY
    This park area consists of Kelly Park to the West of the BMT Brighton Beach transit line and the smaller Kelly Playground to the East of the line. Both were developed by the WPA in 1940. Kelly Park was first acquired by Parks in 1924, but expanded and improved by the WPA in 1940 to include "new baseball diamonds and tennis courts (adaptable for ice-skating after flooding and freezing), shuffleboard and volleyball courts, game tables, horseshoe pits, and children’s play structures" (NYC Parks). Kelly Playground, just east of the tracks was first acquired in 1937 and developed as part of...
  • Kenfield Housing Project - Buffalo NY
    Buffalo, New York's first public housing project, known as Kenfield, was located on what had previously been vacant land a few miles northeast of the city's downtown. Federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. H-6703) supported the project's construction. The project spanned roughly the area bounded by (and surrounding) Langfield Drive up to Kensington Highway, between Suffolk St. and Eggert Rd. ArtVoice reported in 2011 that the project was originally whites-only and contained 658 housing units.
  • Kenmore-Tonawanda Municipal Building - Kenmore NY
    A historic marker at the Kenmore-Tonawanda Municipal Building reads: "Kenmore-Tonawanda Municipal Building Exemplifies the classical-monumental style of renowned architect E.B. Green. Erected in 1936 with ublic orks dministration funds to house the governing bodies of the Village of Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda, replacing the former Kenmore Union School building on this site." PWA Docket No. NY 1156-R granted $111,866 toward the project's construction, which began April 1936 and was completed June 1937. The project cost $251,258 in all.
  • Kensington Station Post Office - Brooklyn NY
    Brooklyn, New York's Kensington Station post office "is a historic post office building ... was built in 1935, and designed by consulting architect Lorimer Rich for the Office of the Supervising Architect. The building is a two-story, six-bay-wide brick building in the Colonial Revival style. For much of its history it was painted white. It features a projecting pedimented wooden portico supported on Doric order piers." (Wikipedia) The post office became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
  • Kings County Hospital Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    While the Kings County Hospital was founded in the 1830s, WPA photos in the National Archives and Records Administration, as well as other sources, show that the PWA built several structures for the Kings County Hospital, including a loading dock, a nurses' home, and other buildings. The current status of the specific PWA buildings is unknown to the Living New Deal.
  • Kings County Supreme Court 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 Kings County Supreme Court building.
  • Kings Highway Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a $360,000 street repairing and repaving project along Kings Highway in Brooklyn, New York. WPA labor worked to improve the 2.5-mile stretch of Kings Highway from Avenue J in Flatlands through East Flatbush to E. 98th Street, just beyond Rockaway Parkway.
  • Kings Park State Hospital Building 93 - Kings Park NY
    The massive Building 93 on the Kings Park State Hospital campus "was constructed as a WPA project in the late 1930s. The 12-story infirmary housed patients according to their mobility: the ambulatory were placed on the ground floors, semi-invalids on intermediate floors, and the bedridden on the top floors."   (Harris et al.) "As patient populations grew throughout the early part of the 20th century, the hospital itself continued to grow, and by the late 1930s the state began to build upward instead of outward. During this period, the famous 13-story Building 93 was constructed. Designed by state architect William E. Haugaard...
  • Kings Park State Hospital Improvements - Kings Park NY
    The Suffolk County News reported that the WPA engaged in "repairs and painting (interior and exterior) of Central Islip and Kings Park State Hospitals" between 1935 and 1936.
  • Kingsboro Psychiatric Hospital Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    The WPA made numerous improvements to the Kingsboro Psychiatric Hospital (then known as Brooklyn State Hospital) in New York City during the 1930s. Work included the construction of, and remodeling and renovation of, buildings around the campus; landscape modifications, including tree and shrub planting; the installation of fences; improvements to drainage and sewer lines; modernization of other utilities at the hospital; and other more modest improvements. The WPA made numerous improvements to the Kingsboro Psychiatric Hospital (then known as Brooklyn State Hospital) in New York City during the 1930s. Work included the construction of, remodeling and renovation of, and the fu
  • Kingsbridge Armory Repairs - Bronx NY
    The WPA provided resources to conduct repairs at the Kingsbridge Armory (Eighth Regiment Armory) in the Bronx during the 1930s. The armory was then home to the 258th Field Artillery. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-378.
  • Kissena Lake Draining - Flushing NY
    In 2002 New York City's Parks Department wrote: "March’s Capital Project of the Month is the restoration of Kissena Lake. It will be undergoing a $1.77 million restoration project, funded by Council Member Julia Harrison, beginning this spring. It is said that the lake and park are named after the Chippewa word "kissina," meaning "it is cold." This capital project is necessary because of construction done to the lake sixty years ago. The WPA drained the lake in 1943 and filled it with a concrete liner, giving it the nickname of a "bathtub lake." While originally this project was meant to improve...
  • Kissena Park - Flushing NY
    The extensive Kissena Park was first established in the early 1900s and now forms part of the "Queens Corridor" park system. In addition to building a golf course at the east end of the park in the mid 1930s, in 1941, the WPA completed extensive work on the main section of the park surrounding Kissena Lake in 1941: "Included in the new improvement is a new modern one story brick boat house and boat landing constructed on the east shore of the lake replacing the old outmoded frame boat house and dock formerly located on the south bank adjacent to the...
  • Kissena Park Golf Course - Flushing NY
    This golf course at Kissena Park in outer Queens was one of several golf courses created with federal funding under Robert Moses' tenure as Parks Commissioner. The Department of Parks first announced the opening of the course in August 1935. Another Department press release in May 1936 announced the opening of the Kissena Park golf course again, suggesting that there was likely further work done in the meantime. The 1936 release further noted that the work was completed "with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A."
  • Knapp Avenue Water Main - Middletown NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed a six-inch water main along Knapp Avenue in Middletown, New York.
  • Knickerbocker Station Post Office - New York NY
    The historic Knickerbocker Station post office in New York, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1937. The building, located in Manhattan's Lower East Side, is still in use today.
  • Kolbert Park - Brooklyn NY
    NYC Parks describes the origins of this small park: "In August 1936, the City of New York acquired this property by condemnation for the sum of $87,938.40. That year, Parks assumed jurisdiction over the property, removing sections of both Ocean and Locust Avenues that traversed the property in order to create a full park area. In June 1937, the playground officially opened to the public." The press release announcing the opening stated that "the new playground has swings, see-saws, slides, sand tables, playhouses, handball, horseshoe pitching and shuffleboard courts. There is also a wading pool, a softball diamond and an oval...
  • La Marqueta - New York NY
    La Marqueta "is a marketplace under the elevated Metro North railway tracks between 111th Street and 116th Street on Park Avenue in East Harlem in Manhattan, New York City. ... In its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, over 500 vendors operated out of La Marqueta, and it was an important social and economic venue for Hispanic New York." federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The market was the first of eight similar projects in the city.
  • La Salle Park - Buffalo NY
    La Salle Park, along the shore of Lake Erie in Buffalo, New York, was originally known as Centennial Park. The WPA helped to develop the site, in conjunction with the completion of the Clearwater Reservoir, ca. 1936.
  • La Tourette Golf Course - Staten Island NY
    On May 7, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of the newly constructed second nine and the reconstructed first nine at La Tourette Golf Course in Staten Island, which had been “thoroughly reconstructed with new tees and greens throughout…with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A.” The course is still in use.
  • Lafayette Avenue 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 a dozen streets, including the stretch of Lafayette Avenue between Prospect and Brighton Avenues.
  • LaGuardia Airport - Flushing NY
    Construction of New York's LaGuardia Airport was among the largest undertakings of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration (WPA) and included both today's main airport (then the "landplane field") and what is now the Marine Air Terminal (then the "seaplane division"). The airport was constructed on the site of the former North Beach Airport between 1937 and 1939. Under Mayor LaGuardia the city began expanding the site with landfill from Rikers Island. At the time of its completion, LaGuardia was among the most advanced airports in the world. The 1939 WPA Guide to New York City (p.567) describes the new...
  • Lake Avenue Highway - Auburn NY
    During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook work to widen Lake Avenue in Auburn, New York. The WPA caption for the above photo, taken by WPA Photographer Dan Nero in 1938, reads: "Two Course highway in Auburn's Lake Avenue; the gateway to Owasco Lake and its neighboring summer resorts. Was once a ragged one-way roadway" (WPA). Lake Avenue runs into New York State Route 38 south of Swift Street. There Route 38 becomes a 4 lane divided highway, and runs all the way to Owasco Lake (Auburn Roads Department).
  • Lake Avenue Overpass - Staten Island NY
    The overpass carrying Lake Avenue 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.
  • Lake Avenue Railway Station (abandoned) - Staten Island NY
    The Lake Avenue 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, two-side platform facility, it was located off Lake Avenue to the west, with entrances from both Lake Ave. and Simonson Ave.. The station has long since been abandoned. 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.
  • Lake Avenue School Improvements - Saratoga Springs NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted modest improvement work, including painting of the auditorium, at the old high school on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs. The facility is presently in use as the Lake Avenue Elementary School.
  • Lake Flower Dam - Saranac Lake NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Main Street Dam at the head of Lake Flower in Saranac Lake NY between 1937 and 1938. The WPA allocated funds for a number of proposed improvements in and around Ogdensburg, including “the construction of a new dam…and the development of a picturesque bathing float, beach, park site and addition of buildings to Saranac Lake Craft and Study Guild” (Parks & Recreation). According to a contemporary news report, the dam was “placed…on the site upon which Capt. Pliny Miller once built a sawmill. Later it was taken over by Alonzo Blood…who organized Saranac Lake’s...
  • Lake Placid Middle High School - Lake Placid NY
    In 1922, due to increasing numbers of students, the Lake Placid school district constructed a large brick high school at the south end of the current middle high school. It was modern and fireproof, sitting on the hill overlooking athletic fields and Main street. In November 1933, again due to increasing numbers of pupils, the community members voted to increase the school size by building two more sections. The original brick building was incorporated as the south end of the newly completed high school, now having three main sections, all finished with a Palladian neoclassical façade. A plaque indicating that...
  • Lake Placid Ski Resort Improvements - Lake Placid NY
    This small mountain town developed Olympic quality winter sports facilities in order to host the Olympic games in 1932. These facilities, including ski slopes and the bob-sled run, were later improved by the WPA. The resort was again used for the Olympics in 1980.
  • Lake Taghkanic State Park - Ancram NY
    NYSParks.com: "The park was donated to the State of New York in 1929 by Dr. McRa Livingston with the provision that the lake and park be named Lake Taghkanic. The lake had been previously known as Lake Charlott. In 1933 a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp was established at the park. C.C.C. projects in the park included construction of the East Bathhouse, the East Beach, the camping and cabin areas and the water tower."
  • Lakeview Elementary School - Mahopac NY
    Lakeview Elementary School in Mahopac, New York was originally constructed as Mahopac High School during the 1930s with the assistance of the federal Public Works Administration (PWA Docket No. NY 6223). The PWA provided a $180,000 loan and a $136,448 grant ($316,448 in total) toward the school's construction. Construction on the building began September 1935. Short and Stanley-Brown write: "This new school building accommodates 800 pupils from the vicinity. Besides the classrooms, it has a bus garage, bowling alleys, and a combination gymnasium-auditorium. It replaced old frame building which has been abandoned. The construction is fire resistant. It is built with structural steel...
  • Lakeville Elementary School Improvements - Great Neck NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Great Neck, New York's Lakeville Elementary School during the late 1930s. One modest project called for general carpentry improvements and painting at this building and Great Neck's "domestic science cottage."
  • Landscaping (Bronx Blvd. and Duncomb Ave.) - Bronx NY
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted landscaping work at a "triangular plot at the intersection of Bronx Blvd. and Duncomb Ave." The New York Times reported on an adorable story that occurred during the project, involving the hatching of six baby birds from eggs in a nest "no larger than fist."
  • Larchmont Public Library Murals - Larchmont NY
    Two murals in the Larchmont, New York Public Library were painted under the auspices of the WPA by Thomas H. Donnelly (1893-1971), an American scene painter, who lived in nearby Valhalla, New York and was known for his landscapes and winter scenes. The murals that have hung for the last 73 years in the Larchmont Public Library were commissioned by the Larchmont Women’s Club. “The Manor House” depicts Larchmont’s oldest building and one which gave this affluent village, Larchmont Manor, now a suburb of New York City, its name. The farmhouse, originally built by New York City attorney Peter Jay Munro...
1 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 44