“During the Great Depression, the federal government established the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to employ Americans in a series of public construction projects. Almost 19,000 New Yorkers labored on Staten Island. They built sidewalks through wooded areas that were supposed… read more
The Arkport Central School in Arkport NY is a K-12 public school that is still in use. The Public Works Administration made two grants, of $63,000 and $9,654, against a planned cost of approximately $192,000.
Built 1938-39 under the Flood Control Act of 1936, following catastrophic local floods in 1935, and still in use. Federal cost was $1,910,000. C.C.C. built a camp nearby for the construction workers,
St. Nicholas Park is a long stretch of park between Harlem and Manhattanville, reaching from 127th St. to 141st St. The park contains two playgrounds. The larger one at 129th St., known as St. Nicholas Playground, opened before the New… read more
The historic Arthur Avenue Retail Market, located in the heart of the Bronx’s Little Italy, was constructed with the assistance of the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA). The market, one of eight similar projects in the city, opened October 29, 1940.
The Brooklyn school J.H.S. 234, presently Arthur W. Cunningham Junior High School, was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.
On May 31, 1938, the Department of Parks announced “that plans were being prepared for the renovation of nine public bath houses transferred to them from the jurisdiction of the Borough President of Manhattan.” The improvements were to be done… 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 city Health Center, meant to serve Long Island City and Astoria, at the southwest corner of 31st Ave. and 14th St., was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). “This center and eight others are being built as WPA projects,”… read more
On July 2, 1938, the Department of Parks announced the opening of a playground on the site of what is now the Astoria Health Playground: “In Queens, at 14th Street south of 31st Avenue adjacent to the Astoria Health Center,… read more
The Astoria Heights Playground, covering most of the block between 30th Rd., 31st Ave., 45th St. and 46th St., was developed by the Parks Department and the WPA in two stages between 1937 and 1938. In September 1937, a playground… read more
The 56-acre park dates from the early 20th century, but “major improvements in Astoria Park were undertaken by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and the Works Progress Administration during a hot summer in 1936. The stunning pool complex opened on July… read more
Astoria Park pool opened on July 2, 1936. It was the largest of the eleven WPA pools built throughout the city that year. It was the site of the Olympic swimming and diving trials for the 1936 Olympics, just as Randall’s Island Stadium was… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed an athletic field in Westport, New York. The exact location of the park within the town is unknown to Living New Deal.
Then known as Auburn State Prison, the Auburn Correctional Facility received a sizable expansion as a result of a $226,000 federal Public Works Administration grant during the 1930s. PWA Federal Docket No. 3248 (NY). Specific construction included “accommodations for inmates,… read more
The historic Audubon Station post office in New York, New York is located on West 165th Street, between Audubon Ave. 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
33 men of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to grade, surface, and otherwise improve one mile of Augur Lake Road outside of Keeseville, New York in 1939.
From NYC Parks: “In 1918, the War Memorial Fund was established to create a $1 million Memorial Arch to commemorate those killed in World War I. The organizers were forced to adjust their plans when they were only able to… read more
Automotive High School in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, facing McCarren Park, was built during the 1930s with funds from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The school was created to train students to be skilled auto repair technicians, to… read more
The federal Works Progress 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 Avenue S from Avenue T to… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a $197,000 street repair and maintenance project, along what were then dirt roads, throughout the borough of Brooklyn, New York. Roads improved included the 0.9-mile stretch… 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 water pumping station… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) conducted improvements ca. 1940-1 at what was then the Aviation Mechanics Training School in Plattsburgh. The exact location and status of this facility is unknown to Living New Deal.
The Public Works Administration provided a $99,000 grant to construct a new K-12 public school in 1937-1939. Much expanded and renovated, the school remains in use today.
The Bachmann railway station was demolished during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway. The Bachmann Station “was located east of Tompkins Avenue, between Lynhurst and Chestnut Avenues.” The Public… read more
The New York Times reported in 1941 that WPA labor was to develop a playground at Bailey Avenue and West 234th Street in the Bronx. Bailey Playground now resides on that site: “WPA crews are busy on twelve other parks… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here shows Baird Road when it was completed for the town of Penfield in Monroe County, New York.
New York City’s Parks Department website states: “During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) and the Works Progress Administration constructed recreational facilities in the park, including a boat landing, several playgrounds, tennis and handball courts, baseball… read more
“Banneker Playground is named in honor of Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806), a noted African-American writer and mathematician… This playground is located on Marcy Avenue between Kosciusko Street and Lafayette Avenue. The site was formerly owned by the Board of Transportation, which… read more
This park is located on the site of a former tenement and adjacent to what was the first free public bathhouse when it opened in 1901. This and other early bathhouses were built for the sake of public sanitation after… read more
In 1936 the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a baseball diamond and a covered grandstand for the Greene Town Team in a park that is still referred to today as Ball Flats. Ball flats is a public recreation area “located… read more
Bath Beach Park, named for the surrounding neighborhood, was acquired by the City in 1937. In 1941-1942, the WPA completed extensive work on the park. A press release announcing the opening explained: “Located on a knoll on the center line… read more
The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Bath V.A. Hospital in Bath NY. Created as the hospital for Bath V.A., replacing the 1870s facility at what had been the New York State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. The oldest resident… read more
A new entrance bridge was built in 1939, replacing an older one which had been posted as unsafe five years earlier, requiring a lengthy detour to leave or enter the grounds. This 1939 bridge is still in use as of… read more
In the 1937 the Works Progress Administration undertook construction on the Battery Landing Platform which was used as a landing pier for excursion boats (WPA).
The WPA allocated $612,800 in 1935 toward the renovation of the “pier building [at the] foot of Whitehall & South Sts.” The building in question is most likely what was then known as the Municipal Ferry Pier (built 1906-1909), now… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve the public golf course at Battle Island State Park.
This building was originally the Textile High School, then the Straubenmuller Textile High School, then the Charles Evans Hughes High School, before eventually assuming its current title as the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex. It is now an NYC “vertical campus”… read more
The caption to the Works Progress Administration photo above notes that this is “one of 2 culverts built by WPA in the city. This project is known as Bayless Ave. Culverts and employed 37 men” (WPA) More information is needed about… read more
Originally the United States Marine Hospital, what is now Richmond University Medical Center’s Bayley Seton Hospital was a PWA project. It is described by the Federal Writers’ Project: “United States Marine Hospital, Bay Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, a Federal hospital… read more