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  • Memorial Field of Flushing - Flushing NY
    The Memorial Field of Flushing opened in November, 1934 in a ceremony attended by Mayor LaGuardia. The press release announcing the event described the extensive work carried out with New Deal support: "The land for the Flushing Memorial Playfield was given to the City by the Memorial Field of Flushing, Inc., for the development of a playground. Labor and material were supplied from Work Relief funds. A one-story field house of Colonial design is located in a corner of the playground. Eight tennis courts, eight handball courts and two basketball courts are provided in addition to swings, seesaws, sand tables and other...
  • Memorial Field Retaining Wall - Mount Vernon NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a retaining wall at Memorial Field in Mount Vernon, New York during the 1930s. Recent plans for the renovation of Memorial Field have been fitful. The current status of the retaining wall is unknown to the Living New Deal.  
  • 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...
  • Metropolitan Station Post Office - Brooklyn NY
    Brooklyn, New York's Metropolitan Station post office (originally known as Station A) was constructed with Treasury Department funds in 1935-6. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, the building is "a two-story, flat roofed brick building with a three bay wide central pavilion flanked by three bay wide wings in the Colonial Revival style."
  • Mexico Academy and Central School - Mexico NY
    The Public Works Administration funded the construction of facilities for the Mexico School in Mexico, NY. Excerpt from the Mexico Academy & Central School District, Mexico High School History: "On June 19, 1937, the cornerstone was laid for the new $500,000 high school building. The architect for the project was Mr. Harold Fullerton from Albany and the project was administered through the Public Works Administration . The building is of Georgian Colonial style and was built to house 1500 students and last for 150 years. Substantial materials besides the brick exterior include terrazzo flooring, marble, and brass. Additionally, the original building library is...
  • Michael J. Dillon U.S. Courthouse - Buffalo NY
    The Art Moderne Michael J. Dillon U.S. Courthouse in Buffalo, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building was constructed in 1936 and is still in use today.
  • Middle and High School - Tupper Lake NY
    Designed by Robert R. Graham of Middletown, NY, Tupper Lake, New York's then-high school was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration funds during the 1930s (PWA Docket No. 6423). It is possible this project consisted of just the school's auditorium; further research is needed to clarify this point.
  • Middle Country Road Beautification - Centereach NY
    Five Suffolk County highway beautification projects, directed by the WPA, put approximately 1,000 men to work for seven months beginning April 1936. The projects included "the Smithtown-Coram road." It is probable that Smithtown-Coram road is the former name for what is now termed Middle Country Road.
  • Middle School - Catskill NY
    Catskill, New York's middle school was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration funds during the 1930s (Docket No. NY 1173). The building was originally known as the Union Free School. Today the building is part of an expanded education complex that includes Catskill's high school.
  • Middle School - Lawrence NY
    Lawrence Middle School in Lawrence, New York was originally constructed as the town's high school during the 1930s. The project was aided by federal Public Works Administration funds (PWA Docket No. NY 2724). The building replaced an old high school on Central Avenue. According to PWA documents at the National Archives the building "is located on an 11-acre site with a 500' frontage on the main thoroughfare of Lawrence ." "The red face brick walls have a limestone base and are trimmed with limestone and wood. Exterior doors and windows are wood and the roof is slate. The building is rectangular...
  • Middle School - Marcellus NY
    Marcellus, New York's Chester S. Driver Middle School was originally constructed as the Central Grade and High School during the 1930s. The project's construction was aided by federal Public Works Administration funds (PWA Docket No. NY 1159-R).
  • Middle Village Playground - Middle Village NY
    The NYC Parks website explains the provenance of this modest playground in Queens: "Between 1935 and 1938, Parks leased this property from the Gorbess Realty Corporation. In April 1938, the City of New York purchased one parcel of the property for $10,450. A month later, the city acquired the second parcel through condemnation, and Parks assumed jurisdiction over both areas." During the same period, the land was developed by Parks with New Deal support. First, in September 1935, Parks announced the opening of a playground with "two handball courts and the usual children's play facilities." In 1942, after the park had...
  • Midland Avenue Sewer Line - Syracuse NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo (pictured) is dated to 1938. It describes significant work on a Syracuse sewer line beneath Midland Avenue: "WPA workmen excavated 23 feet underground through the highly residential section of Midland Avenue to replace a sanitary sewer line that was in serious danger of collapse."
  • 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.
  • Midwood High School Mural - Brooklyn NY
    Abraham Joel Tobias completed the mural, entitled "Science," in 1942 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
  • Miller Field Airport Improvements (demolished) - Staten Island NY
    The WPA undertook several projects to improve Staten Island's Miller Field Airport, a then-U.S. Army facility, during the 1930s and early 1940s. One project called upon the WPA to: "Improve Miller Field Airport at New Dorp Lane ... by landscaping grounds; constructing and reconstructing buildings, roads, lighting, sewer, and drainage systems; and performing appurtenant work." Miller Field is now a park, part of the "Staten Island Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which is managed by the National Park Service." (Wikipedia)
  • Mills-Norrie State Park - Staatsburg NY
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop what is now Mills-Norrie State Park during the 1930s.
  • 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...
  • Mitchel Field Construction (demolished) - Hempstead NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Mitchel Field (later Mitchel Air Force Base), located in Hempstead, New York, during the 1930s and early 1940s. The WPA constructed the air base's runways as well as a hangar addition and other structures. The field, after being closed in 1961, was given to Nassau County for redevelopment. Nassau Community College, Mitchel County Park, and the Nassau Veterans Coliseum now lie on the former air base site.
  • Monhegan Brook Covering - Middletown NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook an extensive project in Middletown, New York to cover sections of Monhegan Brook with "attractive concrete culverts."
  • Monroe High Educational Campus Library Mural - Bronx NY
    A 2004 New York Times article by Seth Kugel describes a "...metallic-looking mural of four chiseled men working on an oil rig... affixed to the back wall of a dank, cluttered storage room under a school library in Soundview, the Bronx." Domenico Mortellito completed the mural in 1934 with funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Domenico Mortellito's daughter, Adria Mortellito Peterson, told the New York Times that the mural depicts "...the whole machine age, coming out of the Depression." Tom Porton, a teacher and coordinator of student activities on the campus where the mural is located, suspects that mural's industrial...
  • Montauk Point Lighthouse Improvements - Montauk NY
    This late 18th century lighthouse in Montauk Point State Park was repaired by the WPA in the 1930s.
  • Montcalm Street and Curbs - Glens Falls NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here shows a new cement road and curbs constructed by the WPA along Montcalm Street in Glens Falls, New York during the Great Depression.    
  • Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge - Seneca Falls NY
     In 1937 the Bureau of Biological Survey (from 1940, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) purchased 6,432 acres of the former Montezuma Marsh at the northern end of Cayuga Lake (one of the finger lakes of upstate New York).  In 1938, the Montezuma Migratory Bird Refuge was established by Executive Order 7971 to provide a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds on the Atlantic Flyway. The name was changed to the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in 1940.  Today, the refuge covered about 9,800 acres. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp to work on this wildlife refuge, as it...
  • Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School - Hudson NY
    Hudson, New York's Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School was constructed as the Chancellor Livingston High School during the Great Depression. It was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. 3993-R. "The new building contains special rooms for a shop, library, music, art, homemaking, science, and a cafeteria, as well as an adequate number of classrooms. It has a gymnasium and an auditorium. The construction is fire resistive, with brick exterior bearing walls and interior steel columns and steel joists. The exterior trim is limestone and the roof is covered with slate. The cornices, railings, and the cupola are...
  • Montrose Ave. Public Bath Improvements (demolished) - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths on 14 Montrose Ave. were constructed in 1903; the building has since been demolished. The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.
  • Morgan Avenue Yard and Pumping Station (demolished) 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 two no-longer-extant municipal sites located at Morgan Ave. and Maspeth Ave. in East Williamsburg: a (presumably) storage yard and a water pumping station.
  • 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...
  • Morningstar Road Overpass - Staten Island NY
    The overpass carrying Morningstar Road 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. This overpass was built in conjunction with a rebuilt (and since eliminated) Elm Park railway station. 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.
  • Morris Heights Station Post Office - Bronx NY
    The historic Morris Heights Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building is still in use today.
  • 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.
  • Morrisania Station Post Office - Bronx NY
    The Morrisania Station post office of the Bronx, New York (originally constructed as New York, New York's Station T post office in the Bronx) "is a historic post office building located at Morrisania in The Bronx, New York, United States. It was built in 1936, and designed by consulting architect William Dewey Foster for the Office of the Supervising Architect. The building is a two story, five bay wide brick building with a hipped roof and a one bay recessed wing in the Colonial Revival style. It features an arcade of five recessed brick round arches with limestone keystones." (Wikipedia) The...
  • Mosholu Golf Course Improvements - Bronx NY
    Mosholu Golf Course is in the southeast corner of Van Cortlandt Park is a public golf course built with 9 holes rather than 18. It specializes in children and teenagers. It opened in 1914. A New York City Parks Department press release from May 7, 1936 described New Deal improvements to the golf course: “Van Cortlandt and Mosholu in the Bronx ... have been reconditioned and remodeled to some extent. All this work has been done with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A.”
  • Mosholu Parkway - Bronx NY
    The Mosholu Parkway runs north-south through Van Cortlandt park, from Gun Hill Road to the Henry Hudson Parkway in the northern section of the park. The Parkway was constructed between 1936 and 1941 under the office of the Department of Parks. As researcher Frank da Cruz explains, "Later, in the 1950s, Moses also ran the Major Deegan Expressway through the park, so now the the park is effectively cut up into six pieces with very little access from one piece to the other."
  • Mosquito Control - Bridgehampton NY
    According to a local sources, "drainage ditches were dug by the Civilian Conservation Corps" in an effort to combat mosquitoes in northern Bridgehampton, New York (at what is sometimes known as the Mulvhill Preserve) during the Great Depression.
  • Mosquito Control - East Hampton NY
    According to a local sources the WPA dug ditches in an effort to combat mosquitoes throughout marshland in northeast East Hampton, New York (Springs, NY) during the Great Depression. "Accabonac, like nearly all salt marshes along the East Coast, has a series of grid-like ditches that are obviously manmade. Most of these ditches were hand-dug under the Works Projects Administration in the 1930s, under the pretense of dewatering the high marsh surface, thereby eliminating potential mosquito breeding habitat. project was largely ineffective in controlling mosquitoes and had several adverse ecological impacts on important marshland habitat."
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