New York Sites

The WPA allocated $56,003 (later reduced to $34,703.70) toward the filling of what was then a canal in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. The project entailed filling the canal between 135th and 138th Streets. The Mott Haven street names Canal Place and Canal Street West embody the now-historical facet of the neighborhood's past. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-432(?).

The Mott Haven Health Center was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. It opened in 1937. "The Mott Haven Health Center, second of eight centers to be opened by the city this Summer and Fall, will be dedicated on Tuesday. The building, at 349 East 140th Street, the Bronx, cost $209,978."

The historic Mott Haven Station post office in the Bronx on East 139th St. was one of several post offices in the borough constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. The post office was initially known as New York, New York's Station 'X' until its redesignation as Mott Haven Station on June 1, 1947. This project was implemented by the Public Works Administration, and the building's cornerstone dates an initial stage of construction to 1935. The building is still in service. C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown: This postal station is in the Bronx on East 139th Street and serves a territory bounded by the Harlem...

From the Livingston County New Deal Art Gallery website: "The Murray Hill site was visited by Eleanor Roosevelt and chosen for the Mount Morris Tuberculosis Sanatorium when FDR was Governor of New York... The sanatorium opened in 1936 and operated until 1971. The campus was turned over to Livingston county in 1973. Since that time our building and most of the buildings on the campus have been Livingston county offices. When the county acquired the sanatorium it also acquired its painting collection created during the New Deal. "After 1973 the works of art stayed on the walls in the Livingston county...

On May 26, 1939, the Department of Parks announced the official opening of the new Mount Prospect Park behind the Brooklyn Public Library: "At Mount Prospect Park, the exercises will start at 12:00 Noon and besides Commissioner Moses and the Mayor, Honorable Joseph Goodman, Commissioner of the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, and Honorable Raymond V. Ingersoll, President of the Borough of Brooklyn will speak. This area, formerly the site of the old Mount Prospect Reservoir and bordered by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science and the new Brooklyn Central Library, has been completely...

This building was constructed as Springville's municipal and fire hall building by the WPA in 1936-1937. It no longer appears to house the fire department, but continues to serve as a municipal building housing the police department, court and other offices.

The old Haverstraw Municipal Building, which now serves as a Fire Department facility, 25 Fairmount Ave., was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $39,000 loan and $31,909 grant for the project, whose total cost was $81,681. Construction occurred between Dec. 1936 and Aug. 1937. PWA Docket No. NY 1313

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 Brooklyn Municipal Building.

During the 1930s the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at Ogdensburg's municipal dock.

The WPA provided $119,002 in funds to "repair garage & buildings at 181st St. and Webster Ave." The property is still owned by New York City and the buildings (not the originals that the WPA worked on, which have presumably been demolished) today houses Fleet Services for the city's Department of Transportation. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-441.

www.amsterdammuni.com describes the development of Amsterdam, New York's Municipal Golf Course: The effort to create the Amsterdam Municipal Golf Course began on July 17, 1934 with the allocation of $3,500 by the Recreation Commission , City Council and Mayor Arthur Carter. In December 1934, Mayor Carter and the Common Council approved the purchase of approximately 182 acres of land. Construction was made possible through a $100,000 federal appropriation under the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). As many as 175 WPA employees worked on the project. The designer of the course was Robert Trent Jones, Sr., who went on to be a legend...

Circa 1933 to 1935, FERA and CWA workers (and possibly WPA workers) constructed this golf course. From the City of Schenectady website: The course opened in 1935. It was designed by A. F. Knight (the inventor of the "Schenectady Putter") and Jim Thompson, and largely funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Civil Works Administration (CWA), both predecessors of the well-known Works Progress Administration (WPA). Schenectady Municipal Golf Course stretches to 6600 yards (6000 m) and features fast, undulating greens and tight fairways blanketed within grasses and native vegetation. Schenectady Municipal Golf Course was ranked by Golf Digest...

The WPA undertook a "sidewalk, curb and gutter project" in parts of Blue Point as part of a $174,315 project begun in July 1937. The federal government supplied $123,340 while the Town of Brookhaven contributed $50,975 toward the project, which featured similar work performed in neighboring Patchogue.

The WPA allocated $50,522 toward a variety of municipal improvements in Huntington, N.Y. in 1938, namely: the "construction of sidewalks, curbs, gutters, retaining walls, gutters, roadways and the removal of trees."

One WPA project in 1936 was referenced in Sayville's Suffolk County News, in a story detailing stolen cement: "The material in question was for use on the storm sewers, curbs, and gutters now under construction in the vicinity of Oak street and Medford avenue, Patchogue." The WPA also undertook a "sidewalk, curb and gutter project" in parts of Patchogue as part of a $174,315 project begun in July 1937.

According to the Southold Town website, many "roads still in use in Southold Town were built by the WPA during ."

The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: "Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster Avenues, Park and Nostrand Avenues and Eastern Parkway Extension and Fulton Street." The history of this no-longer-extant park, the fifth of the six sites sited above, is detailed by New York City's Parks Department in a page describing the development of nearby Marcy Playground: "An unnamed park preceded this playground that honors Marcy. It was located a block further north, was one-third...

The Federal Writers' Project's guide to New York State states that the WPA constructed "a new village park" in Williamsville, New York by the name of Dream Island. The park "extends along Ellicott Creek." It is unclear exactly what land is encompassed by this project, though treed parkland extends along Ellicott Creek in Williamsville to this day.

According to Medford, New York's Mid-Island Mail, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in Stony Brook, New York, consisted of the construction of "9,000 lineal feet of sidewalk, 300 lineal feet of curb and gutter, 650 lineal feet of retaining wall and three catch basins ... on Erland road and Cedar street, Christian avenue and Main street" at a cost of $20,300.

A sanitary sewer construction project in Riverhead, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $64,517 grant; the total cost of the project was $146,887. Work occurred between February and October 1936. After the project was originally approved Sayville’s Suffolk County News mistakenly reported: "... the WPA has granted the village of Riverhead the sum of $66,191 as its contribution toward the building of a municipal sewer system," about 45% of the total cost of the project.

The caption on the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo above reads: "City of Binghamton's municipal shops. Started by TERA and completed by WPA September 2, 1936." TERA was a program created by Franklin D. Roosevelt prior to his presidency, when he was still Governor of New York (The Social Welfare History Project). More information is needed to determine the current status and location of this project.

According to Medford, New York's Mid-Island Mail, a WPA sidewalk project in Mastic, New York, "consists of 1,200 lineal feet of walk on the north side of Montauk highway, from Fulton avenue to Dana avenue; 1,620 lineal feet of walk on the south side of Montauk highway, from Herkimer street to Mastic road; 1,520 lineal feet of walk on the west side of Herkimer place, from Montauk highway to Mastic road, and along Mastic road to the Long Island railroad. "160 square yards of reinforced concrete pavement and 80 lineal feet of header curb at Herkimer street and Montauk highway" were...

The WPA contributed to an otherwise unspecified "sidewalk job" in Moriches, New York. The project was referenced in passing as part of an article in Medford, New York's Mid-Island Mail newspaper in 1935.

Medford, New York's Mid-Island Mail reported in 1940 that "work is progressing on the construction of the sidewalks along Johnson avenue, Ocean avenue and Erie street" in Ronkonkoma. The project was undertaken with WPA labor.

In July 1937 the WPA embarked on two large sidewalk projects within the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County. One project involved the construction of a "four-foot wide concrete sidewalk along the north side of" Middle Country Road, "from the Brookhaven-Smithtown line eastward to the east line of the Coram school district, a total of 8.06 miles." The project, which cost a total of $95,425, was sponsored by the Town of Brookhaven ($30,540) and the WPA ($64,885).

The WPA allotted $7,678 in Oct. 1935 for the construction of a storm sewer in East Hampton, NY.

Sayville's Suffolk County News reported in late 1935 that the WPA allotted $24,747.79 to the construction of storm sewers in Bay Shore, NY. The sewers were built on: Benjamin St.; North Park Ave.; Garfield Ave.; Center Ave.; John St.; West Ave.; Oak St.; Fourth Ave.; Burchell Ave.; and Railroad St.

Sayville's Suffolk County Times reported in Feb. 1937 that the WPA had begun work on four storm sewers in Blue Point, providing employment for 60 laborers. The locations of the sewers are as follows: 1. From the intersection of Middle Road and Arthur Avenue to the intersection of Woodland and Blue Point Avenues, by way of Arthur and Woodland; a distance of about 0.3 miles. 2. From Brook Street just south of Montauk Highway to the highway and west to Purgatory Creek; about 0.1 miles. 3. From the intersection of Namkee Road and Maple Street to Winthrop Court and east to Stillman Creek; about...

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 no-longer-extant municipal yard at DeKalb Ave. and Irving Ave.

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 municipal yard at 5th Ave. and 38th St. The site is now utilized by the MTA.

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...

The building housing FDNY Engine 274/Battalion 52 in Murray Hill, Flushing, was constructed in 1939 by the Work Projects Administration.

In Sept. 1941 the New York Times described a playground being constructed by the WPA in Queens at "Forty-Fifth Avenue and Twenty-first Street." This site, Murray Playground, is still in use today. New York City's Parks Department writes: "The City of New York acquired the land that constitutes Murray Playground in four parts by purchase and condemnation between 1941 and 1945. The park stretches from 11th to 21st Street, and is bounded by 45th Avenue and 45th Road." A 1942 Department of Parks press release announcing the park's opening describes the work done by the WPA: "A wide mall, lined with benches and...

In 1936, with funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Vera Achen painted the background to an exhibit for the "Seneca Collection" at the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences (now the Rochester Museum and Science Center, RMSC). Most of the works produced for the project are still held at the museum's collections. More information is needed, however, to establish the status and exact location of Vera Achen's painting today. The WPA photograph caption states that the exhibit for which Achen painted the background, was intended to depict "a Seneca Indian village group" (WPA). From 1935 to 1941, the Rochester Museum of Arts and...

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."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed additions to the drill hall at the Naval Militia Armory in Whitestone, New York. "The only active, federally-recognized Naval Militia with continuous, unbroken service to the Country and State for more than a century and a history stretching back to the Revolution, housed in the former club house of the Whitestone Yacht Club." "The New York Naval Militia's heritage spans over two centuries, dating back to the American Revolution. The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought on Lake Champlain in 1776 by New York Militiamen manning the ships of a small American squadron."

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) undertook several road improvement projects along roads in Brooklyn, New York. One such project involved the widening of Navy Street in the area between Fort Greene and downtown Brooklyn from Park Ave. to DeKalb Ave. (Presently, the stretch of this road widened north of Myrtle Avenue is Navy Street while the southern portion is known as Ashland Place.)

"While a supervisor, Louis Schanker did several murals for the WPA. A series of 11 murals was done for the TB wards’ dining room at the Neponsit Beach Children’s Hospital in Rockaway Queens. The official pictures, taken for the WPA, are available on line from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. Some show him working on the murals while others must have been taken at the dedication ceremonies because he is shown wearing uncharacteristically formal attire. In the late 1970’s Schanker checked with the Hospital to see if the murals were still there. The Hospital had been converted into...

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 no-longer-extant water pumping station located at Neptune Ave. and West 27th Street. The station was replaced by a PWA-sponsored project located a few hundred feet east.

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 several stretches in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island: The stretch of Beach Avenue between the Staten Island Railway and 10th Street 9th Street between Beach Ave. and New Dorp Lane 10th Street between Beach Ave. and New Dorp Lane Clawson Street between Lincoln Ave. and New Dorp Lane South Railroad Avenue between Jacques Ave. and Lincoln Ave. North...