New York Sites

"From the New York City Parks Department press release of March 14, 1941, announcing the "completion of reconstruction at Owen F. Dolen Park": ...two half-acre plots, separated by Benson Street, serve chiefly as pedestrian connections and sitting areas with open central grass areas bounded by four foot wrought iron fences and trees. Continuous benches line the interior walks and boundary sidewalks, providing adequate seating accommodations for this densely populated section. The existing walks of cinders, bluestone and macadam have been widened and rebuilt of concrete. Street trees have been planted along all curbs except adjacent to the West Chester Avenue elevated...

A March 27, 1936 Department of Parks press release announced the opening of this new WPA playground: "The Department of Parks will open ten new playgrounds Saturday, March 28, making a total of 125 added to the recreational system in two years. …at Owl's Head Park there will be a wading pool, an area for group games, four slides, six kindergarten slides, kindergarten swings, large swings, see-saws, a jungle gym and a baby jungle gym… All of these playgrounds were constructed as Works Progress Administration projects." Today, the NYC Parks website declares that "Owl's Head Park is now one of the premier parks in...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the construction of Public School 107 in the Bronx, in 1935. Funding for this school was part of a larger PWA grant ($117,641) allotted for the building of 64 projects in all five boroughs of New York City.

The New York Times reported that WPA laborers had begun work in late 1941 on a playground on the "eastern half of the block bounded by Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, East 108th Street and East 109th Street." The playground was built for a new school to be built adjacent to it the following year.

The Brooklyn school now known as the Philip J Abinanti School opened in 1937. Construction was sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).

Located in East Elmhurst, Public School (P.S.) 127 serves students from pre-kindergarten through grade 8. The PWA allocated $109,232 in grant money to the construction of the building, which was completed February 1937.

P.S. 136 in Cambria Heights was constructed in the late 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

P.S. 139 in Upper Manhattan, New York, received an addition in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $209,250 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $402,059. The former school now houses a senior citizens center operated by the New York City Housing Authority. PWA Docket No. NY 1715

The Queens school now known as the Henry Gradstein Elementary School was built during the 1930s. Construction was sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).

The P.S. 149 school building in Jackson Heights was constructed between 1934 and 1936 as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. "Modern construction in Public School 149, Queens, includes windows running to the ceiling to admit the maximum of light and air, gymnasiums and auditoriums ... Throughout the State and throughout the nation, men have been busy for months building this equipment. In the mines and forests of the West, workmen were recalled to their jobs to produce ore, stone and lumber. Then in the mills and factories of the Middle West more men were busied turning these into steel, cement...

P.S. 15, now called the Jackie Robinson School, in St. Albans, New York, was constructed in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $256,500 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $430,448. PWA Docket No. NY 1711

Daniel Celentano completed this oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Children in Creative & Cultural Activities," in 1940 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It is currently located in the auditorium of P.S. 150 in Queens.

P.S. 159 in Brooklyn, New York, received an addition in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $94,500 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $179,930. PWA Docket No. NY 1724

Public School (P.S.) 162 in Flushing, Queens, was built with a grant from the PWA totaling $107,470.  The building was completed June 1937 and extended during the 1950s.

The school auditorium contains a set of murals by Sacha Moldovan entitled "New York Old and New," painted under the auspices of the WPA. "Drawing inspiration from historic images of New York as well as 1930s views of the city, Sacha Moldovan created a fanciful panorama of New York City, old and new, blending recognizable landmarks with a naïve sensibility. Moldovan was born in Russia but lived and worked in Paris, where he came of age artistically as a member of the School of  Paris, befriending Henri Matisse and Chaim Soutine. Moldovan’s paintings feature thick applications of brilliant color, heavy outlines, and...

The Queens school now known as the Henry Gradstein Elementary School was built during the 1930s. Construction was sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).

P.S. 194, located on W 144th Street in upper Manhattan, New York, was completed in 1940 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant of $474,300, 45% of the estimated project cost.

The original part of the current P.S. 2 school building on 21st Avenue in East Elmhurst, Queens, was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The building bears a 1935 cornerstone, and a plaque cites the construction dates as 1935-6. Funding for the school was part of a larger PWA grant allotted for the building of three schools and a hospital wing in Queens and the Bronx. PWA Docket No. NY 7582.

P.S. 213, on Hegeman Ave. between Vermont St. and New Jersey Ave., was constructed in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $256,725 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $440,538. PWA Docket No. NY 1446

In 1939, Herman Simms completed a mural for the entranceway of P.S. 216 in Brooklyn with funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The mural is entitled "Children in Vocational Activities and Children in Directed and Undirected Play." The New York Times explains that "...Herman Simms, a 29-year-old artist kept off the bread lines by the Works Progress Administration, painted a mural in the entranceway of Public School 216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn....It took him eight months. He was paid $20 a week." It describes the mural thus: "One piece of the mural dealt with classroom activities -- music instruction, home economics and...

P.S. 221, located on Empire Boulevard in Brooklyn, New York, was completed in 1940 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant of $431,100, 45% of the estimated project cost.

An addition to the P.S. 225 school building in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

P.S. 247 in Brooklyn was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

The original P.S. 48 school building, at the eastern corner of 108th Ave. and 155th St. was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The building bears a 1935 cornerstone.

The former P.S. 60 south of 163rd St. in the Bronx received an addition constructed in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $191,250 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $339,052. PWA Docket No. NY 1450

Ozone Park, New York's Public School 64 (P.S. 64), now the Joseph P. Addabbo school, was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration. The school is located north of 101st Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Streets. The WPA described the project in 1940: "Completed in March, 1940. Replaces an antiquated building of a capacity inadequate to the increased population of the district. Twenty-two class rooms, with a normal seating capacity of 905 pupils, include completely equipped science room, a woodworking shop and cooking room. The cost was $595,438, of which the city's contribution was $309,600." The school has since been enlarged.

The P.S. 80 school in the Bronx was built in 1935-36 as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The plans for the school were approved by the Board of Education in 1935.

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." Paerdegat Park is the fourth site described. New York City's Parks Department website writes: "The land for Paerdegat Park was acquired by purchase and condemnation in 1941 and became a park that same year." Construction on the park was completed in January 1943. A press release announcing the opening...

This photo shows WPA Federal Art Project artists giving members of the Paragon Boys' Club a lessons in mural painting.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted park development work in Schroon Lake, New York. The exact location of the park within the town is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Park Avenue Observatory was built in 1934. Park Avenue was built in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps along the base of Mt. William as a scenic route into the city of Port Jervis and to provide employment to the people in Port Jervis. The observatory was built along the road the following year.

These WPA photos show WPA crews constructing a "vehicular tunnel" along Park Avenue, from 40th to 42st Streets. Current status of the project unknown to the Living New Deal.

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 Parkville Ave. from McDonald Ave. to 47th St.

The historic Parkville Station post office in Brooklyn, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1937. The building is still in use today.

According to the NYC Parks website: "The site of this ballfield was acquired by the City of New York for the construction of the Independent Subway whose line curves from the Avenue of the Americas to West Houston Street. In May 1934 the Board of Transportation granted the Department of Parks a permit to develop for playground purposes four parcels on West Houston Street. The park at the northeast corner of West Houston Street and the Avenue of the Americas was one of thirty-eight new playgrounds added to the Park system in the first four months of Robert Moses’s twenty-six...

The Brooklyn school now known as Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology (originally P.S. 191) received an addition during the 1930s sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).

What was then Peekskill High School received murals in 1934 painted under the auspices of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in 1934. Created by B. Janes Thornley (a.k.a. James Thornley), the work "Technology Advancement" and its companion pieces "History Procession from Egypt to Modern Times," decorated the Ringgold Street building that was Peekskill High School from 1930 to 1972 and Peekskill Middle School from 1972 to 2008. That building "was demolished to make way for the new middle school, which opened in 2009," and the mural has since been restored and placed in what is now Peekskill Middle School. Patch: "The mural was...

The New York City Parks Department website declares: "Despite the hardships endured by New Yorkers over the course of the World Wars and the Great Depression, the demand for golf courses increased steadily. Under the tenure of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981), New York City’s recreational facilities saw great changes. With federal funding provided by the Works Progress Administration, Moses created a variety of new public facilities and expanded others throughout the city. In 1936, the Pell Golf Course was refurbished, and renamed the Pelham Golf Course. That same year, the adjacent Split Rock Golf Course and clubhouse were built." Nonetheless, a Parks...

Pelham Bay Park, the largest in the city of New York (three times the size of Central Park), sits on Pelham Bay in the northeast corner of The Bronx. It was established in 1888, when The Bronx was still separate from New York City. The park was greatly improved by Robert Moses and the NY City Parks Department, with the help of federal New Deal funds and workers from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). On November 10, 1941, the New York City Department of Parks announced the completion of the massive overhaul of the 60-acre Isaac L. Rice Memorial...

The Pelham Parkway bicycle path east of White Plains Road. "The Parks Department website says "Bicycling was an integral part of the New Deal work relief projects of the 1930s and 1940s. The Moses administration planned bicycle paths using WPA funds along the Harlem River Speedway, in Hillside Park in Queens, along the center strip of Pelham Parkway in the Bronx"."   (https://kermitproject.org)