New York Sites

In November 1935 the WPA approved the provision of labor for the construction of curbs and gutters along Bayport Avenue in Bayport, NY.

Bayside High School was constructed as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. The P.W.A. allocated $2,067,274 for the construction of the facility: $1,480,000 as a loan and $587,274 as a grant. The building bears a 1935 cornerstone and was completed December 1936. The PWA docket number for this project was NY-2735.

The federal Works Progress Administration worked to conduct repairs and alterations to several civic facilities in Queens as part of a $300,464 project begun in 1935. Facilities improved included the Bayside Pumping Station, located roughly at Northern Blvd. and the creek in Alley Pond Park that leads to Little Neck Bay. The original pumping station has been replaced and no longer stands.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a 1,345-foot-long sewer line along Beach 87th Street in Far Rockaway, New York, from a road then known as Bruce Place to Jamaica Bay. Work began in May 1939.

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 penetrated macadam. Roads improved included two stretches of Beach Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx: (a) between "Bronx River Avenue" and 'Sound View' Avenue; and (b) between 'Sound View' and Watson Avenues.

A 1938 Works Progress Administration bridge on Beach Lane in Westhampton Beach was torn down and replaced in 1993. However, the old double-leaf bascule bridge's Art Deco "command center" tower at the bridge's northeast corner, and a similar secondary structure at the southwest corner, are still extant.

“Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Orange and Rockland counties of New York… In the 1930s the federal government under Franklin D. Roosevelt was developing plans to preserve the environment as part of the Depression-era public works programs; the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration, spent five years on projects at the park. Pump houses, reservoirs, sewer systems, vacation lodges, bathrooms, homes for park staff, storage buildings and an administration building were all created through these programs.”   (wikipedia) In addition, a report of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration from 1933 records...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed the Historical Museum at the Trailside Museums and Zoo, Bear Mountain State Park, Bear Mountain, NY. The Trailside Museums and Zoo, built during the years 1932-35, expanded an earlier Trailside Museum in the park that dated to the 1920s. The naturalistic style of the building, which ties the structure to the landscape around the building, recalls the "Park Service Rustic" design of Herbert Maier, who designed a building for the Trailside Museums completed in 1927. Maier went on to work in both Grand Canyon and Yellowstone national parks.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Peru, New York in 1936, including "Bear Swamp road beginning at Turner Hill and running east to Valcour at station."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to clear the land for / develop the then-new Beaver Island State Park.

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) undertook several road improvement projects along roads in Brooklyn, New York. One such project involved the widening of the 0.9-mile stretch of Bedford Avenue from Willoughby St. to Fulton St.

NYC Subway Station on the IND Concourse Line. Part of the IND Subway Line construction in the 1930s, built with the aid of PWA funds along with other IND stations of the time.

This striking stone building was constructed by the WPA in 1940-42. As one local history site explains: "On August 2, 1940 the Town Board offered a resolution which was unanimously carried to hold a special election at the Sylvan Grange Hall in Beekmanville on the 24th of August. The resolution was to erected and construct on its lot in Poughquag a Town Hall and building for town purposes at an expense not to exceed $ 23,000 of which  $8,000 is to be contributed by the Town of Beekman and the Balance by the W.P.A. The town would issue a $1,000 bond...

"On August 2,1940 the Town Board offered a resolution which was unanimously carried to hold a special election at the Sylvan Grange Hall in Beekmanville on the 24th of August. The resolution was to erected and construct on its lot in Poughquag a Town Hall and building for town purposes at an expense not to exceed $23,000 of which $8,000 is to be contributed by the Town of Beekman and the Balance by the W.P.A. The town would issue a $1,000 bond each year for eight years to pay the $8,000. The election of the 24th resulted in 160 voters...

The Belair Road railway station was rebuilt as a concrete structure 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 station "at Vermont Avenue, between Belair Road & St. Johns Avenue." Long since abandoned (as the line was discontinued in 1953), the structure has since been demolished. 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.

The approximately $5 million Bellevue Hospital was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. The present status of the New Deal structures within hospital complex, which has been extensively renovated, is unknown to Living New Deal.

In the late 1930s Emilio Amero completed work on the mural entitled  “Tropical and Hudson Valley Vegetation,” for the entrance lobby in the new Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the new building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. It so happens, that the new building for which Emilio Amero painted the mural was also a New Deal project. The building was constructed with the support of the  federal Public Works Administration (PWA). Emilio Amero was a Mexican printmaker and painter who spent much of...

In 1936 Luis Arenal and his assistant completed work on the mural entitled  "North American Tropical Vegetation," for the First Lobby Stairway of the new Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the new building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. It so happens, that the new building for which Luis Arenal painted the mural was also a New Deal project. The building was constructed with the support the  federal Public Works Administration (PWA). Luis Arenal was a painter and sculptor born in Mexico in...

In the late 1930s Lily Furedi painted the mural entitled "Simple Way of Life" for the women’s large occupational therapy room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital, It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. According to Wikipedia, Lily Furedi began her work as a New Deal artists with the the Public Works of Art Project. When the program ended in 1934, Furedi joined the Federal Art Project under which completed the mural for Bellevue Hospital. The Federal Art Project Photographic Division lists...

In the late 1930s, Axel Horn and an assistant, George Brodsky, who was a veteran of the Lincoln Battalion, completed work on the mural entitled “Industrial Landscape” for the first floor waiting room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Horn and Brodsky were two out of more than a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA/FAP) to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. Susan Teller Gallery explains that "rom 1936 to 1940 Horn worked on the Federal Arts Project. He made murals for the Seaview and Bellevue...

In 1936 and 1937 William Karp painted a mural entitled "Normal Pursuits of Man" for the occupational therapy exhibition room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the psychiatric building at Bellevue Hospital with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. With funding from the W.P.A., Karp also produced the mural entitled "Armed with Learning and Reality, Looking from the Past to the Future" in 1938, for the Hebrew Orphans Asylum, NYC. We know that one of the murals at Bellevue hospital entitled "Materials for Relaxation" by...

In the early 1940s Nunzio laSpina completed work on a mural decoration for the ceiling in the lobby of the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. LaSpina was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP) arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to paint murals for the new psychiatric building at Bellevue Hospital. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of this mural.

In the late 1930s Ryah Ludins painted the mural entitled “Recreational Grounds of New York City” for the men’s recreation room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. We know that one of the murals at Bellevue hospital entitled “Materials for Relaxation” by David Margolis has been restored. However, The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of the other WPA murals painted for Bellevue Hospital. Ryah Ludins first became interested...

"Materials of Relaxation," by David Margolis was one of over a dozen murals that the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration commissioned for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital in the mid and late 1930s. "Materials of Relaxation" is a nine-panel mural located inside the 1st Avenue entrance of the old Bellevue Hospital building. Margolis painted the mural between 1937 and 1941. The New Deal Art Registry lists Richard Lillis and Vincient LaGambino as assistants for the mural project. However, Terenchin Gallery in Hudson, New York lists artist Morris Shulman as a fresco assistant for the project. The panels...

In 1937 Walter Quirt completed work on the mural entitled The Growth of Medicine from Primitive Times for the doctor’s lounge room of the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Quirt was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP) arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to paint murals for the new psychiatric building at Bellevue Hospital. John Dorfman of the online journal "Art and Antiques" pronounces Quirt's mural for Bellevue hospital to be his "...greatest achievement for the WPA..."  Dorfman explains that it "...was a panoramic mural...which combined Surrealism and history painting on a grand scale." Quirt painted...

In 1936 Phil Reisman was one of over twelve artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. With funding provided by the Federal Art Project, Reisman completed work on the mural entitled "Interdependence of Industry and Agriculture" for the men's therapy room in the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital in the late 1930s. In an article about Reisman's prints for the Charles Marvin Fairchild Memorial Gallery, George D. Bianco writes that "he mural , painted in egg tempera, depicted various American industrial scenes...

In the late 1930s, Louis Ross completed work on the mural entitled "Cyclorama of Handicrafts" for the classroom in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Ross was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA/FAP) to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of the "Cyclorama of Handicrafts" mural that Louis Ross painted for Bellevue Hospital.

In the mid 1930s, Agnes Tait completed work on the mural entitled "Summer Holiday" for the women’s recreation room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Tait was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA/FAP) to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. We learn from the brief survey of Tait's career on her webpage that she "...produced some of her best-known works during the Depression era including the frequently reproduced painting Skating in Central Park, a set of murals for Belleview Hospital in New York,...

WPA laborers worked to grade slopes and construct a bypass road near the carpenter shop in Belmont Lake State Park in Babylon.

Parks first constructed a playground at the intersection of 182nd St. and Belmont Ave. in 1937. A press release from July of that year announced the opening of "five playgrounds, constructed by the Department of Parks with relief labor and funds," noting that "These playgrounds are five of the twenty-four sites in neglected areas selected by the Commissioner of Parks and acquired by condemnation after authorization by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment on July 15, 1936." One of these five playgrounds was located on part of what is now Belmont Playground. Today's Parks website explains that at its opening in...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers worked to improve Belmont Road in Babylon. The project was completed Aug. 1938.

Originally called the "Circumferential Parkway, "this roughly 25 mile stretch of highways forms a "belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens." What is now known officially as the "Belt Parkway" is comprised of three other parkways: the Shore Parkway, the Southern Parkway and the Cross Island Parkway (formerly the Laurelton Parkway). (wikipedia) Plans for the parkway were originally raised by Robert Moses in 1930, but construction did not begin in 1934. It was completed in 1941. In addition to $16,000,000 in city appropriations, the PWA provided another $12,000,000 in federal funds for the construction of the parkway.

In 1940, as the construction of the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn was nearing completion, two pedestrian overpasses were constructed leading from Shore Rd. over the Parkway to the waterfront promenade. The pedestrian bridges, located at 92nd St. and 81st St. are still in use. An August 1940 press release from the Department of Parks described the work: "The approaches consist of steps, walks and ramps. The overpass opposite 92 Street has four spans over the parkway and two spans of stepped ramps parallel to the parkway leading to the wide promenade at the water's edge... The overpass at Old Glory Overlook, approximately...

This simple wooden building was constructed by the WPA in 1936-37. As the town's website explained: "Until the 1930's, town meetings were probably held in the schoolhouse at Bennington Center. In 1936, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, the Works Progress Administration, known as W.P.A., provided jobs in building projects for a long-range value. The Town of Bennington had their town hall built. The federal government furnished the cost of labor for the building. The building is still used for the Town meetings. Several other organizations also use it."

The bulk of present day Bensonhurst Park was first established in 1895. Two further parcels were added later. In 1942, the WPA completed major work on the park: "The Department of Parks announces the completion of work in connection with the reconstruction of Bensonhurst Park and the addition of a new playground, baseball fields and other recreation facilities… The old park area has been increased in size. Fifteen acres were added at the time that the Belt Parkway was constructed. This was done by pumping sand beyond the seawall which was erected at the outshore end of the property… The two previously undeveloped...

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 stretch of Bergen Avenue between Ralph Ave. and what was then known as Island Avenue (location and current name unknown to Living New Deal).

Berry Playground is a pocket park tucked along a side street in Brooklyn, which was constructed in 1937 by the city Parks Department with the help of the New Deal, most likely Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. The site had recently been acquired "...for $18,000 from the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital in 1936. It immediately came under the jurisdiction of Parks..." (NYC Parks) A new playground opened on the site on November 13, 1937, as explained in the Parks Department Press Release at the time: "...the new playground is for small children and has swings, see-saws, slides, playhouses, sand tables, a play...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo caption for the work pictured here describes it as "putting in sub-base and curb" for Lee, Barry, and Waite Streets for the City of Norwich in Chenango County, New York. The is the view from Lee street. The photo is dated to 1938.  

Bethpage State Park is a 1,476-acre New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. It is best known for its five golf courses, including the Bethpage Black Course. "The park’s clubhouse and four of its five courses, including the legendary Black course, were either built or improved with federal relief funds and labor."   (https://www.nytimes.com) "In the early 1930s, the Bethpage Park Authority purchased the Lenox Hills Country Club and other adjacent properties to build what we now know as Bethpage State Park. * All of the work on these four courses (Black, Red, Blue and...

Five years after the WPA built a new pool and bathhouse in Betsy Head Park, the Parks Department announced the completion of the rehabilitation of the south section of the rest of the park, bounded by Livonia and Dumont Avenues, Strauss Street and Hopkinson Avenue: "The remainder of the plot, to the west of the pool has been entirely reconstructed to meet the needs of a district well supplied with children and young people and under-privileged in the matter of play areas. The new plan, designed by the Department of Parks, called for the reconstruction of the baseball diamond, football field...