New York Sites

On May 7, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of the Silver Lake Golf Course, which had been "thoroughly reconstructed with new tees and greens throughout...with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A."

The overpass carrying Simonson Avenue over what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway) was constructed during the mid-1930s, in conjunction with the lowering of the railroad right-of-way, as one link in a massive grade crossing removal project. 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.

"Originally acquired by the City in 1934 in connection with the construction of a subway, this site was owned by the Board of Transportation until it was assigned to Parks in 1961. In 1935, workers in the brand-new Works Progress Administration (WPA) planned and constructed Sixteen Sycamores Playground... Sixteen Sycamores Playground opened to the public on June 6, 1935. The playground, bursting with green foliage around its perimeter, offers several sets of play equipment with safety surfacing, handball courts, swings, and a comfort station. A yardarm flagpole stands in the center of the playground, and benches offer a peaceful spot to...

The Department of Health medical center at 8658 16th Ave. in Brooklyn was constructed with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. This was one of three infant health stations in Brooklyn dedicated by Mayor La Guardia on May 10, 1939. The buildings cost about $50,000 each, with the WPA paying 60% and the city paying 40% of the costs. Google Street View imagery of the site suggests that the building is presently vacant.

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Staten Island project that removed dangerous street ditches from roads throughout the borough. Granite block gutters and headers were installed by WPA laborers along a dozen streets, including the 1.2-mile stretch of Slosson Avenue between Martling Avenue and Victory Boulevard.

Smith Street was widened in the 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

In November 1935 the WPA approved the provision of labor for the construction of curbs and gutters, as well for as a sidewalk, along Smithtown Avenue in Bohemia, NY.

The Andrew Weston Company of Woodmere, NY won a PWA contract for $30,222.10 to pave 6,000 feet of Smithtown Blvd. near Lake Ronkonkoma.

The WPA approved $52,727 in 1935 for the purposes of constructing an addition to Smithtown's Town Hall. The building is still in use today.

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 old Snyder Avenue Court Building at 27-to-31 Snyder Ave. Living New Deal believes the building is no longer extant.

In December of 1934, residents of Somers voted to centralize the schools. Before the centralization of the school district, Somers was home to several one room school houses. Somers Central School was completed in 1937 as project of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Lewis E. Jallade, a resident of Somers, was the architect that designed the gold-domed cupola atop the school. In 1938, grades 1-9 began to attend the new central school. Each year following, a new grade was added to the school, until the first class of Somers Central School graduated in 1942. Since then, the school...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) undertook several road improvement projects along roads in Brooklyn, New York. One such project involved the widening of South 5th Street from Marcy Ave. to Union Ave. This project likely improved the flow of vehicular traffic entering Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge.

Follows is a description of part of a massive Public Works Administration (PWA) grade crossing elimination project, undertaken on the South Beach Branch (a.k.a. "East Shore" branch) of the Staten Island Railway. Most of the structures created are no longer extant. "From 1934-1937 SIRT embarked on an ambitious grade crossing elimination project, part of which involved the East Shore subdivision in 1934/5 from St. George to Wentworth Avenue. The tracks were raised above grade between Stapleton and Clifton. Grade crossings were taken out along the South Beach line by sinking the streets, raising the rails or a combination of both. Some residential...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved South First Street in Fulton, New York, from Nestle Ave. north for 2,600 feet. The majority of the cost of the municipal improvement was borne by the federal government.

What is now the southbound span of the South Grand Island Bridge (as well as the northbound span of the North Grand Island Bridge) was constructed as a New Deal project in 1933-5, funded by a Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) loan. "The Swartz bill, drafted by Commissioner Robert Moses, state representative of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, passed the Legislature in 1933. This measure paved the way for the $2,880,000 loan from the R. F. C. Robert Moses became an enthusiastic supporter of the bridge. Former Governor Alfred E. Smith gave his active support to the project, as did Speaker Joseph A. McGinnus....

"The South Junior High School at Newburgh is one of 2 schools which comprised this project. It is on the highest point of a 12-acre site and commands a superb view of the Highlands of the Hudson. It serves 19 percent of the area of the city and 39 percent of its population. The building is 2 stories in height with a small third story devoted to a band practice room, a choral room, and a room for public speaking. On the first floor is an auditorium seating 500, a gymnasium, 6 classrooms, rooms for special subjects, a lunch room,...

On July 28, 1937, the Department of Parks 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 the South Pacific Playground. It is still extant. Although the 1937 press release does not mention which New Deal agencies were involved, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks...

South Park and the nearby Cazenovia Park in Buffalo were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century. The caption to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here lists this water tank as one of five water tanks built by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in South Park during the Great Depression. It notes that while the PWA built the water tank structure, the WPA laid the foundations for the steel work "...and put in water lines." More information is needed to determine the present status and exact location of this water tank.

The South Seneca Central School building in Ovid, New York was constructed in 1937-8 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $157,500 grant for the project, whose total cost was $358,496. PWA Docket No. NY 1503

Originally constructed as the Interlaken Central School, what is now the South Seneca Elementary School in Interlaken, New York was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The Ithaca Journal: "On June 8, 1934, Interlaken, Ovid, Covert and Lodi created a central school district. In a year and a half, district pupils occupied new building, at Interlaken, built with PWA funds. And Friday night , residents of the district formally dedicated the new building." The cornerstone was laid on May 6, 1935.

In 1938 Carl E. Noble completed six oil-on-canvas murals depicting the history of firefighting for the Hempstead Volunteer Fire Department’s Southside Hose Co. No. 2. The murals wrap around the company's second-floor meeting room. Noble painted the murals for the Hempstead Fire Department under the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The titles of the six murals are: Pioneer Fire Fighting, Old Time Fire Gong, First Hempstead Hose Cart, Hempstead Riding Academy Fire, and Modern Fire Fighting Equipment (2 murals). The murals, while not generally accessible to the public, are still intact. The Long Island Historical Journal recounts...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted modest improvement work at Ballston Spa's old South Street School. Work included full interior painting and was completed in January 1937.

On June 18, 1941, the Department of Parks announced the completion a large recreation area stretching from 114th to 121st Streets along the Southern Parkway (part of the Belt Parkway): "At the 114th to 121st location the construction of five softball diamonds, chain link fence enclosures, grading and seeding is completed. Separating the two ballfields opposite 114th Place and again, the two opposite 116th Street, sets of three-tier concrete bleachers have been constructed in a double or back-to-back arrangement, so that each of the four ballfields is provided with spectator accommodations. The diamonds all have hooded backstops. An irrigation system has...

Originally known as Southside House, Ithaca, New York's Southside Community Center was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration during the 1930s. The WPA reported in 1940: "For many years the only community center was a ramshackle building. This has been replaced with a modern stone and brick structure which serves as a meeting place for the Girl and Boy Scout troops, Cultural Congress (minors), two women's clubs, a home bureau unit, Parent-Teachers Association, Christmas club, which distributes clothing and baskets at Christmastime; Men's forum and other organizations. The center is a fitting contribution by WPA to one of the...

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." The New...

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to construct and improve public park lands along Spring Avenue in southeast Troy, New York, during the Great Depression. The Troy Times wrote: "Work was started today on the CWA project for the beautification of Barker Parkway, which includes strips of land along Spring Avenue. Approximately 40 workers will be engaged at first in grading and filling in the land and later three residences on the property will be removed and the property landscaped and improved. The land was acquired by the late Mrs. Stephen Barker and deeded to the city in 1919 for the purpose of...

The federal Work Projects Administration undertook a large road repair project starting in 1935 in the borough of Queens. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were repaired; particular emphasis was placed on fixing washout-damaged stretches of road. Holes were filled in and the streets were smoothed, surfaced and reconditioned. Roads improved as part of this project (WPA Official Project No. 65-97-9) included large stretches of Springfield Boulevard.

Springfield Park was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and were "turned over to the Park Department" on August 18, 1939. "A three-acre lake, once a mosquito-breeding swamp, is the center of the Springfield Gardens development," wrote The New York Times, "which embraces seventeen and one-half acres and includes an athletic field, a football gridiron, two basketball courts, two softball diamonds and more than 100 shade trees."

The land for St. Albans Memorial Park in Queens was first acquired by Parks in 1914 and received its current name in 1932. A Department of Parks press release announced the opening of a new playground in St. Albans Park on July 17, 1934. At that time, the playground contained "facilities for softball and basketball, besides see-saws, swings, horizontal bars and ladders. Here too, benches and shade trees are part of the layout." Although the release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects...

In June 1941, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the reconstruction of the St. Catherine's Park playground in Manhattan: "This 1 1/3 acre recreation area is fenced in with a 6' chain link fence and bordered with rows of benches and shade trees. The easterly half of the area has been set aside for children and besides a large wading pool which can also be used as a volley ball court, it contains a sand pit, see saws, slides, swings, and a small sitting area for guardians of children. The westerly portion adjacent to the High School has two soft...

"St. James Park was created by the City about 1900 and named after a nearby church. According to a NYC Parks Department press of June 3, 1935: This park is eleven and one half acres in area and was completely replanned and reconstructed during the past four months. A Central Mall, with wide bench line paths facing a centre turf panel, bisects the area taking the place of the former dusty extension of 132nd Street. South of the Mall is a large open lawn encircled by a promenade for park visitors. The northern section is devoted principally to recreation activities. Twelve...

"St. Mary's Park, the largest park in the southeast Bronx, bounded by East 149th Street, St. Ann's Avenue, St. Mary's Street, and Jackson Avenue, June 22, 2015. This park was totally reconstructed by the WPA at the same time as Crotona Park, and reopened in October 1941. The Parks Department press release of October 13, 1941, says: St. Mary's Park consisting in large part of steep and rocky terrain had fallen into a state of shabbiness and disrepair owing to hard usage, outmoded design and erosion due to failure of old drainage systems. The large size of the area made it...

St. Mary's Playground in stretches along Smith St. between Huntington St. and Nelson St., and Nelson St. and Luquer St. in Brooklyn. It sits at the border of three neighborhoods: Gowanus, Red Hook and Carroll Gardens. The NYC Parks site explains the origin of the playground: "The two parcels of land for this park were acquired by the New York Department of Transportation in 1934 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (1882-1945) Works Progress Administration’s urban revitalization initiative. Originally they were to be utilized for the new Gowanus Expressway (1941), but many in the community thought the land straddling...

The federal Work Projects Administration undertook a large road repair project starting in 1935 in the borough of Queens. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were repaired; particular emphasis was placed on fixing washout-damaged stretches of road. Holes were filled in and the streets were smoothed, surfaced and reconditioned. Roads improved as part of this project (WPA Official Project No. 65-97-9) included the stretch of 64th Road between Dry Harbor Rd. and 82nd Pl.

In late 1936, the Department of Parks announced the completion of a major reconstruction of what was then known as St. Gabriel's Park. Today's NYC Parks site further describes this work: "The park was reconstructed in 1936, and a playground, wading pool, roller skating track, and courts for handball, shuffleboard, and horseshoe pitching were added, as well as a field house and comfort station. In 1938, shortly after the park was renovated, part of the land was surrendered to the Board of Estimate. This was part of an agreement with the New York City Tunnel Authority to make way for an approach...

In the 1930s Works Progress Administration laborers undertook a sewer construction project on Stanley Avenue in the Jamaica Bay section of Brooklyn. Pictured here are WPA crews at work on the sewer project at the intersection of Stanley and New Jersey Avenues (WPA - Five Boroughs Project).

The Stapleton railway station was rebuilt as a concrete structure during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along the Staten Island Railway. 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 Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to develop an athletic field at the old New York State Agricultural School in Canton, New York. The student body helped to spearhead the project by obtaining funds for the cost of materials. The institution now partly comprises SUNY Canton.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at Ogdensburg's historic State Armory building.

The WPA approved $24,423 for improvements to the State Game Farm in Ridge.  WPA labor constructed brooder houses at the site between 1935 and 1936. Current status unknown.