New York Sites

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Irvington, New York's town hall during the 1930s. One project, which cost $15,548 (of which the WPA contributed $11,924) was described by the WPA in its project rolls: "Work includes carpentry, plastering, painting, improving electrical system, scraping floors, varnishing," and performing other related work.

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve the Town Hall in Oyster Bay, NY during the 1930s. One modest project in 1938 involved providing painting, varnishing, and waxing improvements for this as well as other municipal buildings in the town.

Massena's historic town hall received extensive improvements and a facelift, courtesy the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). "The interior was completely remodeled and the front changed in 1938 and 1939  under a PWA project." (Massena Observer) The PWA provided a grant of $50,152 for the project, whose total cost was $112,774. Construction occurred between Oct. 1938 and May 1939. PWA Docket No. NY W1508.

With the aid of the the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), a new highway garage was completed for the town of Walton in Delaware County, New York. More information is needed to determine the current status and location of this project.

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 Traffic Court Building at the corner of Bedford Ave. and Lafayette Ave.

A water treatment / disposal facility was constructed in Auburn, New York as part of a sizable New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) supplied a $353,421 grant for the project, whose total cost was $809,624. Construction occurred in 1936-7. P.W.A. Docket No. 1057

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here describes the project shown above as a "general view of activities on the mammoth treatment plant that is being constructed by WPA in conjunction with the new two and one half million dollar Ley Creek sewer system."

The WPA undertook a tree-planting project from Nov. 15 to Dec. 10, 1935 in Scarsdale, New York. The WPA appropriated $1,422 for labor. The project was recommended by the Village Engineer and planning board.

The WPA assisted with the replanting of trees in Southold, NY under the "technical supervision of the L. I. State Park Commission," with a WPA grant covering the cost of the program.

Until 1987, Tremont Park was a part of Crotona Park, which was completely redone by the WPA in 1934-41. "When the Cross-Bronx Expressway was built in 1948-1972, Crotona Park was split into two parks. The larger piece south of the Expressway is still called Crotona Park; the smaller piece to its north is now called Tremont Park. This explains why in some places, Crotona Park is said to have 155 acres, and in others only 127. Even though its name changed (twice), Tremont Park was indeed a WPA project. It was still called Crotona park until 1987, then it was...

"Late in the ’30s, the Works Progress Administration built the Tri-City Airport in Endicott, N.Y."

Triboro Hospital for Tuberculosis in Jamaica, Queens was established in 1941. The Public Works Administration (PWA) approved a $1,317,825 (45%) grant for construction of the project in 1938.

The Triborough bridge linking up Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan over East River, is still known to New Yorkers by that name, even though it was officially renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in 2008. The Triborough Bridge is one of three major bridges, along with the Henry Hudson and the Bronx-Whitestone, built during the New Deal era to link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, and tie together the expanding highway system in and out of New York City.  Construction on the Triborough bridge began in 1929, but the Depression soon slowed progress on the project. In 1933, Robert Moses, head...

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Trumansburg Creek and surrounding land in Trumansburg, New York during the 1930s. One project, which cost $26,306 (of which the WPA contributed $17,466) was described by the WPA in its project rolls: "Improve Trumansburg Creek and surrounding park ... "including constructing retaining walls and wading pools, landscaping." Work occurred on both public and private property. On private lands the WPA improved "the creek bed and banks of creek."

The former toll bridge connecting Alburg, Vermont and Rouses Point, New York, which carried U.S. 2 across Lake Champlain, was constructed between 1936 and 1937 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The bridge was replaced with a no-toll bridge 50 years later. The PWA provided a $343,131 grant toward the $768,555 total cost of the project. 1011.]

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House was constructed in 1902-1907. In the 1930s and early 1940s, federal funding was used to make several improvements to the building, including the addition of a copper apron to the dome in 1933; improvements to the elevators in 1937; and the installation of revolving doors at the Bowling Green entrance in 1941. The building now serves as the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian, a part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The old Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House dates to 1902-1907 and today serves as the New York branch of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, as well as housing the New York branch of the National Archives and the records of Reginald Marsh. During the Great Depression, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) funded artist Reginald Marsh to decorate the main rotunda ceiling with a series of massive frescoes.  The frescoes, painted in 1936-37, depict eight New York Harbor scenes and eight portraits of great navigators. The ensemble is one of the most magnificent of New Deal mural installations in New York City.  

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 stretches of Underhill Avenue: (a) from Patterson Ave. to Randall Ave.; and (b) from 177th St. to Havemeyer Ave—a project which might seem rather odd, given as these two cross-street intersections with Underhill Avenue do not presently exist.

The overpass carrying Union 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.

Sayville's Suffolk County News reported in September 1934: "The extension of Union street from Fifth avenue, Bay Shore, to John street, Babylon, will be opened to traffic by October 1st... The extension is 3.14 miles in length and it is expected that it will divert considerable traffic from the Merrick road. The project, which is being carried out with PWA aid, will cost $120,300."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Black Brook, New York in 1936, including "Union Falls road running along the north side of Silver Lake."

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for some construction at what was then Oceanside High School in 1935-6 (PWA Docket No. NY 3302). The structure has seen numerous large additions since the original 1934 construction. The New Deal project was likely an addition. "When this building on Castleton Ct. first opened in 1936, it became the home of Oceanside High School until September 1955, when it became Oceanside Jr. High School." (1960sailors.net)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the equestrian George Washington monument in Union Square during the mid-1930s.

The NYC Parks Department website explains that: "Although this flagstaff commemorates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is also known as the Charles F. Murphy Memorial Flagpole. The intricate bas-reliefs and plaques were completed in 1926 by sculptor Anthony De Francisci (1887–1964), and feature a procession of allegorical figures representing democracy and tyranny, the text of the Declaration of Independence, and emblems from the original 13 colonies. The enormous flagpole, said to be one of the largest in New York State, is capped with a gilded sunburst." In the 1930s, the sculpture was restored with...

Queens's Union Turnpike, then an "unimportant stretch less than two miles long," was developed as a paved, 100-foot-wide artery featuring a four-foot "center mall," as a large Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in anticipation of the 1939 World's Fair. Work focused on development of the road from Utopia Parkway east to the Nassau County line. "This six-and-a-half-mile short-cut," a $1,250,000 project, was constructed entirely by the WPA. The road was officially dedicated on June 30, 1939.

The Destroyer USS Cummings DD-365 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York City, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Cummings was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941 it was docked at Pearl Harbor during the attack, suffered only minor damage, and immediately went on patrol searching for the enemy strike force without success. After that it served as a convoy escort in the Pacific for several years. In 1944,...

The Destroyer USS Mahan DD-364 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Mahan was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941, it was at sea in the Pacific when Pearl Harbor was attacked; it searched for the enemy strike force without success. It was sunk in 1944 as a result of kamikaze attacks. The Mahan won five battle stars. The United Dry Docks...

University at Albany, State University of New York's Hawley Hall was opened in September 1909 as the Auditorium, one of three buildings (with the Science and Administration Buildings) on the original Western Avenue (Downtown) Campus. On December 12, 1927 the Auditorium was named Hawley Hall. The building served as an auditorium and gymnasium until February 1933 when the first floor was opened as the College library. Since the Great Depression the Dewey Graduate Library, at the University at Albany Downtown Campus, features numerous murals designed by William Brantley Van Ingen (1858‐1955), "a student of John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany, as...

The Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts, located on West 129th Street in Manhattan, was originally built as the Manhattanville Junior High School during the 1930s. Construction benefited from federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds as part of PWA Docket No. NY 8000. PWA documents state that the four-story school measures 300 ft. by 200 ft. and is 60 feet tall. Ground was broken May 10, 1935; work was completed September 1, 1937; and the school was occupied that month. The 56-room school featured the following classrooms: art weaving; woodworking; novelty; sheet metal shops; office practice; science; drawing; sewing; cooking; geography;...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement on the training ship USS Illinois (later USS Prairie State), stationed off 135th Street on the Hudson River. The boat was sold for scrap in 1956. WPA project details: “Alter and rehabilitate U.S. Naval Training Ship "Illinois" at 135th Street and North River, including installing water lines, heating lines, ventilating ducts, and electrical work, replacing toilet and other partitions, tile floors and roofing, painting boat and superstructures” Official Project Number: 765‐97‐2‐8 Total project cost: $63,300.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 3rd Naval District, U.S. Navy

The New York Times reported in 1941 that the WPA was to be involved with several street improvements in Brooklyn, including the "elimination of a mile-long traffic hazard on Utica Avenue between the trolley track areas." A trolley line ran along a 4.2-mile stretch of Utica Avenue between Fulton Street and Avenue N, making it difficult to determine the stretch of Utica Avenue affected by this project.

In Sept. 1941 the New York Times described a playground being constructed by the WPA in Queens at "Utopia Parkway and Seventy-third Avenue." This site, Utopia Playground, is still in use today. New York City's Parks Department writes: "Utopia Playground was opened on January 1, 1942. Parks acquired the majority of the site, which was formerly the home of an old country school, on March 7, 1940. The remaining portion was obtained on January 7, 1941 by condemnation and immediately became part of the original Parks property. In 1943, Local Law 32 gave the playground its current name."

The Valley View Golf Course is a municipal course located in Utica's extensive Roscoe Conkling city park.  The course was originally built in the mid-1920s, then redesigned by famed golf architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. with financial aid (and probably workers) from the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  The works appears to have been done in 1939 and the course reopened in 1940.   A 1936 article in Golf Digest notes that: "Utica, N.Y.—Muny course to have WPA $40,000 in improvements and alterations. Robert Trent Jones, Jr., golf architect."  The WPA's role is forgotten on the course's official site, which states that, "The...

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains: "Van Cortlandt Golf Course occupies the center of Van Cortlandt Park. When it opened in 1895, it was the nation's first municipal golf course, and the first one open to the public. Worked on and ultimately heavily modified by the Parks Department using New Deal funding and relief labor, 1936-1941." The golf course was improved with funds from the CWA, TERA, and WPA.

The New Deal Network's website explains that in the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) National Youth Administration (NYA) constructed a foot path in Van Cortlandt Park that divided two picnic areas within the park. The website tells us that the foot path consisted of "...over 13,000 feet of paved path all completed by NYA." The work included pouring "...4 inches of cinder concrete and then, 2 inches of colprovia for the finished surface. Gutters built adjacent to the paths for drainage."

The New Deal Network Website explains that the retaining wall pictured here was constructed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) National Youth Administration (NYA) in Van Cortlandt Park. The photo's caption notes that "The bridle path is cindered; the complete length, which was constructed entirely by the boys, is 8,000 linear feet." This was one of three retaining walls in the park. The retaining wall shown in the photo encircled the entire area (NDN).

The Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground is a 43-acre field on the southwest edge of Van Cortlandt Park. Researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that it "was built in 1901 as a training area for the New York National Guard. In the 1930s, Robert Moses, New York City's first citywide parks commissioner, redesigned the Parade Ground as athletic fields. Today it is a large flat area where every conceivable kind of game is played, from Irish football to bocce ball to cricket, not to mention (American) football and soccer (fútbol)." Three baseball fields were opened on the Parade Grounds in May,...

Van Cortlandt Park's Southwest Playground opened in 1939 as part of Van Cortlandt Stadium, a New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. A Department of Parks press release shows that the WPA (the agency involved in almost all Parks work at the time) had also already constructed six handball courts in this corner of the Park by December 1936.

The NY Parks Department website explains: "Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Van Cortlandt Stadium opened on September 22, 1939. New York City, under the direction of Moses and Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947), was able to secure a great deal of WPA funding. Park construction was one of the many projects undertaken by the WPA, an unprecedented federal program initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) as a component of the New Deal. Mayor La Guardia and Parks Commissioner Moses conducted the opening ceremonies with an exhibition football game between Manhattan College and Fordham University." The 1939 press release...

The overpass carrying Van Name 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.