New York Sites

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 the stretch of Van Name Avenue between Forest Ave. and Walker St.

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains why this playground almost certainly benefited from New Deal programs. As the New York City Department of Parks website states, “In August of 1913, the City of New York acquired the parcel of land, bounded by White Plains Road, Unionport Road, and Mead Street, on which now sits. In April of 1922 the land was placed under Parks jurisdiction. By 1934, the triangular area around the monument contained Norway maple trees and a flagpole, all of which have subsequently been removed. In addition to the monument in honor of fallen soldiers, the park also...

The overpass carrying Van Pelt 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.

As with most small towns, the Vestal NY area schools were mostly small one or two room schools. "With centralization came the goal of building a high school…a goal that was realized on January 3, 1939 when the Vestal Central High School opened its doors. This was the fifth school along Main Street. A Public Works Administration (PWA) project, the new high school and new Vestal Center Elementary school designed by architect Truman Lacey of T.I. Lacey and Sons, cost $773,000 of which the state contributed $446,000. Vestal’s first graduating class of 26 students received their diplomas on June 25, 1940....

Originally known simply as the playground at 99 Thompson St., this was one of fourteen new playgrounds throughout New York to open in August, 1934.  The labor and materials for all these playgrounds were provided by "Work Relief funds." Given the timing, Relief funds mentioned most likely came at least partly from the CWA. The Parks Department press release announcing the opening described this playground as containing: "Recreation building, a wading pool in the center of the play area, and usual apparatus for small children including sand tables, see-saws and slides. This is distinctly a playground for small children." At the time, the park...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor for the improvement of the Veterans Hospital in Wappingers Falls, New York.

The WPA installed 22-inch safety curbing on the 155th Street viaduct near what was then the Polo Grounds.

Port Chester, New York's Village Hall was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the Great Depression. The PWA provided a $58,725 grant for the project, whose total cost was $121,763. Construction occurred between Sept. 1938 and Oct. 1939. PWA Docket No. NY W1601.

Originally the post office, this building was constructed under Treasury Department supervision during the New Deal: "The Wappingers Falls Post Office is an architecturally and historically significant public building, deriving exceptional significance from the role that President Franklin D. Roosevelt played in its design and construction. It was among five post offices in New York State built in the regional vernacular style whose design and construction were monitored by Roosevelt. Constructed in 1939-40 in the Colonial Revival style, the post office was modeled loosely after the nearby eighteenth-century Brewer-Mesier house. Although the house was frame, Roosevelt chose fieldstone and brick as...

The old post office, now village hall contains two Section of Fine Arts murals by Henry Billings: "The two Wappinger Falls murals are located in the Town Hall, a Dutchess County Historical site, and formerly the town's post office. The paintings by Henry Billings show two views of the town's waterfall at different points in time. The building itself is walking distance from the actual waterfall... The murals are painted on chestnut panels and fill the triangular space where the ceiling of the building is pitched. The two views, one from 1780 and the other from 1880, face each other from opposite...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Vineyard Road outside Ticonderoga, New York.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave grants to the Hyde Park Central School District to build three school buildings: Hyde Park Elementary School, Haviland Middle School (originally dedicated as the Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School but later renamed when a new high school building was constructed) and Violet Avenue Elementary School. The latter is in Poughkeepsie NY, not the town of Hyde Park.  The cost of the three historic buildings was $1,300,000, with $585,000 coming from the PWA. Construction began December  1938 and was finished in December 1939.

WPA labor worked to renovate the old Vitagraph Building, a former movie studio located at 94 4th Avenue in Bay Shore, NY, for the purpose of utilizing the structure as a "sewing room, the Old Age Security offices and other home relief offices." The building is now a residential complex.

The historic Jay Volunteer Fire Department building was, Living New Deal believes, originally one of several similarly designed school buildings built in the area as part of a New Deal project. Their construction was enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA), which provided a $178,140 loan and $56,289 grant, effectively covering the entire $230,491 total project cost. PWA Docket No. NY 2624

"WPA work on this run is plainly visible to thousands of people who view the run under summer skies. The run has been made safer as the result of WPA work. WPA iced the run as required, manned telephone booths along the run, transported Bob-sleds and passengers to the top of the mountain, and repaired and maintained equipment and machinery. Photo shows curves improved by WPA in use."

The historic Boulevard Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1941. The building, which contains a New Deal mural in the lobby, is still in use today.

The Wakefield Station post office in the Bronx, New York contains a 1942 Section of Fine Arts entitled “Washington and the Battle of the Bronx” painted by Irving A. Block and Abraham Lishinsky.

According to local sources, "Wales Center Burying Ground" was "renovated into modern cemetery" using federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor ca. 1936. The cemetery in question is likely that at 12150 Big Tree Rd.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Plattsburgh, New York, including Wallace Hill Road, in 1936.

A WPA stadium originally completed in 1937, War Memorial Stadium (a.k.a. the Rockpile, or Best Street Stadium) housed the Buffalo Bills before falling into disuse. Though the stadium itself was demolished in 1988, its northeast and southeast entrances have been preserved. A 1940 WPA write-up detailed the project: "Like Bleecker Stadium in Albany, Best Street stadium was an abandoned reservoir, destined to become a city eyesore. Forming a natural amphitheatre the site was converted into a stadium, with concrete stands and walls, seating 38,000 persons. As a result many sports events which the city could not otherwise have accommodated, have been...

"Under the auspices of the New York Department of Sanitation, between 1937 and 1944, three new wastewater treatment plants were constructed — Wards Island in Manhattan, and Bowery Bay and Tallman Island in Queens. These facilities were designed to reduce pollutants in the Harlem River and in the East River, whose dark and murky waters had some of the lowest dissolved oxygen concentrations in the harbor. During the summer months, dissolved oxygen levels were often zero, which caused unpleasant odors. The city and its waterways benefited from an infusion of funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), an ambitious public...

The Washington at Valley Forge memorial is an equestrian statue of George Washington   (1732–1799), Commander in Chief and first President of the United States (1789–97), sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady in 1901.  It is the centerpiece of Brooklyn’s Continental Army Plaza. In the 1930s, the memorial was restored with New Deal funding, initially from the Public Works of Art Project and later by the WPA.  The work was overseen by Karl Gruppe, chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department from 1934 to 1937.  The restoration work was filmed and can be found here. The sculpture and...

The bridge carrying Washington Avenue in Brooklyn over the railroad tracks by Prospect Park was rebuilt during the 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

In 1936, George Pearse Ennis completed this stained glass window, entitled, "Life of Washington," for the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP). It was installed in Washington Hall, the Mess Hall of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Panorama of Military History - Painted by T.L. Johnson and funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Covering the south wall is a tremendous mural, in brilliant colors, which features a panorama of military history. The drawing covers an area of 2450 square feet. It measures 70ft. in length, and 35ft. in height. The mural pictures 20 great historical battles most decisive and important in charting the course of civilization. Both the military dress and weapons portrayed are authentic. It includes famous military leaders in these engagements and in other brilliant campaigns. The arms history begins with the bow and arrow...

This bust of Washington Irving has an interesting history: "In the late 1800s to early 1900s, a large bronze bust of Washington Irving, mounted on a granite pedestal, stood in the south side of Bryant Park. The author of “Sleepy Hollow” and many other works, Irving was one of the first American writers to gain international acclaim. The statue was donated to the City of New York in 1885 by Joseph Weiner, a German physician and admirer of Irving’s. Sculpted by artist Friedrich Beers, the bust was originally intended for placement in Central Park. Upon completion some members of the NYC...

Helen Tangires writes, "During the New Deal, public markets were vital to government efforts to reduce agricultural surplus in the countryside and high food prices in the cities. Under the direction of Fiorello LaGuardia, New York's mayor from 1934 to 1945, municipal architects working in the Department of Markets developed a series of enclosed market houses to replace pushcart markets." With funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), New York City's Department of Public Markets constructed partially enclosed market sheds, and revitalized former pushcart markets including the Washington Public Market ("Public Markets" by Helen Tangires). The market burned down in the 1950s,...

Washington Square playgrounds were improved during the 1930s with the help of the New Deal. In 1935, Robert Moses proposed a major renovation of the park but he encountered neighborhood opposition. The agencies involved in funding or completing improvement work are unknown to the Living New Deal. During his tenure as Parks Commissioner, Moses used New Deal funding and labor to build public park facilities, yet rarely credited the New Deal agencies that supported the projects. Because he prohibited the placement of New Deal plaques and corner stones, we have few sources that tie public parks in New York to...

Washginton's Walk is an area of parkland extending along the south edge of Jerome Park Reservoir, stretching roughly from Strong Street Playground to Old Fort Four Park. Although we have yet to uncover direct textual evidence of New Deal involvement in the development of this stretch of parkland along the south end of Jerome Park Reservoir, researcher Frank da Cruz makes a persuasive case here for the likelihood of New Deal involvement in building Washington's Walk. First, photos of the area from 1924 show that the park did not exist at that point. So, da Cruz explains, "unless the Bronx...

The Cape Vincent Eagle reported: "One of the largest construction jobs in Jefferson county under the W.P.A. was the building of a fire protection system at Natural Bridge. This system included a water system with reservoir and hydrants."

A waterworks and sewer construction project in Mount Kisco, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $17,773 grant; the total cost of the project was $39,843. Work occurred between December 1935 and July 1936. For another project, the PWA supplied a grant of $27,720 for a well construction project in Mount Kisco whose final cost was $62,078. Construction occurred between December 1935 and September 1937. (PWA Docket Nos. NY 1105, 1131)

This little Art Deco gem was constructed for the City of Rome Water Department by the Works Projects Administration (the renamed WPA) in 1938-40.  The building contained offices and parking (the entrance on the left was originally a garage bay).  Its present use is unknown.

A water main construction project in Angola, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $20,944 grant; the total cost of the project was $46,742. Work occurred between May and October 1936. (PWA Docket No. NY 1189)

A water main construction project in Avon, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $5,750 loan and $2,304 grant toward the $7,490 total cost of the project. Work occurred during September 1935. (PWA Docket No. NY 6068)

A water main construction project in Buchanan, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $74,000 loan and $26,173 grant; the total cost of the project was $98,676. Work occurred between October 1934 and September 1935. (PWA Docket No. NY 3667)

A water main construction project in Ithaca, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $12,447 grant; the total cost of the project was $27,742. Work occurred between October 1935 and May 1936. (PWA Docket No. NY 1052)

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed water mains in Massena, New York during the mid-1930s.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed nearly 5,000 feet of water mains along Maple Ridge Road in Medina, New York in 1937, extending the reach of the town's water system to some of its more rural residents.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed two miles of water mains in Ogdensburg, New York, including along Proctor Avenue.

A water main construction project in Pleasantville, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $9,000 loan and $2,743 grant toward the $10,993 total cost of the project. Work occurred between June and September 1934. (PWA Docket No. NY 4031)