Suffolk County News reported that between 1935 and 1936, the WPA “improved recreational facilities in [the] following State Parks [in Suffolk County]: Sunken Meadow, Heckscher, Wildwood, Orient Point and Hither Hills…”
The former Willard Parker Hospital received an addition to its laboratory during the 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The hospital was located at E 16th St. along the East River. The hospital closed during the 1950s and has… read more
The school grounds contain a small New Deal sculpture by Hugo Robus entitled “Girl Weeding.” It was made in 1938, probably under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project of the WPA.
This large bronze and marble memorial in Bryant Park commemorates the 19th c. poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant. The statue was created by Herbert Adams in 1911. In the 1930s, the it was restored with federal funding under Karl… read more
William J. Gaynor Junior High School, I.S. 49, in Brooklyn, New York, was constructed during the 1930s with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA docket number was NY 1075R. The building is still in use today.
From NYC Parks: “William McCray Playground is one of nine playgrounds that was built by the Parks Department through a war memorial fund, and was opened simultaneously on July 15, 1934. The War Memorial Fund of $250,000 was established in… read more
NYC Parks’ website explains that “The City purchased this land for park purposes in 1934, and Adolf A. Berle, Jr. signed the deed as trustee of the War Memorial Fund, which donated the playground in Sheridan’s name. One of nine… read more
From 1934 to 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed workers to construct Williamsbridge Oval in The Bronx’s Norwood neighborhood, one of the most diverse areas of the City. Researcher Frank da Cruz notes the WPA Classic Moderne Style of its recreation… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with street repair and maintenance projects that improved roads throughout the Bronx. A 1.9-mile stretch of Williamsbridge Road was surfaced with penetrated macadam as a result of one… read more
According to a digitized project card at the National Archives, the WPA dedicated more than $400,000 in 1935 toward the construction of a new roadway on the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan in New York City. Among the… read more
Originally called the Williamsburg-Greenpoint Health Center, it was the fourth of eight clinics to be built in New York City with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funding during the Great Depression. The project was part of a city-wide public health initiative that focused… read more
The Williamsburg Houses were opened in 1937, one of three huge public housing projects in New York City funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA), along with First Houses and Harlem River Houses in Manhattan. New York City was the… read more
The original Willis Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River opened in 1901. In the 1930s, the WPA allocated $326,290 toward reconstruction of the roadway crossing the Willis Avenue Bridge, which connects the Bronx to Manhattan in New York City. WPA… read more
43 men of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked for nine months to develop and improved the road between Willsboro and Reber, New York. It is unclear whether this is what is now known as local route 14: South… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths at Wilson Ave. and Willoughby Ave. were constructed in 1908; the building… read more
Rochester’s Wilson Commencement Academy houses a series of murals commissioned by the federal Works Progress Administration, painted by Carl W. Peters. “In 1937, Rochester’s WPA art project was called “the most interesting and effective outside of New York City” by… read more
Now housed at Rochester’s Wilson Foundation Academy, the federal Works Progress Administration commissioned a series of murals by Carl W. Peters for the city’s since-demolished Madison High School. “In 1937, Rochester’s WPA art project was called “the most interesting and… read more
In the 1930s the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built this winter playground house in Tupper Lake, New York. The Living New Deal does not know the present status or exact location of this project.
New York’s largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building’s Studio B received four WPA Federal Art… read more
New York’s largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building’s Studio B received four WPA Federal Art… read more
New York’s largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building’s Studio B received four WPA Federal Art… read more
New York’s largest public radio station, WNYC, was housed in the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. from 1924 until 2008, when it moved to an improved location. In 1939, the building’s Studio B received four WPA Federal Art… read more
A federal WPA grant enabled the construction of a modern transmitter building and radio tower for the fledgling WNYC radio station along the East River in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. WNYC transmitted from the site until 1990. (The broadcast studios remained in… read more
This image shows artist Lucienne Bloch at work on a fresco entitled “Cycle of a Woman’s Life” for the Women’s House of Detention in Greenwich Village, New York City. The mural was completed in 1936 under the WPA’s Federal Art… read more
Woodhaven Boulevard was widened and improved during the late 1930s; much of the work was undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Work included the filling in of spaces where trolley tracks had been removed.
The historic Woodhaven Station post office in Jamaica, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds between 1939 and 1940. The building, which contains a New Deal Ben Shahn mural in the lobby, is still in use today.
The Woodhaven Station post office in Jamaica, New York contains a 1941 Section of Fine Arts mural painted by Ben Shahn entitled “The First Amendment.”
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Woods Falls Road near the village of Mooers Forks, New York in 1936.
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve South Woods Road (then Wood Road) in Brushton, New York, the primary thoroughfare between the town and what was then the main ‘turnpike’ in the area.
The National Youth Administration built the Woodstock School of Art in Woodstock NY in 1939. According to the Woodstock School of Art, “The structures had their beginnings in 1939, when they were commissioned as a school for arts and crafts… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a “seventy-five-acre parking field … for the city north of the World’s Fair grounds.” 1,950 men worked on the parking lot project, which occupied land north of Roosevelt Ave. The site was on what is now the parking lot… read more
On June 19, 1939, the Department of Parks announced the opening of two playgrounds in Flushing Meadows Park, one along the Grand Central Parkway, just south of Horace Harding Boulevard. This is most likely what is now known as the… read more
Sayville’s Suffolk County News reported in 1936: “The men of the WPA are at work laying a cement sidewalk along the north side of Merrick road** [in Bayport, N.Y.] between Sylvan and Snedecor avenues. This is a much needed improvement,… read more
Sayville’s Suffolk County News reported that the construction of “approximately two miles of sidewalks at East Moriches,” New York, was a town-sponsored WPA project. The Federal government was expected to contribute about $18,000 toward the project. The project included sidewalk… read more
The WPA allocated $14,707 toward a project begun in May 1938 to construct sidewalks and conduct a handful of other improvements along certain roads in East Patchogue, N.Y. The project was said to provide labor for 50 men. According to… read more
In 1939 Suffolk County News reported multiple WPA sidewalk projects that were approved ‘by a vote of members of the Brookhaven Town Board.’ The projects were estimated to cost a total of $33,441, “of which the town’s share would be… read more
In 1939 Sayville’s Suffolk County News reported multiple WPA sidewalk projects that were approved ‘by a vote of members of the Brookhaven Town Board.’ The projects were estimated to cost a total of $33,441, “of which the town’s share would… read more
The WPA allotted $8,483 in Oct. 1935 for the construction of sidewalks in Kings Park, NY.
The WPA constructed sidewalks along the west side of Candee Avenue in Sayville, N.Y., in 1940. Neighboring Greene Avenue was improved by a WPA “gutter project.” The town’s Suffolk County News reported: “Other projects [in the town] include a walk… read more
The WPA allotted $13,724 in Oct. 1935 for the construction of sidewalks in Smithtown, NY.