The WPA contributed funds for a “handsome new building … for the purpose of sheltering the valuable equipment of the highway department of Brookhaven Town. … [It] is believed that the new structure will result in a considerable saving to… read more
The old Brookhaven Town Hall in Patchogue is located at the northeast corner of South Ocean Ave. & Baker St. According to Sayville’s Suffolk County News in 1939, “The WPA has approved the proposed construction of an extension to the… read more
Now an industrial park, the Brooklyn Army Terminal at 140 58th Street, which was previously known as the Port of Embarkation, was improved through numerous projects conducted by the federal Work Projects Administration during the 1930s and early 1940s.
“In the rotunda of the [Laboratory Building] are bronze busts of Linnaeus, Darwin, Mendel, Asa Gray, Robert Brown, and John Torrey–the work of WPA sculptors.”
The New Deal supported various improvements to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden during the Great Depression, among which was the Herb Garden: “Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor was used to build the 1938 Herb Garden, a Caparn design taken from a… read more
The New Deal supported various improvements to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden during the Great Depression, among which was the Osborne Garden. “Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor was used to build the 1938 Herb Garden, a Caparn design taken from a… read more
According to a Brooklyn Children’s Museum history: 1930s “The Work Progress Administration (WPA) brings more than 200 docents, artists, carpenters, printers, and clerks to work at the Museum during the Depression. Over 200 volunteers support museum projects including the construction… read more
Brooklyn College was created in the 1930s with the assistance of the New Deal. The five original buildings, including a library and gymnasium, were built with PWA funding and the grounds were landscaped by WPA workers. The college’s web page… read more
Boylan Hall is one of the original buildings on the Brooklyn College campus, serving originally as the Administrative and Academic Building. It was constructed as part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression.
The Heating Plant at Brooklyn College is one of the original buildings on the school’s campus, constructed as part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression. Construction was completed c. 1936.
Ingersoll Hall is one of the original buildings on the Brooklyn College campus, constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression, 1935 t0 1937.
The buildings of Brooklyn College were financed by a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression. After the buildings were constructed, Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers worked on improving the campus, primarily through landscaping efforts, beginning in 1938…. read more
The Brooklyn College Library is one of the original buildings on the campus, part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken in 1935-37. Construction on the library building began in 1936. The library houses WPA murals by Olindo… read more
Brooklyn College Library contains two WPA Federal Arts Project murals entitled “Famous Libraries of the World” painted by Olindo Mario Ricci in 1936-1939. A plaque on the wall near the murals reads: “Gracing the Library’s grandest reading room are murals of… read more
Roosevelt Hall is one of the five original buildings on the Brooklyn College campus, then serving as the school’s gymnasium. It was built as part of a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken during the Great Depression, 1935-37. Construction took place ca. 1936…. read more
Under the WPA Federal Arts Project, artist Monty Lewis installed a large double fresco depicting “The Cotton Industry in Contemporary America” in 1936. The fresco may be in the auditorium or in a corridor. At the time of installation, this building… read more
In 1936, “when the United States was still reeling from the Great Depression, a series of murals was commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP), to be painted in the community rooms at the Williamsburg Public Housing development in Brooklyn,… read more
The WPA contributed to several improvements at the Brooklyn Museum during the 1930s. According to the Federal Writers’ Project: “During the past few years a WPA project has been making the [Brooklyn M]useum one of the most modern and pleasantly… read more
In 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Brooklyn and Queens received their largest allotment of funds to-date, “in the government’s drive to spread employment and aid industry.” Improvements to drydock 2 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, were part of the Public… read more
The Light Cruiser USS Brooklyn CL40 was built in the New York Navy Yard (commonly known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard) between 1933 and 1936. It started out as a PWA project, but at the last minute, its funding was redirected… read more
The USS Erie was built in the New York Navy Yard (Brooklyn Navy Yard) between 1934 and 1936. It was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The Brooklyn Navy Yard operated as a Navy facility from 1801 until 1966. It built… read more
Formerly known as Public School 142, what is now the Brooklyn New School building received a five-story addition in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $191,250 grant for the school, whose total construction cost… read more
A WPA photo of students of the Brooklyn Technical High School says that the school itself was constructed by the PWA. The school’s website says that ground was broken on the site in 1930 and the school was ready for… read more
The school’s main lobby features a large oil on canvas WPA mural painted by Maxwell Starr in 1941 . Entitled “History of Mankind in Terms of Mental and Physical Labor,” the mural “traces developments from the Stone Age through the 1930s and… read more
The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, runs under the East River to connect lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. The tunnel was begun in 1940 with PWA and Reconstruction Finance Corporation Funds, though it was not completed… read more
In November 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of a new playground at Weller Ave. and Brookville Blvd in Brookville Park: “the new playground is equipped with swings, seesaws, slides, jungle gym, sand tables, playhouses, ping pong tables,… read more
Then known as Bedford Park, this Brooklyn Park was first established in the 1890s. Since 1899, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum has been located on the property. The park was renamed Brower Park in 1923. In 1941, the Department of Parks… read more
Bryant Park was redesigned and rebuilt between 1933 and 1935 with the help of New Deal funding and Civil Works Administration labor. The project was supervised by the Parks Department, led at the time by Robert Moses. The central role… read more
The Works Progress Administration set up an outdoor library in Bryant Park. The “Reading Room” began in 1935 and closed in 1944. Today the park still serves as the site of an outdoor library, opened in 2003.
“This bronze sculpture depicts William Earl Dodge (1805–1883), one of the founders of Phelps, Dodge, a leading mining company. Dodge helped organize the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States and served as the president of the National… read more
The NYC Parks Department website explains that: “Architect Charles A. Platt (1861–1933) designed this elegant black granite ornamental fountain to commemorate social worker and reformer Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843–1905). Shaw, who is said to be the first woman to be… read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to clear the land for / develop the then-new Buckhorn Island State Park.
A New York City Parks Department press release from August 26, 1939 describes the WPA’s role in developing what is now known as Bufano Park: “The Department of Parks announces that the two acre playground bounded by Bradford, Edison, LaSalle… read more
Buffalo, New York’s Minucipal Auditorium was a $2.7 million New Deal-funded project. Ground was broken on November 30, 1939 and the auditorium opened October 14, 1940. Sources differ with regard to the source of the New Deal funding — an… read more
“Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court – funded by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), the entry court and gates (1935-38) are the most intact surviving work of John Edmonston Brent, one of few African Americans practicing as both an architect and… read more
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… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Bush Road near the village of Mooers Forks, New York in 1936.
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed sewers in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. A 1936 photo shows construction at Bushwick Ave. & Vanderveer St.
The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: “Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster… read more
Now the site of the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Camp Upton (near Yaphank, New York), was originally “created in 1917 to house and train soldiers for the United States.” Camp Upton and its surroundings was the site… read more