Queens Sites

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 stretches of Cross Bay Boulevard.

"Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia dedicated the plaza in Cunningham’s memory near the center of the park in 1936. That year marked the completion of work by the Works Progress Administration and the Parks Department to develop the southern part of the park. The plan provided tennis courts, playgrounds, stables, bridle paths, playing fields, picnic groves, and parking lots. In the early 1950s the City of New York acquired land for a greenbelt of public parks along the route of the former railroad that ran from Flushing to Babylon. The Kissena Corridor links Flushing Meadows-Corona, Kissena, Alley Pond, and Cunningham Parks in...

NYC Parks explains: "O’Connell Playground opened on July 15, 1934, and is one of nine playgrounds that were built by Parks through the War Memorial Fund. The Fund was established in 1921 with $250,000 collected by the Police Department. In 1934, the fund remained untouched and had grown in value to $350,000. Seeking additional open spaces for children, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses obtained a legal ruling that permitted the fund to be spent on several playground developments. The properties were intended to honor the memories of individual soldiers who had given their lives in combat. The Fund was transferred to Parks on...

A money-saving, efficiency-increasing Department of Purchase warehouse in Long Island City was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It is still in use by the city, presently by the Board of Education. The New York Times reported in 1938: The new  six-story warehouse "will occupy a plot, 270 by 426 feet, on the northwest corner of Forty-fourth Drive and Vernon Boulevard. It will be built by WPA labor, the city supplying the materials. Its estimated cost is $2,000,000."

Formerly known as Liberty Park, this site was acquired by the City in late 1936. In July 1937, Parks announced that "the new playground...is the first section of a large recreational area which is being constructed to be completed. It is for small children and has slides, swings, see-saws, sand tables, play houses and a rectangular wading pool which can be used for volleyball when not in use as a pool. Benches and shade trees are also provided. When the entire area is completed, it will have facilities for baseball, football, tennis, roller-skating, basketball, horseshoe pitching and paddle tennis, as...

This playground on the edge of Forest Park in Queens is named after Glendale's original name: Dry Harbor. The NYC Parks site explains that it was "constructed in 1934 with swings, see-saws, a wavy slide, a flagpole, and a schoolyard gymnasium." A June 1936 press release also announced the completion of the reconstruction of an area in this playground to contain "a wading pool, complete equipment for small children and a play area with a soft ball diamond and horseshoe pitching court for boys," and in December 1936 Parks announced the completion of the second half of the remodeled playground...

A federal WPA-sponsored set of alterations, repairs, and general improvements was undertaken at the old Elmhurst branch library in Elmhurst, New York during the 1930s. The building was demolished in 2012.

As of 2009, this 1938 WPA mural by William Palmer entitled "The Development of Medicine" is located in the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. It may have originally been installed in the Queens General Hospital (now the Queens Hospital Center). According to a 1964 interview with the artist: "It was stated in a recent book on the WPA - that the panel Controlled Medicine was in effect a plea for and propaganda for socialized medicine. This statement is without any basis of fact, and the author never contacted me for my analysis panel. To put the record straight - the mural Development...

Today's NYC Parks website explains: "The City of New York acquired the property for this park in January 1941. At that time, the park was divided by 60th Street, which cut through the property. The City then assigned Evergreen Park to the Board of Education and Parks in the spring of 1942. In order to expand the parkland and unify the two sections, the City closed 60th Street and gave the area to Parks. Part of the park is jointly operated with the adjacent P.S. 68. The playground opened officially on January 11, 1943." A 1943 press release announcing the park's...

The WPA constructed the firehouse on 51st Street in Woodside, Queens.

"The Flushing Armory is a historic National Guard armory building located in the Flushing section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is a brick and stone castle-like structure built in 1905–1906, designed to be reminiscent of medieval military structures in Europe. ... Throughout the armory's history it has been used for the National Guard, as a homeless shelter, and a gymnastics center. It is currently used by the New York City Police Department's Queens North Task Force." The WPA provided resources to conduct repairs at the Flushing Armory (14th Infantry Armory) in Flushing during the 1930s.

Flushing High School was built in the early 20th century. In 1938, the school received four murals funded by the WPA's Federal Art Project.

What is now Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, often known simply as Flushing Meadows, is a large park in Queens containing a wide variety of athletic facilities, a botanical garden, a museum and more. The site, which used to be a dumping ground, was first developed as a park in the late 1930s under the direction of Robert Moses in order to serve as the site for the 1939 World's Fair. In December 1938, the Department of Parks published a press release describing many of its ongoing projects, including this one: "In addition to the projects already listed, city funds have been secured for...

The federal Works Progress Administration worked to conduct repairs and alterations to several civic buildings in Queens as part of a $300,464 project begun in 1935. Buildings improved included the historic Flushing Town Hall on Northern Blvd., which at the time was serving as a local courthouse.

The Forest Hills Station post office was built in 1937.  It was designed by Lorimer Rich consulting architect to the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, Louis Simon. The single story, flat roofed building is done in Modern or International Style, clad with reddish brown terra cotta above a base of granite. (Wikipedia) Professor Andrew Dolkart of Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation says, admiringly, that the "Forest Hills Station is a simple, Modern design. It is basically two cubes that have collided... It is mystery...just how the government chose to fund this project, at a time when most...

The terra cotta bas relief sculpture mounted above the front entrance to the Forest Hills Station post office on Queens Boulevard is titled, "The Spirit of Communication".  It was created by Sten Jacobson under the federal Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts program and installed in 1938.

On July 16, 1935, the Department of Parks announced that the Forest Park Golf Course in Queens had been "entirely rebuilt with new greens and tees in line with the most modern golf architecture." A later press release confirmed that this, and work on other golf courses, had been done with "relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A." The course is still popular and has been named the "best New York City golf course" by Golf Guides USA.

In September 1941, the WPA completed the reconstruction of Victory Field in Forest Park in Queens. The press release announcing the completion of the work described the project: "This 12 acre athletic field dedicated to the unknown soldier of the first World War, replaces the former inadequate facilities which consisted of a cinder running track overcrowded with dirt surfaced baseball diamonds. The new development will provide a well rounded recreational area for the use of all the residents of this section of Queens. The entire field is enclosed by double fencing consisting of an outer wrought iron picket fence separated from a...

The WPA undertook several projects to improve Bayside, New York's Fort Totten during the 1930s and early 1940s. One project called for the WPA to repair and reconstruct buildings; improve the "water and lighting installations" as well as "sewer installation and other utilities;" and "improve the roads and grounds" at the base. Much of the grounds now serves as a city park.

Francis Lewis Park sits at the base of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in Queens. The park was named after an American "merchant, patriot, and signer of the Declaration of Independence"(nycgovparks). Researcher Frank Da Cruz has compiled evidence of the WPA's key role in developing this park: Like Ferry Point park, Francis Lewis Park was part of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge construction project, 1937-41. A New York Parks City Department press release on April 25, 1940, confirms that it was built by the WPA: The Department of Parks announces that exercises in connection with the dedication of Francis Lewis Park, Third Avenue and 147...

Today's NYC Parks website explains that the "history of the playground begins in 1935, when the Board of Transportation permitted the Department of Parks to use two parcels on the east and west sides of 78th Street for recreational purposes. The property was developed by the Works Progress Administration in 1937 as a neighborhood playground and sitting park." In fact, work on the park started a bit earlier than that. A Department of Parks press release from December 30, 1936 announced the opening in this park of a "new playground is equipped with swings, jungle gyms, sand tables, play houses...

NYC Parks describes the origins of this playground: "South Ozone Park grew into a bustling community, and the neighborhood’s many residents needed recreation space. Parks acquired the playground land in a purchase from William Zagarino in 1936, and soon after developed the area into a play space." Indeed, on April 3, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of this new playground: "It has been equipped with swings, see-saws, slides, sand tables, play-houses and a wading pool for small children. Handball, shuffleboard and table tennis courts, a large play area with a soft ball diamond and an oval roller skating...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a new public library in Glendale, Queens. The WPA also constructed additions to other libraries in the borough.

In Sept. 1941 the New York Times described a playground being constructed by the WPA in Queens at "Central Avenue and Seventieth Street." This site, Glendale Playground, is still in use today. The site is also known as the "Uncle" Vito E. Maranzano Glendale Playground. New York City's Parks Department writes: "In 1940-41 Parks acquired the school property and an adjacent parcel for a new playground, which opened in 1942. On the cleared site, laborers from the Federal Works Projects Administration built handball and basketball courts, a softball diamond, swings, slides, seesaws, a jungle gym, a comfort station, and a free play...

Gorman playground at 84th St. and 25th Ave. in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens was one of five “model playgrounds” designed as templates for further playground development by Robert Moses and his team after Moses assumed control of the New York City Parks Department in 1934. According to a Department press release announcing the opening, when Gorman Playground, then named "Jackson Heights Model Playground," opened in 1934 it contained a: "Recreation building containing a large play room, lavatories, mothers room, directors' room and storage space. The rear wall of the recreation building will be used for 4 handball courts. The...

The land for Grover Cleveland Park was first established in the 1920s. It acquired its present name in 1939. In June 1940, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the WPA's reconstruction of the park: "This five-acre park has been redesigned and reconstructed to provide a wider all year round usage. Approximately three-quarters of the area is set aside for active recreation. There is now a completely equipped separate small pre-school children's playground, a wading pool which can be used for basketball, and three paddle tennis courts, a volleyball court, and three shuffleboard courts for older children. For adults, there is...

“The third project which Louis Schanker completed while in the Mural Division of the WPA was for the Hall of Medicine and Public Health Building at the New York orld’s Fair (1939-1940). Large sharply angled geometric shapes are the background foil for a variety of organic cell and ameba shapes, an oversized head, and directional symbols such as an arro and dotted lines.” Completed with Abraham Lishinsky.

Today's NYC Parks website explains that the village of Whitestone (now the neighborhood of Whitestone in Queens) acquired this land in 1892.  Parks took over the 21 acre site in 1936 in conjunction with the construction of the Whitestone Parkway.  This site says that a children's playground opened on the site in 1939. However, the official opening of the playground was announced by the Parks Department on April 25, 1940: "Here recreation facilities nave been provided for all age groups. There are three separate children's completely equipped playgrounds, handball, horseshoe pitching, shuffleboard and basketball courts, a full-sized hard ball and a...

Highland Park on the border of Queens and Brooklyn received new playground equipment for small children from the Department of Parks in August 1935. As explained here, all Parks projects at the time were carried out with New Deal labor and/or funding. Given the date of this project, it was most likely supported by the WPA.

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 block of 91st Avenue between 188th and 189th St. and 189th St. between 91st Ave. and Jamaica Ave. This project is separate from a large, adjacent, Jamaica Avenue paving project that was undertaken by...

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 Horace Harding Boulevard, which later became part of the Long Island Expressway.

From NYC Parks: "Howard Von Dohlen Playground opened on July 15, 1934, and is one of nine playgrounds built by Parks through the War Memorial Fund. The fund was established in 1921 with $250,000 collected by the New York City Police Department. Until 1934, the money had remained untouched, during which time it had grown in value to $350,000. Seeking additional open spaces for children, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses obtained a legal ruling that permitted the Fund to be spent on several playground developments. The properties were intended to honor the memories of individual soldiers who had given their lives in...

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The IND line completed in 1933 only went as far as Jackson Heights' Roosevelt Street station. On December 31, 1936, eight new stations were inaugurated, extending the line down Broadway and along Queens Boulevard to Kew Gardens. Four additional stations opened on April 21, 1937, extending the line along Hillside Avenue to downtown Jamaica.  

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The first extension was completed in 1936.  On April 21, 1937, four new subway stations opened in Jamaica, including the 169th Street station that presently serves F train. Completion of this subway branch, The New York Times reported, "will add four new stations to the line and mark the beginning of express service on a rush-hour basis. ... The new link of the Queens line from Kew Gardens to 169th Street cost about $14,400,000 this figure including the...

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. On December 31, 1936, eight new IND subway stations opened in Queens, extending the subway from its 1933 Roosevelt Avenue terminus in Jackson Heights to Kew Gardens. The 63rd Drive–Rego Park station was one of the eight to open at this time.

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. On December 31, 1936, eight new IND subway stations opened in Queens, extending the subway from its 1933 Roosevelt Avenue terminus in Jackson Heights to Kew Gardens. The 67th Avenue station was one of the eight to open at this time.

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. On December 31, 1936, eight new IND subway stations opened in Queens and the line was extended from its mid-1933 Roosevelt Avenue terminus in Jackson Heights out to Kew Gardens. The Forest Hills – 71st Avenue station was one of the eight to open at this time.

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. On December 31, 1936, eight new IND subway stations opened in Queens, extending the subway from its 1933 Roosevelt Avenue terminus in Jackson Heights to Kew Gardens. The 75th Avenue station was one of the eight to open at this time.

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. On December 31, 1936, eight new IND subway stations opened in Queens, extending the subway from its 1933 Roosevelt Avenue terminus in Jackson Heights to Kew Gardens. The Elmhurst Avenue station was one of the eight to open at this time.

The Queens Branch of New York City's Independent Subway (IND) was extended during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. On December 31, 1936, eight new IND subway stations opened in Queens, extending the subway from its 1933 Roosevelt Avenue terminus in Jackson Heights to Kew Gardens. The Grand Avenue – Newtown station was one of the eight to open at this time.