Located in East Elmhurst, Public School (P.S.) 127 serves students from pre-kindergarten through grade 8. The PWA allocated $109,232 in grant money to the construction of the building, which was completed February 1937.
P.S. 136 in Cambria Heights was constructed in the late 1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.
The Queens school now known as the Henry Gradstein Elementary School was built during the 1930s. Construction was sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).
The P.S. 149 school building in Jackson Heights was constructed between 1934 and 1936 as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. “Modern construction in Public School 149, Queens, includes windows running to the ceiling to admit the maximum of light… read more
P.S. 15, now called the Jackie Robinson School, in St. Albans, New York, was constructed in 1938-9 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $256,500 grant for the school, whose total construction cost was $430,448. PWA… read more
Daniel Celentano completed this oil-on-canvas mural, entitled “Children in Creative & Cultural Activities,” in 1940 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It is currently located in the auditorium of P.S. 150 in Queens.
Public School (P.S.) 162 in Flushing, Queens, was built with a grant from the PWA totaling $107,470. The building was completed June 1937 and extended during the 1950s.
The Queens school now known as the Henry Gradstein Elementary School was built during the 1930s. Construction was sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).
The original part of the current P.S. 2 school building on 21st Avenue in East Elmhurst, Queens, was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The building bears a 1935 cornerstone, and a plaque cites the… read more
Ozone Park, New York’s Public School 64 (P.S. 64), now the Joseph P. Addabbo school, was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration. The school is located north of 101st Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Streets. The WPA described the… read more
This photo shows WPA Federal Art Project artists giving members of the Paragon Boys’ Club a lessons in mural painting.
The land for the Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto Park, known more commonly as the Smokey Oval Park, was acquired by the city in 1938. On October 31, 1939, the Department of Parks officially celebrated the opening of the park with a… read more
On September 30, 1941, Parks announced the opening of a new playground behind Public School 119 to be shared by the Department of Parks and the Board of Education. The press release explained that the playground was divided in two… read more
The Poppenhusen branch of the Queens Library system, located in the College Point neighborhood of Queens, was constructed in the early 1900s. A WPA photo shows the WPA sign and explains that “new copper sheeting for roof is another improvement… read more
The historic main post office building in Far Rockaway, New York “was built in 1935, and is one of six post offices in New York State designed by architect Eric Kebbon as a consultant to the Office of the Supervising… read more
The Queens Borough Public Library features a number of murals completed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The murals are: A. Grant Arnold’s “The Big Maple Tree” (1936), Philip Cheney’s “12th and Market Sts., Phila.” (1936), Louis Lozowick’s “Night Repairs” (1939),… read more
The “Flemish Revival” style Astoria branch of the Queens Borough Public Library was constructed in 1904, but heavily renovated by the CWA in the 1930s: “The angled corner was squared off, which created two new windows and made the structure… read more
The Astoria branch of the Queens Borough Public Library received a series of murals as well as accompanying sculptures under the Works Progress Administration (WPA)’s Federal Art Project. “[T]here was no controversy about the playful mural commissioned in 1938 for… read more
Daniel Celentano, once an apprentice to Thomas Hart Benton, was already a successful artist when he joined the Mural Division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1936, under the WPA, he completed his mural “Commerce” for the Queens Borough… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) tore up disused trolley tracks along, repaved, and otherwise beautified Queens Boulevard during the 1930s. 2,500 men, who would otherwise be unemployed, were put to work on the job. Work stretched along Queens Blvd…. read more
The WPA undertook a $940,000 project aimed at improving the campus of Queens College during the 1930s. The description for the project is as follows: “landscaping; draining; constructing roads, sidewalks, parking areas, athletic fields, field house, bleachers, and tennis and… read more
The PWA constructed the Queens General Hospital at 161st St. and 82d Drive. The hospital opened in 1935. The hospital was later greatly expanded and became part of the Queens Hospital Center. The current facility is located on the same… read more
The Queens–Midtown Tunnel was completed with the assistance of a $58 million Public Works Administration grant approved by Franklin D. Roosevelt: “In 1935, with the promise of $58 million in Public Works Administration loans made available under President Franklin D…. read more
New York City’s Queensboro Bridge, which connects Long Island City in Queens with Manhattan, was improved by the federal Work Projects Administration during the 1930s. The bridge is also called the 59th Street Bridge or, more recently, the Ed Koch… read more
From the Works Progress Administration (WPA)’s New York City Guide (1939): “Queensbridge Houses, north of Queensboro Bridge Plaza, between Vernon Boulevard and Twenty-first Street, is the fifth low-rent, government-financed housing project in the city since 1936. Twenty-six brick dwelling structures,… read more
Parks acquired this land to the West and the South of the WPA’s Queensbridge Housing development in 1939. The press release announcing the completion of a WPA playground on the site in July 1941 explained: “The southerly section lying alongside… read more
The Raymond M. O’Connor Park and the Kennedy Playground within it were developed with federal relief funds in the 1930s. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed work on the park in 1935. The NYC Parks site explains that the park… read more
The extension of the Richmond Hill branch library in Queens was undertaken as a sponsored federal WPA project during the 1930s.
In 1936 Philip Evergood completed a 160-foot mural entitled “The Story of Richmond Hill,” with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Art Project. “The left and lighter side of the mural celebrates the bucolic pleasures of Queens,… read more
A set of alterations to the branch library in Ridgewood, New York was undertaken as a sponsored federal WPA project during the 1930s.
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 what was then the Queens County Magistrate’s Courthouse building in Ridgewood, NY…. read more
“Beginning in 1936, Alland supervised the Photo-Mural Section of the Federal Art Project. He installed photo-murals at the Newark Public Library (1936) and at the Riker’s Island Penitentiary library (1937).” (https://dlib.nyu.edu) The Riker’s Island mural, entitled “Approach to Manhattan” was… read more
Excerpt from the National Archives and Records Administration, Neg. 17975-D: “Rikers Island Penitentiary. Description of work done by WPA. Erection of four single family residences; two single family residences; 5400 linear feet chain-like fence. Fence around entire institution, fence around… read more
“Ben Shahn’s WPA mural planned for the Rikers Island Penitentiary mess hall was rejected in 1935, the year the prison opened. Harold Lehman’s WPA mural “Man’s Daily Bread” was mounted there instead circa 1936 but was removed decades later. Thus… read more
The WPA undertook work during the 1930s to improve Rockaway Beach (the physical beach, as opposed to the neighborhood of Rockaway Beach itself) in southern Queens, New York. One project entailed: “Removal of refuse and level sand on Rockaway Beach.”… read more
Sanitation Department Section Station 144 in Whitestone, New York was constructed in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Interestingly, construction of the Cross Island Parkway made it necessary to plan to relocate the building the next year, to a site… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a “sea wall and boathouse” by the site of the former Naval Militia armory in Whitestone, New York. The boathouse, which still stands, is likely abandoned.
On June 18, 1941, the Department of Parks announced the completion a large recreation area stretching from 114th to 121st Streets along the Southern Parkway (part of the Belt Parkway): “At the 114th to 121st location the construction of five… read more
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… read more
Springfield [Pond] Park was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and were “turned over to the Park Department” on August 18, 1939. “A three-acre lake, once a mosquito-breeding swamp, is the center of the Springfield Gardens development,” wrote The New York… read more