Staten Island Sites

A trestle carrying what was then what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway across Robin Road Avenue was built in 1936 as part of a massive grade separation project. The line has long since been abandoned (as the line was discontinued in 1953) and the trestle at Robin Road is one of its few remaining traces. The bridge bears a 1936 date stamp. 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.

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Staten Island project that removed dangerous street ditches from roads throughout the borough. Granite block gutters and headers were installed with WPA labor along a dozen streets, including the 1.2-mile stretch of Rockland Avenue between Brielle Avenue and Richmond Road.

The former Rosebank Quarantine Station in Staten Island, New York was expanded during the F.D.R. era. "Building 1," and "Building 3," each completed in 1935, were constructed by Caye Construction Co. In 1939 additional work was completed: an addition to the "Junior Medical Quarters" / "Building B," and "M. O. C. Residence" / "Building C". The facility occupied a sizable section of shorefront property east of Bay Street. Most of the New Deal-era / Quarantine facilities are no longer extant. "For about a century, beginning in 1873, Rosebank was once home to a Quarantine Hospital.  The facility was located on Bay Street and Nautilus Street...

The Rosebank railway station was rebuilt as a concrete structure during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway. The station had "two tracks and two side platforms, and was located along Tilson Place between Virginia Avenue and St. Mary's Avenue." Long since abandoned (as the line was discontinued in 1953), the structure has since been demolished. 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.

The Department of Parks issued a press release on April 19, 1939 announcing the opening of Schmul Park on Staten Island. Park Commissioner Robert Moses presided over the ceremonies. The release explained that: "Approximately one-half of this 8½-acre plot has been developed by the Works Progress Administration under the supervision of the Park Department into a recreational area, equipped with playground apparatus, for the children of the adjacent community. There is also a one-story brick comfort station. Later, when sufficient fill is available, the remaining portion of the park will be developed to provide facilities for baseball and other types of group...

Seaview Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium constructed "between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States" (wikipedia). The children's hospital pictured here was constructed by the PWA. The hospital was eventually abandoned and spent many years in a state of ruin. In recent years some of the facilities have been restored as the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center. As far as the Living New Deal has been able to ascertain, however, this building remains in ruins.

Seaview Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium constructed "between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States" (wikipedia). In addition to the nurses' residence and children's hospital, New Deal agencies did other work on the site, including completing new roads, like the one pictured here. The hospital was eventually abandoned and spent many years in a state of ruin, but in recent years many of the facilities have been restored as the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center.

Seaview Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium constructed "between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States" (wikipedia). The nurses' residence pictured here was constructed by the PWA. The hospital was eventually abandoned and spent many years in a state of ruin. Many of the facilities were eventually restored as  the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and the nurses' residence was turned into a senior housing facility known as Park Lane at Sea View. However, the Living New Deal recently received word that the facilities have fallen into ruin.  

On May 7, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of the Silver Lake Golf Course, which had been "thoroughly reconstructed with new tees and greens throughout...with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A."

The overpass carrying Simonson 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.

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Staten Island project that removed dangerous street ditches from roads throughout the borough. Granite block gutters and headers were installed by WPA laborers along a dozen streets, including the 1.2-mile stretch of Slosson Avenue between Martling Avenue and Victory Boulevard.

Follows is a description of part of a massive Public Works Administration (PWA) grade crossing elimination project, undertaken on the South Beach Branch (a.k.a. "East Shore" branch) of the Staten Island Railway. Most of the structures created are no longer extant. "From 1934-1937 SIRT embarked on an ambitious grade crossing elimination project, part of which involved the East Shore subdivision in 1934/5 from St. George to Wentworth Avenue. The tracks were raised above grade between Stapleton and Clifton. Grade crossings were taken out along the South Beach line by sinking the streets, raising the rails or a combination of both. Some residential...

The Stapleton railway station was rebuilt as a concrete structure during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along the Staten Island Railway. 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.

The federal Works Progress Administration worked to "renovate and repair" several buildings in Staten Island as part of a $225,507 project begun in 1935. Buildings improved included what is now the Staten Island Civil Courthouse in West New Brighton.

The federal Works Progress Administration worked to "renovate and repair" several buildings in Staten Island as part of a $225,507 project begun in 1935. Buildings improved included what is now the Staten Island Criminal Court in Stapleton.

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) financed part of the construction of ferry boats for the Staten island Ferry, to the tune of $1,397,500. The first boat, "Gold Star Mother," was dedicated by Mayor La Guardia on May 7, 1937. The project was unusual, as The New York Times reported: the "United States Attorney General had construed a ferryboat as a building in order to make the PWA loan possible." PWA Docket No. NY 1085-R.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to restore the the Staten Island Historical Society Museum, now part of Historic Richmond Town. New Deal efforts on this project likely began under a precursor agency to the WPA: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) or Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The Federal Writers' Project guide to New York City has this to say: "The Staten Island Historical Society Museum, opposite the old county courthouse at Court Place and Center Street, is housed in the old county clerk's and surrogate's office, a two-story brick structure of Colonial design, built in 1848 and restored in 1933-5 by...

"Between 1938 and 1940, a grade crossing elimination project was undertaken over three miles" of the Staten Island Railway "between Great Kills and Huguenot, eliminating seven grade crossings..." The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1,294,000 grant toward this $3 million project. "The line was depressed into an open cut between Great Kills and Huguenot, with the exception of a section through Eltingville where it was elevated.Four stations—Great Kills, Eltingville, Annadale and Huguenot—were completely replaced with new stations along the rebuilt right-of-way. The project started on July 13, 1938, and was completed in October 1940. The stations themselves were completed...

The Staten Island Technical High School building was originally constructed as New Dorp High School during the 1930s, with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds (PWA Docket No. NY 8882). The large building is Georgian Neoclassical in design, bears a 1935 cornerstone, and houses some 1,500 students. It is typical of the dozens of schools built in New York with New Deal aid. These schools were all large, modern facilities, equipped with auditoriums, libraries, cafeterias and gymnasiums, and were often done in sober Neoclassical style. New Dorp was relocated to a new building in 1982 and Staten Island Technical High School...

The Clarence T. Barrett Park Zoo (also known as Staten Island Zoo) is located in Barrett Park, on the former estate grounds of Colonel Edward Hardin. After Hardin's wife willed the property to the city in the early 1930s, it was developed into a zoo with New Deal support: "When construction began in 1933-34, the zoo's plans were state of the art. Parks used New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps labor to help build the $150,000 facility. The exhibits and the zoo's care for its animals were modern for their time and helped the institution avoid some of the trouble other city...

The WPA worked during the late 1930s to improve "properties of the U.S. Maritime Commission on Hoffman and Swinburne Island in New York Bay" in New York City. Each island was previously artificially created and was, at the time, being used for the U.S. Merchant Marine as a training station. WPA work on the islands included "reconditioning buildings, grounds, utilities and facilities; excavating; back-filling; draining; painting; improving roads and walks; installing electrical and heating facilities; grading and landscaping grounds; doing carpentry and demolition work ..." Approximately $210,000 was dedicated to these projects as well as work to "the Maritime Ship 'Tusitala' at...

The stretch of Todt Hill Road in Staten Island, New York between Schmidts Lane and Ocean Terrace was paved and widened as part of a sponsored federal WPA project during the 1930s.

A railway-crossing bridge carrying Tompkins Avenue was built during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway. The line has long since been abandoned (as the line was discontinued in 1953) and the space beneath the bridge has been filled in. Traces of the bridge structure can be seen by way of the different cement used along 260 feet of Tompkins Avenue, and the dropoff from Tompkins Avenue to the west. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included...

Formerly Tottenville High School, Totten Intermediate School was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

The elevated Tower Hill railway station was constructed during the mid-1930s as one link in a massive grade separation project along what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway). The structure opened Feb. 1937. Long since abandoned, the station—which is located between Sharpe and Treadwell Avenues—still stands. 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.

The overpass carrying Union 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.

The Destroyer USS Cummings DD-365 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York City, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Cummings was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941 it was docked at Pearl Harbor during the attack, suffered only minor damage, and immediately went on patrol searching for the enemy strike force without success. After that it served as a convoy escort in the Pacific for several years. In 1944,...

The Destroyer USS Mahan DD-364 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Mahan was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941, it was at sea in the Pacific when Pearl Harbor was attacked; it searched for the enemy strike force without success. It was sunk in 1944 as a result of kamikaze attacks. The Mahan won five battle stars. The United Dry Docks...

The overpass carrying Van Name 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.

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.

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.