Orchard Beach bathhouse north wing. I can imagine the terrace with lounge chairs and guests sipping cool drinks while looking out over the beach and the bay. On the first level were stores, food stands, and maybe some small restaurants, plus the big restaurant in the center.

“The Orchard Beach pavilion, with its soaring square pillars and glazed terra-cotta frieze, was more a stage set than a functional building. Though a 500-seat cafeteria occupied the lower level, the bulk of the building is for show, a grand backdrop that separates the vast parking area from the beach ... Since 2009, when chunks of concrete started to fall from the facade, the parks department has kept the public away from the bathhouse, encircling it with a chain-link fence.” (NY Times, April 4, 2014).

The New Deal in NYC 1932-1943 | Frank da Cruz | fdc@columbia.edu