New York City Parks Department New Deal Projects 1934-43

Frank da Cruz
July 2014
Most recent update: 14 December 2019

Search NYC Department of Parks Press Releases 1934-1943:

See Parks press release archives

This is an attempt to list New Deal projects in New York City relying only on press releases issued by the New York City Parks Department, 1934-1943. These releases often credit the PWA, CWA, WPA, or other New Deal agency for funding, design, or labor, in which case the inclusion of the project in the table below is unquestionable. In other cases, however, the role of New Deal agencies is unstated and must be inferred. My method for this is explained after the table. The table might seem long (it has just over 500 entries) but bear in mind it contains only what the Parks Department decided to write a press release for. To get an idea the true scope of New Deal activity in New York City, CLICK HERE to read a summary for just one agency (the WPA) for one single fiscal year. Also note that many important New Deal projects in NYC do not appear in this table because they weren't Park Department projects; examples include the Triborough and Bronx-Whitestone bridges, the Lincoln and Brooklyn-Battery and Queens-Midtown Tunnels, LaGuardia Airport, numerous municipal buildings (courthouses, post offices, schools, jails), hospitals, clinics, college campuses, the WNYC radio station (etc etc), plus vast amounts of infrustructure work, not to mention murals, concerts, performances, surveys, maps, and on and on. Others don't appear because even though they were Parks Department projects, they don't have press releases; for example the renovation of the Central Park Arsenal and the painting of its murals, the Mother Goose statue, the reconstruction of the Central Park (and other) bridle paths, Van Cortlandt Stadium, the Merchant Marine Academy, and so on.

The Reference column shows the date of a NYC Parks Department press release that announced the the project; this is not necessarily the same as the date when the project was completed. The dates key into local cleaned-up versions of the Parks Department press release archives found at www.nycgovparks.org/news/reports/archive (see below the table for details).

[1934] [1935] [1936] [1937] [1938] [1939] [1940] [1941] [1942] [1943]   [Others]   [Commentary]   [Archives]
Reference Borough Description Current name or status
8 Feb 1934 Manhattan Model playground program announced
12 Feb 1934 Brooklyn Massive cleaning of Coney Island
28 Feb 1934 Manhattan Broadway center strip and safety islands
6 Mar 1934 Richmond Barrett Park Zoo (Richmond = Staten Island) Staten Island Zoo
14 Mar 1934 (all) Model concession and police stands for all parks
15 May 1934 Bronx Orchard Beach
15 May 1934 Brooklyn Construction resumes on Dyker Beach golf clubhouse
17 May 1934 Manhattan Central Park North Meadow
27 July 1934 Manhattan Playground at West 17th St between 8th-9th Aves Gertude B. Kelly Playground
27 July 1934 Manhattan Playground at 85 Roosevelt Street See Note A
27 July 1934 Manhattan Playground at 99 Thompson Street Vesuvio Playground
27 July 1934 Manhattan Inwood Hill Playground, Payson & Dyckman Sts Payson Plaground
27 July 1934 Manhattan St. Nicholas Ave Playground at 141st St St. Nicholas Park
27 July 1934 Manhattan Central Park Reservoir Recreation building
27 July 1934 Manhattan Corlears Hook Playground at Corlears and Water Streets Now on Jackson & Cherry Streets
27 July 1934 Manhattan Playground at Rivington and Lewis Streets No longer exists
27 July 1934 Brooklyn Playground at Fourth Avenue and 3rd-4th Streets Washington Park
27 July 1934 Brooklyn Baseball diamond at Sunrise Hwy and Atlantic Ave See note A
27 July 1934 Bronx Playground at 141st St, Brook and St.Ann's Aves People's Park
27 July 1934 Queens Playground at 25th-30th Aves and 84th-85th Sts Gorman Playground
27 July 1934 Richmond Playground at Jewett and Castleton Avenues Levy Playground
27 July 1934 Richmond Marine Park (CWA work in progress)
31 July 1934 Manhattan Riverside Park (work begins)
22 Aug 1934 Brooklyn Expansion of Leiv Eriksson playground Leif Ericson Park Square
22 Aug 1934 Manhattan New Playground, Sheriff, Broome, and Delancey Sts Sara Roosevelt Park
22 Aug 1934 Queens New playground on Corona Avenue and 102nd Street No longer exists
22 Aug 1934 Manhattan New Playground on Houston Street, Essex and Norfolk ABC Playground
22 Aug 1934 Manhattan New Playground on Houston Street at Sixth Ave (north) Passannante Ballfield
22 Aug 1934 Manhattan Formal park on Houston Street at Sixth Ave (south) Playground of the Americas
22 Aug 1934 Manhattan Opening of Jackson Square, 8th Ave and Horatio St. (it's still there)
23 Aug 1934 Manhattan Remodeling and enlargement of Columbus Park (it's still there)
12 Sep 1934 Manhattan Chrystie-Forsythe Playground, Canal to Houston Sts. Sara Delano Roosevelt
8 Oct 1934 Queens New playground at Corona Ave and 102nd Street
8 Oct 1934 Brooklyn Two new play areas in Liev Eirikkson Park Lief Ericson Park + Square
8 Oct 1934 Manhattan Mounting of Columbus statue in Columbus Park
8 Oct 1934 Manhattan New playground at Baxter, Mulberry, and Park Sts No longer exists
18 Oct 1934 Brooklyn New playground at Park Ave and Taaffee Place Taaffe Playground
18 Oct 1934 Manhattan New playground, Cherry, Monroe, Gouveneur Streets Coleman or Taney Playgound
25 Oct 1934 Brooklyn New playground at Fulton Street and Classon Avenue Crispus Attucks Playground
25 Oct 1934 Bronx New playground, Sedgwick, Reservoir, Webb Aves Old Fort Four Park
29 Oct 1934 Manhattan Conversion of Central Park sheepfold to restaurant Tavern On The Green
29 Oct 1934 Manhattan Renovation of Claremont Inn on Riverside Drive (burned down in 1949)
8 Nov 1934 Queens Flushing Memorial Playfield 149th St & 25th Ave Memorial Field of Flushing
8 Nov 1934 Brooklyn Dreier-Offerman playground Cropsey Ave Bay 46th St Dreier-Offerman Park
20 Nov 1934 Manhattan The Great Lawn Central Park
23 Nov 1934 Manhattan Central Park Zoo Replaces the old Menagerie
1935
11 Jan 1935 Brooklyn New section of Leiv Erikkson Park Lief Ericson Park and Square
18 Feb 1935 Manhattan Plan for redesign of City Hall Park
19 Feb 1935 Bronx Plans for reconstruction of Joyce Kilmer Park
28 Feb 1935 Bronx New playground at Union-Tinton Aves 161-163 Sts Jane Addams High School
28 Feb 1935 Queens New playground in Chisolm Park in College Point Powell's Cove or Golden Park
28 Feb 1935 Manhattan New playground on E.28th Street near 3rd Avenue No longer exists
14 Mar 1935 (all) Renovation/reconstruction of 40 comfort stations (in parks and playgrounds))
17 Mar 1935 Brooklyn Redesign and reconstruction of Grand Army Plaza
22 Mar 1935 Manhattan New health center 115th St & Lexington Ave (with playground on roof)
24 Mar 1935 Manhattan Remodeling of Hecksher Playground in Central Park
1 Apr 1935 Manhattan New Schiff Fountain in Seward Park (moved from Rutgers Park)
1 Apr 1935 Queens New playground at 32nd Avenue and 106th Street No longer exists
1 Apr 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Vandervoort Ave & Cherry Street Wm. Dougherty Playground
16 Apr 1935 Manhattan J. Hood Wright Playground, Haven Ave & 173rd St J. Hood Wright Park
21 May 1935 Bronx Mosholu Baseball Field, 201st St and Webster Ave. Frank Frisch Field
3 Jun 1935 Bronx Reconstructed St. James Park, Jerome Ave & 191st St
3 Jul 1935 Brooklyn Prospect Park Zoo
5 Jul 1935 (all) WPA Portable Theater presentations all summer
16 Jul 1935 Queens New Forest Park Golf Course
7 Aug 1935 Queens New Kissena Park Golf Course in Flushing
9 Aug 1935 Manhattan Development plan for Colonial Park Bradhurst Park
The 12 August 1935 press release contains a long list of playgrounds completed in 1934-35 with relief funds.
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan William McCray Memorial Playground 138th St, 5th Av Still there
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan Joseph Sauer Mem. Playground E.12th St Aves A & B Still there
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn Wm. E.Sheridan Mem. Playground 1st & Grand Sts Still there
12 Aug 1935 Queens Daniel O'Connell Mem. Playground 196 St & 113 Ave Still there
12 Aug 1935 Queens Howard Von Dohlen Mem. Playground 138 St, 91 Ave Still there
12 Aug 1935 Richmond Austin McDonald Mem. Playground Port Richmond Myrtle Ave & Broadway
12 Aug 1935 Richmond Nicholas DeMatti Mem. Playground in Rosebank Tompkins & Chestnut Ave
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground, 95th St between Avenues K and L No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground 3rd-4th Streets, 4th and 5th Aves J.J. Byrne Playground
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground Atlantic & Fountain Aves See Note A
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground 39th Street and Second Avenue No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Queens New playground in Alley Pond Park by parking field
12 Aug 1935 Queens New playground in Hillside Park by parking field (still there)
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground at First Ave, Houston and 1st Streets First Park
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground at 150th St, 7th Ave. & Macombs Pl Frederick Johnson Playgrd
12 Aug 1935 Richmond New playground, Harbor Road, Richmond Terrace Mariners Harbor Playground
12 Aug 1935 Queens New playground at 243rd Road and 43rd Avenue See Note A
12 Aug 1935 Queens New playground at Poppenhausen Ave, 119th St See Note A
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground on 28th Street, 2nd and 3rd Avenues. No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground Nostrand Ave and Montgomery St No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Bronx New playground on Park Ave between 150-151st Sts No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Queens New playground on 52nd Ave, 106th-107th Streets Wm F. Moore Park (?)
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground Union, Hamilton, Van Brunt Street Coffey Park (?) (Note A)
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground Remsen Avenue and Rutland Road No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground East NY Ave, Remsen and Utica Ave No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground Remsen Ave, 52nd-Winthrop Streets No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground Remsen Ave, Winthrop-Clarkson Sts No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground Rutgers and Henry Streets No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground New Utrecht Ave and 71st Street Petrosino Park
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground Downing and Carmine Streets Downing Street Playground
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground in Highbridge Park
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground Washington St, Horatio St-13th Street No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground Washington St, 12th - Leroy Street No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground on Schermerhorn Street No longer exists
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground, Central Park N.Meadow, 100th St 8 baseball fields, rec center
12 Aug 1935 Bronx New playground, St.James Park, Jerome Ave, 193rd St (still there)
12 Aug 1935 Manhattan New playground in Carl Schurz Park Catbird Playground
12 Aug 1935 Queens New Alley Pond Recreational Field
12 Aug 1935 Queens Newton Playground, 56th Ave and 92nd Street Newton Playground
30 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Snediker and Riverdale Aves Lion's Pride Playground
30 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Stillwell Avenue and Avenue U Scarangella Park
30 Aug 1935 Brooklyn New play area in McCarren Park (still there)
30 Aug 1935 Queens New children's play area in Laurelton playground Montbelier Park?
30 Aug 1935 Queens New play equipment in Highland Park
30 Aug 1935 Bronx New modern playground, location unspecified.
13 Sep 1935 Manhattan Plans for 19 new playgrounds in Central Park (around the edges)
15 Sep 1935 Queens New nature trail at Alley Pond Park
20 Sep 1935 Manhattan North Playground, Jefferson Park 1st Ave 111th St Thomas Jefferson Park
20 Sep 1935 Brooklyn Sunset Park Playground at 5th Ave and 44th Street
20 Sep 1935 Bronx New playground at Cauldwell Ave & E.161-165 Sts Dunbar Playground
20 Sep 1935 Queens New Playground, 68th Rd. & 79th St. Middle Village Playground
20 Sep 1935 Queens New Jackson Pond Playground in Forest Park Parks Lane S and 108th St
7 Oct 1935 Manhattan Central Park Harvest Festival WPA chorus & band
12 Oct 1935 Bronx Winter WPA Concerts at McCombs Dam Rec Building
12 Oct 1935 Brooklyn Winter WPA Concerts at Prospect Park Picnic House
14 Oct 1935 Manhattan New playground W.Houston, Sullivan & Thompson Sts
14 Oct 1935 Manhattan New playground Essex St, Rivington & Delancey Sts No longer exists
14 Oct 1935 Manhattan New playground at York Avenue and E.68th St. No longer exists
14 Oct 1935 Brooklyn New playground at E.3rd St, Ocean Pkwy, and Ave.P. No longer exists
14 Oct 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Bedford Ave, Avenues X and Y. Bill Brown Playground
14 Oct 1935 Bronx New playground, Hunts Pt & Spofford Aves & Faile St Hunts Point Playground
14 Oct 1935 Bronx New playground at E.164 St & Teasdale Place See Note A
14 Oct 1935 Bronx New playground at Jerome & Sedgwick Aves Macombs Dam Playground
14 Oct 1935 Queens New Playground at Bridge Plaza and 22nd Street
14 Oct 1935 Queens New Playground at Bridge Plaza and Crescent Ave / 27th St. No longer exists
21 Nov 1935 Queens Playground at 210th St & 32nd Ave, Bayside Raymond O'Connor Park
21 Nov 1935 Manhattan New playground, Morningside Ave, 114th St. Morningside Park Playgrd
21 Nov 1935 Manhattan New playground, Sixth Avenue and Minetta Lane Minetta Playground
21 Nov 1935 Manhattan South Playground, Jefferson Park 1st Ave 111th St Thomas Jefferson Park
21 Nov 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Aberdeen St near Bushwick Ave. No longer exists
21 Nov 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Third Ave, Douglass & Degraw Sts Thomas Greene Playground
21 Nov 1935 Bronx New playground, University Ave & W.188th St Devoe Park
18 Dec 1935 Manhattan New playground, E.Houston St, Mott and Elizabeth Sts No longer exists
18 Dec 1935 Bronx New playground at Cedar and Segwick Aves & 178 St Cedar Playground
18 Dec 1935 Bronx New playground at Pennyfield Avenue and Shore Drive See note A
18 Dec 1935 Brooklyn New playground at Prospect and Greenwood Avenues Greenwood Playground(?)
18 Dec 1935 Brooklyn New playground Linden St, Central & Wilson Aves Hecksher Playground
18 Dec 1935 Brooklyn New playground, Howard and Atlantic Avenues Weeksville Playground
18 Dec 1935 Brooklyn Hopkinson Avenue and Dean Street See Note A
18 Dec 1935 Queens New Playground, 32nd Ave, 158-159 Streets Bowne Park
18 Dec 1935 Queens New Playground Astoria Blvd & 90th Street One Room Schoolhouse Park
18 Dec 1935 Richmond Small children's playground in Clove Lakes Park (on Clove Road)
18 Dec 1935 Richmond Junior playground area Clove Lakes Park (on Victory Boulevard)
1936
27 Mar 1936 Manhattan New playground 106th St east of Fifth Ave Mae Grant Playground
27 Mar 1936 Manhattan New playground at E.Houston St & Bowery Liz Christy Garden
27 Mar 1936 Richmond New Rosebank playground at Virginia & Vermont Aves No longer exists
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground at Owl's Head Park
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground at Jay and Nassau Streets
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground at Smith & Carroll Sts & First Place Carroll Park
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground at White & McKibben Sts Gilbert Ramírez Park
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground at Smith & Nelson Sts St. Mary's Park
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground at Smith & Luqueer Sts St. Mary's Playground
27 Mar 1936 Brooklyn New playground, Remsen Ave, Winthrop-Clarkson Sts No longer exists
4 May 1936 Queens New playground at 47th Avenue at 111th Street Corona Golf Playground
4 May 1936 Bronx New drainage system in Van Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds
4 May 1936 Bronx 3 new ball fields Van Cortlandt Park Broadway and 240th St
4 May 1936 Bronx New ball field in Bronx Park Boston Road and Pelham Parkway
4 May 1936 Bronx New playground on 146th St & Walton Ave Garrison Playground
4 May 1936 Brooklyn New ball fields on 8th Ave between 65th & 66th Leif Ericson Playground
4 May 1936 Brooklyn New playground on 23rd St between 4th-5th Ave No longer exists
4 May 1936 Brooklyn New playground in NW corner of Fort Greene Park
4 May 1936 Manhattan New playground in Central Park, 68th St & CPW
4 May 1936 Manhattan New playground in Central Park, 100th St & 5th Ave
4 May 1936 Manhattan New playground in Central Park, 77th St & 5th Ave
7 May 1936 Richmond Reconstruction of 1st 9 holes, LaTourette Golf Course
7 May 1936 Richmond Reconstruction of Silver Lake Golf Course
7 May 1936 Bronx Reconstruction of Pelham Bay Golf Course
7 May 1936 Queens Reconstruction of Forest Park Golf Course
7 May 1936 Brooklyn Reconstruction of Dyker Beach Golf Course
7 May 1936 Richmond Nine new holes at LaTourette Golf Course
7 May 1936 Queens Opening of Kissena Golf Course
7 May 1936 Bronx Opening of Split Rock Golf Course in Pelham Bay Park
3 Jun 1936 (all) Summer dances with WPA orchestra
3 Jun 1936 (all) WPA orchestra concerts for June-July 1935
9 Jun 1936 Richmond Opening of Barrett Park and Barrett Zoo
12 Jun 1936 Queens New seawall and parking lot at Jacob Riis Beach
12 Jun 1936 Queens Expansion of Jacob Riis Beach
11 Jun 1936 (all) WPA Portable Theater Shows spring-summer 1936
12 Jun 1936 Queens Reconstructed playground, Myrtle Ave at 80th St, Still there, Forest Park
12 Jun 1936 Queens New playground, 34th Ave and 214th Place Still there, Crocheron Park
12 Jun 1936 Queens New playground 149th St and 15th Ave No longer exists
12 Jun 1936 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground Cathedral & Jay Sts McLaughlin Park
12 Jun 1936 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground at Carnarsie park Seaview Ave & E.92nd St
12 Jun 1936 Manhattan New playground at Lexington Ave and 106th St White Playground
12 Jun 1936 Manhattan New playground at Park Ave and 121-124 Street No longer exists
24 Jun 1936 Manhattan Opening of Hamilton Fish Swimming Pool E. Houston St and Avenue C
25 Jun 1936 Queens New College Point Playground No longer exists
25 Jun 1936 Brooklyn New playground, Sullivan Pl. & Nostrand Ave. No longer exists
25 Jun 1936 Brooklyn New playground, Irving & Knickerbocker Aves. Note A
25 Jun 1936 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground at Ave. R & W.12th St. No longer exists
25 Jun 1936 Manhattan Four new marginal playgrounds in Central Park
25 Jun 1936 Manhattan New playground in Thomas F. Smith Park Chelsea Waterside Park
25 Jun 1936 Manhattan New playground in Chelsea Park, 27-28 St, 9-10 Ave.
26 Jun 1936 Manhattan Thomas Jefferson Pool 1st Ave at East 112th Street
1 Jul 1936 Queens New Astoria Swimming Pool Hoyt and Ditmars Avenues
1 Jul 1936 Manhattan Opening of Randall's Island Municipal Stadium Demolished 2002, now Icahn Stadium
5 Jul 1936 Richmond New Tompkinsville Swimming Pool Lyons Pool
8 Jul 1936 Bronx New playground at Bryant Ave and 176th Street Now a shopping mall
8 Jul 1936 Queens New playground at 46th Ave & 164th St Martin's Field
8 Jul 1936 Queens New play area in Juniper Valley Playground
13 Jul 1936 Manhattan New Highbridge Swimming Pool in Highbridge Park 173rd St & Amsterdam Ave
19 Jul 1936 Brooklyn New Sunset Swimming Pool in Sunset Park 7th Ave & 41-44rd St
23 Jul 1936 Bronx New Crotona Park Swimming Pool
23 Jul 1936 Bronx Orchard Beach and bathhouse, Pelham Bay Park (bathhouse now closed)
23 Jul 1936 Bronx Addition of 115 acres to Pelham Bay Park
30 Jul 1936 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground at White & McKibben Sts Gilbert Ramírez Park
30 Jul 1936 Brooklyn New playground, Marine Park, Ave U & 32nd St
30 Jul 1936 Brooklyn New McCarren Park Swimming Pool in Greenpoint Lorimer and Bayard Streets
5 Aug 1936 Brooklyn New Betsy Head Swimming Pool in Brownsville Dumont Ave & Boyland St
7 Aug 1936 Manhattan New Colonial Swimming Pool in Bradhurst Park Jackie Robinson Pool
10 Aug 1936 Manhattan Reconstructed area of St. Gabriel's Park St Vartan's Park 1st & 35th
21 Aug 1936 Bronx 20 new handball courts in Macombs Dam Park (it's all different now)
21 Aug 1936 Manhattan New playground at 11th Ave, 58th-59th St. (now a construction site)
19 Sep 1936 Manhattan Water Carnival, music by WPA Hudson Concert Band
1 Oct 1936 Manhattan Shade trees and benches at Dyckman St & Broadway Lt. Wm. Tighe Triangle
1 Oct 1936 Manhattan Reconstruction of Stuyvesant Square Park (Park is still there)
1 Oct 1936 Manhattan Reconstruction of Tompkins Square Park (still there)
1 Oct 1936 Manhattan New playground in Central Park at 84th St & 5th Ave
1 Oct 1936 Manhattan New playground in Central Park at 93rd St & CPW
1 Oct 1936 Brooklyn New playground at Gerrittsen Avenue and Avenue X In Marine Park (still there)
1 Oct 1936 Brooklyn Reconstruction of playground in Carroll Park
1 Oct 1936 Brooklyn Redesigned children's garden in Fort Greene Park
1 Oct 1936 Brooklyn Completion of east half of McLoughlin Park
26 Oct 1936 Queens Dancing, Astoria play center, WPA orchestra
26 Oct 1936 Manhattan Dancing, Highbridge play center, WPA orchestra
7 Nov 1936 Manhattan New recreation building in Columbus Park
7 Nov 1936 Bronx New playground in Van Cortlandt Park Southwest Playground
7 Nov 1936 Bronx Renovated Field House in Macombs Dam Park Field house is gone
7 Nov 1936 Brooklyn New play area, Neptune Ave, 28-29th Sts Kaiser Park
7 Nov 1936 Brooklyn New playground ball fields at Ave U & E.58th-60th Sts Now a shopping mall
7 Nov 1936 Brooklyn New comfort station in Fort Greene Park (northeast corner)
7 Nov 1936 Queens New playground in Astoria Park Between N. S.Hoyt Aves
11 Nov 1936 Bronx New Wm.F.Deegan Playground at 181st St & Ryer Ave. No longer exists
11 Nov 1936 Bronx New marginal playground in Crotona Park at Charlotte St
20 Nov 1936 Manhattan New playground in Central Park at 86th & 5th Ancient Playground
4 Dec 1936 Bronx New ballfields and track in Macombs Dam Park Converted to Heritage Field
4 Dec 1936 Brooklyn Expanded Avenue X playground in Marine Park
4 Dec 1936 Manhattan New playground in Highbridge Park
4 Dec 1936 Manhattan Remodeled playground, 111th Street & 1st Ave Thomas Jefferson Park
4 Dec 1936 Manhattan Remodeled playground in Stuyvesant Park (now Stuyvesant Town)
4 Dec 1936 Richmond George Cromwell Rec Center, Pier 6 See Note A
11 Dec 1936 Brooklyn Remodeled play area in McCarren Park At Union & Driggs Aves
11 Dec 1936 Queens New section of Juniper Valley Playground
11 Dec 1936 Queens Reconstructed Playground at 46th Ave and 164th St. Martin's Field
30 Dec 1936 Queens New playground at Broadway and 78th St. Frank O'Connor Playground
30 Dec 1936 Queens Expanded Dry Harbor playground in Forest Park
30 Dec 1936 Manhattan Reconstructed Hecksher playground
30 Dec 1936 Manhattan Alice in Wonderland sculpture In Hecksher playground
30 Dec 1936 Brooklyn 2 new baseball diamonds in Marine Park at Ave U
30 Dec 1936 Bronx 6 new handball courts, Van Cortlandt Park Broadway & VCPS
1937
3 Apr 1937 Queens New field house, Crocheron Park John Golden Park
3 Apr 1937 Queens New recreation building, Newtown Playground
3 Apr 1937 Queens New playground at 135th and Lincoln Streets Frederick B. Judge Plgd
3 Apr 1937 Brooklyn Renovation of comfort station / playroom building Coffey Park, Red Hook
3 Apr 1937 Brooklyn New comfort station, play room; Van Brunt, Union Sts Urban Meadow
3 Apr 1937 Manhattan New recreation building in Jay Hood Wright Park Ft. Wash. Ave & 174th St.
9 Apr 1937 Bronx New recreation building in St. James Park Jerome Ave & 191st St.
11 Apr 1937 Manhattan Restoration of Maine Monument 59th Street and 8th Avenue
11 Apr 1937 Manhattan Restoration of Columbus Monument 59th Street and 8th Avenue
17 Apr 1937 Queens Redesign and reconstruction of Crocheron Park 214th Pl & 35th Ave
17 Apr 1937 Brooklyn New recreation bldg, New Utrecht Ave & 70th St Lt. Jos. Petrocino Park
17 Apr 1937 Brooklyn New playground, New Utrecht Ave & 70th St Lt. Jos. Petrocino Park
17 Apr 1937 Manhattan Completion of comfort station in Stuyvesant Park 2nd Ave btw 15th & 17th St
17 Apr 1937 Manhattan New playground at 45th St. E. of 10th Ave. Matthews-Palmer Plgd
17 Apr 1937 Manhattan New Rockefeller playground Now Rockefeller Univ.
7 May 1937 Manhattan Demolition by WPA of Casino in Central Park in 1934 72nd St W. of 5th Ave
7 May 1937 Manhattan New playground on former Central Park Casino site Rumsey Playfield
17 May 1937 Manhattan New bronze sculptures in Central Park Zoo Still there
25 May 1937 Queens Reconstructed and expanded Jacob Riis Park Still there
29 May 1937 (all) Summer theater by Federal Theater Group
12 Jun 1937 Manhattan New playground at 5th Ave and 130th-131st Streets Courtney Callender Plgd
12 Jun 1937 Brooklyn New playground Ave L btw 17th and 18th Streets Kolbert Park
12 Jun 1937 Brooklyn New building in playground at Ave X and Bedford Ave Note A
28 Jun 1937 Brooklyn Rehabilitation of Forte Greene Park Still there
28 Jun 1937 Brooklyn Two new playgrounds in Fort Greene Park Still there
17 Jul 1937 Manhattan New building in Highbridge Park Still there
17 Jul 1937 Manhattan New building in playground at 101st St, 2nd-3rd Ave Playground is gone
17 Jul 1937 Queens New playground in St.Albans Park Still there
17 Jul 1937 Queens New playground at 179th Place North of Jamaica Ave No longer exists
24 Jul 1937 Queens New parking lot in Astoria Park under Triborough Bridge
24 Jul 1937 Queens New playground at 173rd St & 106th Ave North Jamaica
24 Jul 1937 Richmond New playgrd, Beechwood, Crescent Aves, Cleveland St North Jamaica
28 Jul 1937 Brooklyn New playground at Pitkin and NJ Aves Grace Playground
28 Jul 1937 Brooklyn New playground, Howard, Pacific, & Dean Streets South Pacific Playground
28 Jul 1937 Brooklyn New playground at Lafayette & Reid Aves. Note A
28 Jul 1937 Bronx New playground at 182nd St & Belmont Ave
28 Jul 1937 Queens New playground, Woodside Ave, 52-54 Street
17 Aug 1937 Queens Dredging & boat Basin, Flushing Meadow park World's Fair Marina
10 Sep 1937 Queens New playground at 30th Road btw 45th-46th Streets Astoria Heights Playground
10 Sep 1937 Bronx Williamsbridge Reservoir Playground (Oval Park) 208th Street and Bainbridge Ave.
17 Sep 1937 Manhattan The Conservatory Gardens in Central Park 105th St & Fifth Ave.
11 Oct 1937 Manhattan Riverside and Fort Washington Parks 72nd St - Dyckman Street
15 Oct 1937 Manhattan New playground on Randall's Island status unknown
15 Oct 1937 Queens New playground on Liberty Ave btw 172nd-173rd St Det. Keith Williams Park
15 Oct 1937 Manhattan New playground in Colonial Park in Harlem Bradhurst Ave, 148-150 St
26 Oct 1937 Manhattan Remodeled playground, Madison Ave, 120-124th St Marcus Garvey Park
26 Oct 1937 Manhattan Remodeled playground at 2nd Ave & E.17th St in Stuyvesant Park
26 Oct 1937 Queens New playground, 43rd St, Greenpoint - 47th Aves Thos. P. Noonan Playground
30 Oct 1937 Brooklyn New playground at Dahill Road and 38th Street Dome Playground
13 Nov 1937 Brooklyn New playground, Powell & Sackman Sts, Pitkin Ave. No longer exists
13 Nov 1937 Brooklyn New playground at South 3rd and Berry Streets Berry Playground
27 Nov 1937 Manhattan New playground on Harlem River, 150th-154th Street No longer exists
27 Nov 1937 Manhattan New playground in Chelsea Park, 9th Ave, 27-28 St on roof of health center
27 Nov 1937 Queens New playground in Brookville Park Still there
11 Dec 1937 Bronx Hutchinson River Parkway Extension Boston Rd. - Pelham Br. Rd.
18 Dec 1937 Queens New playground at 90th St btw 88th-89th Aves No longer exists
1938
4 Jan 1938 Brooklyn New playground at the Old Broadway Ferry Terminal No longer exists
4 Jan 1938 Queen New playground at 34th Ave, 96th St & Junction Blvd
28 Jan 1938 Queens WPA will convert PS 28 to playground 115th Street Playground
12 Feb 1938 Bronx Last two sections of Williamsbridge Oval Oval Park Recreation Center
10 Mar 1938 Manhattan Renovation of 9 public bathhouses Some still exist
16 Apr 1938 Brooklyn New playground, Lafayette and Marcy Avenues Herbert Von King Park
23 Apr 1938 Brooklyn New playground, Lee Street btw Lynch & Middleton Sts Note A
14 May 1938 Bronx New playground, Stebbins Ave North of E.167th St. Note A
14 May 1938 Richmond New playground btw Midland & Lincoln Ave Midland Field? (Note A)
31 May 1938 Manhattan New pool at 23rd St and Avenue A Asser Levy Rec Center
8 Jun 1938 Manhattan Reconstruction of Cooper Park, 4th Ave & E.7th St Cooper Square
17 Jun 1938 Manhattan Mother Goose sculpture, Central Park Rumsey Playfield
2 Jul 1938 Queens New playground at 14th St. south of 31st Ave Astoria Health Playground
2 Jul 1938 Brooklyn New playground at New York and Clarkson Avenues No longer exists
2 Jul 1938 Brooklyn New playground at 23rd St, 4th-5th Aves No longer exists
2 Jul 1938 Brooklyn Expanded playground at Avenue P and East 4th Street No longer exists
12 Jul 1938 Manhattan New baseball diamond at Randall's Island
20 Oct 1938 Manhattan Little Hell Gate Bridge Randall's Island (vestigial)
The Dec 1938 entries refer to the "Progress in Park Department 1934-1938", near the end of the 1938 archive.
Dec 1938 Queens 1939 World's Fair Grounds Flushing Meadow Park
Dec 1938 Queens Transformation of World's Fair grounds into Flushing Meadow Park
Dec 1938 Brooklyn Circumfrential Parkway [PWA] Belt Parkway
Dec 1938 Queens Circumfrential Parkway [PWA] Belt Parkway
Dec 1938 Bronx Henry Hudson Parkway The part in the Bronx
Dec 1938 Manhattan Bryant Park [1934 CWA project]
Dec 1938 Manhattan Stuyvesant Park
1939
All 1939 (all) WPA orchestras and bands at many events
26 Jan 1939 Manhattan Boat basin in the Harlem Ship Canal No longer exists
26 Jan 1939 Manhattan Inwood Hill Park
18 Mar 1939 Brooklyn New playground on 18th Ave btw 82nd-83rd Streets Milestone Park
18 Mar 1939 Brooklyn New playground on 10th Ave btw 42nd-43rd Streets Brizzi Playground
31 Mar 1939 Manhattan New playground on Lenox Avenue, 139th-140th Streets Fred Samual Playground
31 Mar 1939 Manhattan New playground at Harlem Housing, 150th St & 7th Ave
19 Apr 1939 Richmond Schmul Park, Wild and Melvin Avenues Schmul Playground
26 May 1939 Manhattan New swimmming pool at 23rd St & Avenue A
26 May 1939 Brooklyn New recreation area in Marine Park
26 May 1939 Brooklyn Opening of Mount Prospect Park Behind Brooklyn Library
10 Jun 1939 Manhattan Renovated bath building at 35 W.134th St No longer exists
10 Jun 1939 Manhattan Renovated bath building at 232 W.60th St Still there
10 Jun 1939 Manhattan Renovated Carmine Bathhouse, Carmine & Varick St. Tony Dapolito Rec Center
10 Jun 1939 Manhattan New outdoor swimming pool in Hudson Park James J. Walker Park
19 Jun 1939 Queens New Playground south of Northern Blvd & 114th St Hinton Park
19 Jun 1939 Queens New Playground in Flushing Meadow Park World's Fair Playground?
23 Jun 1939 Manhattan New recreation area on Hudson River, 145-155 Street Palisades Playground
23 Jun 1939 Manhattan New 20-acre recreation area in Inwood Hill Park On the River
30 Jun 1939 Queens Opening of Marconi Memorial Field Marconi Park, Jamaica
7 Jul 1939 Brooklyn Federal funding for the Paerdegat Basin Bridge Belt Parkway
4 Aug 1939 Queens New playground at Braddock Ave & 240th St. Breininger Park
4 Aug 1939 Brooklyn New playground in Lincoln Terrace Park Still there
9 Aug 1939 Brooklyn New playground, 95th Aves, 88th-90th Sts. London Planetree playground
14 Aug 1939 Manhattan New pedestal for Admiral Farragut statue In Madison Square Park
14 Aug 1939 Manhattan New Tennis Center on Randall's Island Still there
26 Aug 1939 Bronx New playground, Bradford & Waterbury Avenues Bufano Park
11 Sep 1939 Manhattan Remodeled swimming pool, Carmine St. & 6th Ave. Still there
11 Sep 1939 Manhattan Remodeled swimming pool, 408 W 28th St. Chelsea Park but no pool
11 Sep 1939 Manhattan Remodeled swimming pool, 324 E 54th St. No sign of it
11 Sep 1939 Brooklyn Remodeled pool, Metropolitan & Bedford Aves Gone
22 Sep 1939 Bronx Opening of Van Cortlandt Stadium. Broadway and 240th St
27 Sep 1939 Bronx New playground, Bronx Park East, Waring Ave Waring Playground
8 Oct 1939 Brooklyn New playground, Nevins Street and 3rd Ave Thomas Greene Playground
11 Oct 1939 Bronx Reconstructed and enlarged Pulaski Park Playground One Thirty Four
31 Oct 1939 Bronx New playground at Bronx Park East & Reiss Place Reiss Field
31 Oct 1939 Queens New playground at 30th Road and 45th Street Astoria Heights Playground
31 Oct 1939 Queens New playground at Atlantic Avenue and 125th Street Phil Scooter Rizzuto Park
4 Dec 1939 Bronx New playground in Hines Park Fulton Ave & E.167th St.
4 Dec 1939 Bronx New playground, Watson, Gleason, and Rosedale Aves. Watson Gleason Playground
4 Dec 1939 Bronx New playground at E.177th St. & Noble Avenue. Noble Playground
1940
15 Jan 1940 Manhattan New playground at 141st Street and Hamilton Place Hamilton Playground
15 Jan 1940 Bronx New playground at 136th Street and Alexander Ave Lozada Playground
2 Mar 1940 Manhattan 79th Street Boat Basin Riverside Park
16 Mar 1940 (all) Restoration of trees damaged in storm of March 4th
4 Apr 1940 Manhattan New playground at Clinton, Water, and Cherry Streets Cherry Clinton Playground
4 Apr 1940 Manhattan New playground at 34th Street and East River No longer exists
4 Apr 1940 Manhattan New Yorkville playground, 101st St and 3rd Ave Sunshine Playground
25 Apr 1940 Queens Opening of Francis Lewis Park
25 Apr 1940 Queens Opening of Whitestone Playground
27 Apr 1940 Bronx New park on University Ave and 170th Street Highbridge Park (Bronx)
4 May 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction of William E. Kelly Mem. Park Kelly Memorial Playground
16 May 1940 Manhattan Opening of Baruch Playground and Public Bath Baruch Playground
29 May 1940 Manhattan New outdoor swimming pool on West 60th Street Replaced by indoor pool
29 May 1940 Bronx Extension to Orchard Beach bathhouse Bathhouse closed
29 May 1940 Bronx Orchard Beach parking lot & access road extension (still there)
3 Jun 1940 Manhattan New outdoor swimming pool in John Jay Park John Jay Park
6 Jun 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Chelsea Park Chelsea Park
6 Jun 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Hudson Park James J. Walker Park
7 Jun 1940 Brooklyn Reopening of City Park Commodore Barry Park
17 Jun 1940 Queens Reconstruction of Grover Cleveland Park Grover Cleveland Playground
6 Jul 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Annunciation Playground No longer exists
11 Jul 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction of north section Lincoln Terrace Park (still there)
11 Jul 1940 Brooklyn New bicycle trails (See press release)
11 Jul 1940 Queens New bicycle trails (See press release)
19 Jul 1940 Manhattan Renovation of swimming pool at 5 Rutgers Place No longer exists
27 Jul 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction New Lots Playground No longer exists
29 Jul 1940 Bronx French Charley's Playground In Bronx Park at East 204th Street
29 Jul 1940 Bronx Allerton Ball Fields Next to French Charley's Playground
29 Jul 1940 Bronx Rosewood Playground Bronx Park East at Rosewood Street
1 Aug 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Jasper Oval No longer exists
1 Aug 1940 Brooklyn New skating rink and bicycle track in Red Hook (still there)
1 Aug 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction of West side of Sunset Park
10 Aug 1940 Brooklyn Reconstructed Bushwick Playground See Note A
26 Aug 1940 Brooklyn Two new pedestrian bridges over Belt Parkway 92nd Street and 81st Street
26 Aug 1940 Brooklyn New playground at Stuyvesant Ave & Marion St Fulton Park
14 Sep 1940 Bronx Three new marginal playgrounds in Claremont Park (still there)
26 Sep 1940 Brooklyn Reconstructed Borough Hall Park
27 Sep 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of the Jumel Mansion Washington Heights
2 Oct 1940 Manhattan New playground at 120th Street and East River No longer exists
2 Nov 1940 Queens Construction of Maurice (Urban Water Supply) Park
11 Nov 1940 Queens Reconstruction of Juniper Valley Park (still there)
13 Nov 1940 Bronx Picnic areas at Hunter Island and Twin Islands Joined to Orchard Beach
19 Nov 1940 Manhattan Restoration of Herald Square
26 Nov 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Seward Park
7 Dec 1940 Bronx Reconstruction of Claremont Park
18 Dec 1940 Manhattan Repaving of Central Park West Drive 86-110 Street
1941
27 Jan 1941 Manhattan Installation of Dodge statue in Bryant Park
14 Mar 1941 Bronx Reconstruction of Owen F. Dolen Park (still there)
16 Mar 1941 Brooklyn New playground in Fort Hamilton Athletic Field Russell Pederson Playground
12 Apr 1941 Brooklyn New playground at Ave H and Kings Highway No longer exists
19 Apr 1941 Brooklyn New bleachers and fence in City Park Commodore Barry Park
22 Apr 1941 Manhattan Restoration of General Worth memorial
23 Apr 1941 Brooklyn New playground and athletic field by Lincoln H.S. Grady Playground?
28 May 1941 Queens Three new play areas in Forest Park
30 May 1941 Manhattan New bathhouse facilities in John Jay Pool
30 May 1941 Manhattan Peter Stuyvesant monument and park
5 Jun 1941 Manhattan New recreation building in Seward Park
5 Jun 1941 Brooklyn New playground on Ave V between 13th-14th Streets Mellett Playground
5 Jun 1941 Manhattan Reconstructed playground in St. Catherine's Park (still there, 68th & 1st)
13 Jun 1941 Bronx Reconstructed playground, Strong & 197th Sts Strong Street Playground
14 Jun 1941 Manhattan Reconstructed playground in Inwood Hill Park
18 Jun 1941 Queens 5 new ball fields N.Conduit Ave & 114-121 St Southern Fields
18 Jun 1941 Queens 3 new ball fields N.Conduit Ave & 143-149 St No longer exist
20 Jun 1941 Manhattan New playground in Central Park at West 76th Street
21 Jun 1941 Manhattan Reconstruction of John J. Murphy Playground Murphy Park, Ave C, 17th St
22 Jun 1941 Bronx Bronx Park playgrounds, paths, athletic fields Rosewood and Olinville
23 Jun 1941 Queens New playground at Steinway Street and 35th Ave Playground Thirty-Five
24 Jun 1941 Brooklyn Rehabilitation of Betsy Head Park
25 Jun 1941 Bronx 227th Street Playground (still there)
27 Jun 1941 Bronx Three reconstructed playgrounds in Crotona Park (still there)
27 Jun 1941 Bronx Opening of 7 new playgrounds in Crotona Park (still there)
27 Jun 1941 Brooklyn Reconstruction of playground on Prospect Ave Greenwood Playground
4 July 1941 Bronx Garden, 2 comfort stations, 10 playgrounds in Crotona Park
4 July 1941 Queens New athletic field, Rockaway Blvd, 101-103 Sts No longer exists
9 July 1941 Brooklyn New playground at Flatbush Ave and Ryder St Eugene Sarsfield Playground
15 July 1941 Manhattan Hudson River overlook at 149-150 Streets Riverside Park
21 July 1941 Queens Construction for Queensbridge Park playground (still there)
22 July 1941 Brooklyn New playground at Ave V and East 24th Street Galapo Playground
22 July 1941 Queens New playground at Laurelton and Southern Parkways No longer exist
4 Aug 1941 Brooklyn Opening of first section of Shore Road Park
4 Aug 1941 Brooklyn Opening of Plum Island recreation area, Marine Park
9 Aug 1941 Brooklyn New playground on Nostrand Ave and Kings Highway Thomas Norton Park
11 Aug 1941 Bronx Opening of Ferry Point Park Now mostly a Trump golf course
13 Aug 1941 Brooklyn Reconstruction of Bushwick Park
23 Aug 1941 Brooklyn New playgrounds in Prospect Park Along Prospect Park West
23 Aug 1941 Brooklyn New playground in Prospect Park At Lincoln Road entrance
22 Sep 1941 Bronx Athletic field at 205th St & Bedford Park Blvd Harris Field
23 Sep 1941 Manhattan New playground on Fort Washington Ave and 190th St No longer exists
23 Sep 1941 Brooklyn Reconstruction of playground in Gravesend Park
27 Sep 1941 Queens Playground and 4 sitting areas in Laurelton See Note A
27 Sep 1941 Bronx New extension to Zimmerman Park Zimmerman Playground
29 Sep 1941 Manhattan Reconstructed playground in Morningside Park
30 Sep 1941 Queens New playground behind PS 119 Pinocchio Playground
30 Sep 1941 Queens New ball fields and bleachers in At. Albans Park West of Merrick Blvd
30 Sep 1941 Queens Reconstruction of Victory field in Forest Park
1 Oct 1941 Brooklyn New playground, 3rd Ave, 64th-65th St.
1 Oct 1941 Brooklyn New parking lot & concession building Canarsie Pier
4 Oct 1941 Queens Reconstruction Martins Field Playground Flushing Cemetary
6 Oct 1941 Brooklyn Reconstruction of Brower (Bedford) Park Lincoln Terrace Park
6 Oct 1941 Manhattan Reconstruction of DeWitt Clinton Park At 11th Ave & 54th St
13 Oct 1941 Bronx Completion of reconstruction of St. Mary's Park At St. Ann's Ave & 149th St
13 Oct 1941 Bronx Completion of reconstruction of Crotona Park (still there but cut in half)
10 Nov 1941 Bronx Reconstruction of Isaac L. Rice section, Pelham Bay Park
24 Nov 1941 Manhattan Three new playgrounds in Washington Square Park
4 Dec 1941 Bronx New Playground, White Plains Road, E.225-226 St. Rienzi Playground
4 Dec 1941 Bronx New Playground, Crotona Avenue and E.181-182 St. Belmont Playground
5 Dec 1941 Brooklyn New addition to park at Howard Ave and Dean Street South Pacific Playground
8 Dec 1941 Queens Reconstruction of section of Kissena Park 164 St, Oak & Rose Ave, LIRR
16 Dec 1941 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground at Bay Parkway and Ave P Seth Low Playground+Square
22 Dec 1941 Manhattan New playground in Highbridge Park
22 Dec 1941 Manhattan New Playground at Oliver & Jefferson Sts Playground One
29 December 1941 Richmond Marine Park fill
1942
All 1942 (all) WPA Federal Music Concerts
5 Jan 1942 Brooklyn New playground at Shore Parkway and 17 Ave Bath Beach Park
6 Jan 1942 Queens Reconstructed park at 79th Street and 68-69 Ave Middle Village Playground
24 Jan 1942 Manhattan New playground at York Ave and 91-92 St Site known as Asphalt Green
9 Feb 1942 Queens Start construction of new park by PS 43 Now PS 40
16 Mar 1942 Brooklyn Reconstruction of Bensonhurst Park
1 Apr 1942 Brooklyn New playground in East New York Hamilton Metz Field
6 Apr 1942 Brooklyn New playground and field house Dyker Beach Park
8 Apr 1942 Brooklyn New playground on Third Ave at 34-35 Street No longer exists
10 Apr 1942 Brooklyn Announce widening of Flatbush Ave for Floyd Bennet Field
21 May 1942 Manhattan Reconstruction of Oracle House in Carl Schurz Park Gracie Mansion
25 May 1942 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground in Gravesend Park
29 May 1942 Manhattan New diving pool & bleachers, John Jay Swimming Pool At 78th St & FDR Drive
5 Jun 1942 Brooklyn New playground at 2nd Ave and 55-56 Street No longer exists
5 Jun 1942 Brooklyn New playground at Shore Parkway and East 12th St Homecrest Playground
10 Jul 1942 Queens New playground at 45th Ave and 21st Street John F. Murray Playground
10 Jul 1942 Queens New playground at Utopia Parkway and 73rd Ave Utopia Playground
10 Jul 1942 Queens New playground in Far Rockaway Blvd and Mott Ave See Note A
25 Jul 1942 Brooklyn Five new playgrounds at Owl's Head Park
8 Sep 1942 Brooklyn New playground at Park Ave and Floyd Street See Note A
16 Sep 1942 Brooklyn Reconstructed playground Aberdeen St, Bushwick Ave See Note A
12 Sep 1942 Queens New playground at Central Ave and 70-71 Street Glendale Playground
23 Sep 1942 Brooklyn New playground at PS 35 Decatur Playground
16 Oct 1942 Manhattan New playground at Park Ave and 108-109th Streets PS 108 playgound
19 Nov 1942 Brooklyn New playground at Fulton and Truxton Streets Callahan-Kelly Playground
27 Nov 1942 Manhattan New playground at 104th Street and East River Playground 103 CIII
1943
11 Jan 1943 Queens New playground at Seneca Ave. & St. Felix Ave. Evergreen Park
18 Jan 1943 Brooklyn Paerdegat Park, E.40th St & Foster Ave Still there
13 Mar 1943 Manhattan Playground at Madison-Park Ave, E.108-109 St. Playground of PS 83
13 Mar 1943 Brooklyn Playground at Eastern Pkwy, Fulton-Truxton-Sackman Sts Callahan Kelly Playground
18 Aug 1943 Bronx New playground at 234 Street and Bailey Avenue Bailey Playground
8 Dec 1943 Manhattan Harlem Meer and boathouse Northeast corner of Central Park
20 Dec 1943 Queens New playground at Brinckerhoff Ave & Union Hall St. Vacant lot

The final press release in the table ends by saying, "In 1934 there were 119 playgrounds in the five boroughs, 67 of which have been reconstructed. There will be, with this new addition, 489 playgrounds in the park system." In other words, 370 new playgrounds were built in New York City under the New Deal.

 Note A:
Street names have changed - site can't be located. Or (rarely) the street names given don't make sense; for example, they don't cross when an intersection is implied.

Other New Deal Projects in New York City

Besides the Parks Department. (This section will be exapanded as I find more information.) These are from the book ”Public Buildings, A Survey of Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental Bodies between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public Works Administration" by C.W. Short and R. Stanley Brown of the Public Works Administration, Authorized by John M. Carmody, Administrator, Federal Works Agency, and E.W. Clark, Acting Commissioner, Public Works Administration, United States Govenment Printing Office, Washington (1939). These are some New York City projects that were accomplished with PWA funding, that were highlighted in the book for their architectural significance:

Other significant projects not listed in the book include the Bronx County Courthouse, Manhattan's First Houses (New York City's first public housing project, 1935), the huge ocean-liner piers on Manhattan's West side, and on and on. Expanding this list to include all the New Deal in New York City is a neverending task (see this page).

In his book Long Range Public Investment (University of South Carolina, 2007), Robert D. Leighninger Jr., says:

More than any other New Deal Agency ... the Public Works Administration has left dramatic reminders of this age of public building. For example, New York City benefitted from 107 PWA projects, beginning with vital parts of its transportation system: the Triborough Bridge, the Lincoln and Queens-Midtown Tunnels, the East River Drive, the Henry Hudson Parkway, major sections of the Eighth Avenue (Independent) subway line, and three Staten Island Ferries ... Additions to dock and pier facilities totaled $5.6 million, and another $1.5 million was spent on barges. Four garbage-disposal projects improved the city's health and cleanliness at a cost of $34.6 million. The garbage incinerator at 56th Street and Twelfth Avenue and the attached garage that houses 350 garbage trucks is still vital to keeping the city clean ... Thirty-three projects added $25.4 million worth of school buildings to New York City's educational system. Three separate college or university projects spent $12.4 million on higher education. PWA established Brooklyn College with a library, academic building, science building, gym, and heating plant costing $6 million. Three courthouse projects cost $22.3 million. The Bronx County Jail was a PWA project. Central Park, where PWA built the original Central Park Zoo, the Conservatory Gardens, and most of the playgrounds, is only the most famous of the scores of parks, many with swimming pools, built across the city ... On Staten Island, a large merchant marine hospital complex is now serving as a private hospital, Bayley Seaton. The seven eight-story buildings that form the core of Belleview Hospital and the twelve-story Nurses Home at Kings County Hospital are also PWA projects. There were twenty-four different hospital and clinic projects adding $22.7 million in health facilities to the city.

New Deal Assistance in NYC Parks Department Projects, 1934-43

New York City Parks Department press releases are inconsistent as to giving credit to New Deal agencies for the projects they announce. When Robert Moses was getting along with the local PWA, CWA, WPA or other administrator, he was generous with credit. When he was having bureaucratic problems with these agencies, or simply did not get everything he wanted from them, he tended to avoid mentioning them when announcing new public facilities. Although he was never reluctant to accept New Deal financing or labor, he also held it in lower esteem than private enterprise and therefore sometimes played down its role. For example, he forbade the placement of New Deal signs (e.g. "USA Work Program WPA") on construction projects[12,p.48;14]. He also disallowed plaques, cornerstones, and logos on New Deal constructions in New York City (no citation needed because although such plaques and cornerstones are commonplace all over the USA, not a single one is in evidence on any New York project controlled by Moses as far as I know). This is a major reason why today so few people are aware of the trememdous impact New Deal projects had on the New York City landscape.

Nevertheless, I believe it is safe to say that every single project completed by the NYC Park Department during the 1930s was federally funded to some degree. In the words of Robert Moses (in a signed press release of October 29, 1934), referring to his staff of designers and engineers:

Of the original 547 men who were employed on January 27th [of 1934], 374 are still employed on Park Department projects; of the 453 men who were obtained through the Engineers Society rolls, 369 are still working on park design. ... They were employed on Federal C.W.A. projects, and paid entirely from Federal funds. ... It should be made clear that in addition to the 601 superintendents, architects, engineers and landscape architects employed by the Park Department with no consideration of their need for relief, there are 1,683 other technical and supervisory employees who were furnished by the Home Relief Bureau of the Department of Public Welfare.
This is in addition some 80,000 federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) laborers[1] initally at his disposal ("Under the whip hand of Moses and his 'Ramrods' [CWA workers], had restored every park in New York City"[2]). In other words, the great bulk of the Parks Department staff was paid by the federal government through New Deal programs. Remember: this was the Great Depression. Without this federal funding, none of these people would have had jobs and none of these projects would have been built. Three years later, Moses wrote[13]:
The CWA, TERA and WPA put large sums into our park system in the first 3½ years of the current administration [i.e. Moses' tenure as Park Commissioner up to the time this article was written]. At one time we built up largely with relief funds, probably the largest engineering design staff in the United States. Most of these relief designers were exempt from ordinary relief requirements, and for a considerable period. The staff included some of the finest engineers, architects and landscape architects in the country who happened to be unemployed and were ready to serve at low pay. While relief work is a long way from 100 percent efficiency, and it is therefore necessary to discount the actual value derived from the relief contributions, even this reduction leaves a tremendous amount of permanent work which can be called one of the silver linings of the depression.
To further confirm the point, the New York City Parks Department press release of March 3, 1934 states that, “The new Central Park picture-book Zoo is under construction, work has started and will be completed by early summer. The work of design has been done by C.W.A. architects, landscape men and engineers in the employ of the Park Department.” Since Aymur Embury was the chief architect of the Zoo, this confirms he was on the federal payroll.

Therefore some projects for which it is difficult to find any New Deal funding or labor can still be classified as New Deal projects when they were designed by Parks Department architects and engineers, such as Embury. Two examples are the Henry Hudson Bridge and the Little Hell Gate Bridge, where Embury is credited as architect. Embury also designed the Prospect Park Zoo, five of the 11 WPA swimming pools of 1936, the Triborough Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Whitestone Bridge, Orchard Beach, and about 600 other projects.

CWA ended March 31, 1934, but funding remained available from other federal agencies such as the Public Works Admistration (PWA), the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), and others, until the the Works Progress (aka Work Projects) Administration (WPA) was formed in April 1935 and quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. A telegram from Robert Moses to WPA Administrator Hugh S. Johnson dated September 11, 1935, acknowledges the receipt of 11,000 laborers and 28 foremen, requesting over 600 additional foreman and supervisors. In a followup commentary Moses mentions that federal park workers are costing the taxpayers 84 million dollars. Later he received all the WPA foremen and supervisors he requested; by mid-September 1935, some 36,000 WPA workers were laboring in city parks[3].

In his August 24, 1937, memorandum accompanying the Parks Department Budget Request for 1938, Moses says:

In 1934, the first year of the park consolidation, the budget of the Park Department had reached a low of $4,656,710.07 ... the deficit was made up by the assignment of relief workers to the maintenance and operation of parks, parkways and playgrounds, although I repeatedly warned the responsible city officials that the relief work would some day stop and that the problem of providing civil service employees for this work should be met squarely. In the spring of this year, the situation reached its climax when an order of the Works Progress Administration withdrew all the relief workers engaged in the maintenance and operation of the park system and forced the closing of many playgrounds and the abandonment of maintenance and repair in many park areas.

He goes on to enumerate in detail the WPA cutbacks: maintenance workers, mechanics, tree tenders, electricians, mechanics, monument restorers... But not architects, engineers, landscape engineers, or construction workers.

A December 1938 document in the NYC Parks Department archives, unsigned but doubtless written (or at least approved) by Robert Moses says:

Without a doubt the greatest achievement of the past five year period of the park consolidation has been the increase, over three-fold, in recreational facilities and the general rehabilitation and reconstruction of park areas made possible by the relief program. While the number of relief workers in New York City parks has fluctuated since 1934, there has been a total of 200,000 man years of labor provided to the park program.
This implies about 40,000 laborers per year, whom Moses was free to use not only on parks and playgrounds, but also on highways, bridges, tunnels and other projects that he controlled. Moses notes that in March 1935, the Parks Department had 33,000 relief workers[4]. Moses also notes that even on jobs that were contracted out to private companies, relief labor was used[5]. However, Moses also says:
Relief maintenance workers were reduced to a minimum, and the problem of paying for park maintenance with City funds was faced squarely. By 1936 all men on maintenance had been withdrawn by the WPA. By 1940 all WPA construction forces were withdrawn[6].
When he says "withdrawn by the WPA" he means transferred to other city departments[11]; I believe he has the year wrong, however; the layoff of WPA park maintenance workers (among others) took place on May 12, 1937 (see news release). This was a disaster resulting in the shutdown 142 playgrounds, the abandonment or curtailment of construction on 26 partially completed projects (because Moses had to transfer WPA construction workers to cover some of the laid-off positions), and an end to park maintenance. This should demonstrate the degree to which the NYC Parks Department depended on the WPA at that time.

On June 29, 1938, Moses, speaking of work being done in the Rockaways, says "We are widening the bottlenecks on the Cross Bay Boulevard. We are cleaning up a mile and a half of beach back of the boardwalk, by tearing down all buildings. We are furnishing you with a parkway back of the beach and with play and other facilities there. We are financing a large part of the cost by combining the very successful Henry Hudson Bridge, the Marine Parkway Bridge and the Cross Bay Bridge into one Authority financed largely by a ten cent toll for pleasure vehicles. The city is paying for part of the land, but none of the construction." This is an extremely revealing statement. Moses was not only Parks Commissioner, but also head of the Port Authority, the Triborough Bridge Authority, the Marine Parkway Authority, the Henry Hudson Parkway authority, and seemingly countless other Authorities. So when we search in vain to find out where the labor came from to build the bridges and highways associated with these Authorities (a thing that is never mentioned except just this once, by Moses himself) we can only conclude he used the thousands of federally-funded relief workers (CWA and, after 1934, WPA) under his command.

John Millet says[12], “The W.P.A. Parks Department alone [among all its other New York City departments, e.g. the Borough Departments] did not assume active direction of the work-relief projects under its jurisdiction. This fact resulted from Commissioner Moses' steadfast refusal to have any work going on in his domain over which he did not have full control. In consequence, the W.P.A. did not have supervisors bossing its park work; the New York City Park Department provided most of this personnel. Even the foremen who were carried on the W.P.A. payrolls received their orders from the city park officials. The city Park Department planned all work-relief activities in city parks and decided what work should be carried out at any one time. All projects and jobs were, of course, approved by the W.P.A., which furnished the labor and much of the supplies for the work”.

Moses' lengthy December, 1938, report, "Progress in the Park Department: 1934-1938", states that the number of Park Department (civil service) employees had risen from 3075 in 1934 to 7135 at the end of 1938, which number is far short of the average number of relief labor man-years (200,000 over 5 years) that he cites in the same document.

Therefore I conclude that any NYC Park Department project from 1934 to 1938, inclusive, was accomplished in whole or in part with federal New Deal funding and/or labor unless explicitly noted otherwise in its press release (e.g. those relating to the Cloisters, which was totally paid for by the Rockefellers). After 1938, only those projects where the Parks Department explicitly credits the WPA or other New Deal agency are included in the table as New Deal projects, at least until I come across better information.

The WPA ended June 30, 1943, because of the War. The WPA alone had spent $10,500,000,000.00 and employed 8,500,000 persons in its 8 years of existence[15]. All of the New Deal agencies together (primarily WPA, CCC, CWA, and PWA) spent $26,900,000,000.00[8] and employed about 11 million people[9] doing real work. That's how to fight unemployment. In the three years ending July 1, 1938[10], the WPA constructed 17,562 public buildings, 6086 miles of new water mains, 4091 dams, 8,885 miles of storm and sanitary sewers; built or improved 279,804 miles of roads and highways, 29,084 bridges, 357 airports, 15,000 parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields. Plus numerous surveys and countless projects in home relief, public health, nutrition, literacy, general education, recreation, music, theater, and art, plus publication of 293 guidebooks and pamphlets.
_____________________

  1. Moses, op.cit. p.687.
  2. Moses, op.cit. p.687.
  3. Moses, op.cit. p.695.
  4. Moses, op.cit. p.686.
  5. Taylor, op.cit. p.3.
  6. Walker, R.A, and G. Brechin, The Living New Deal, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California at Berkeley, Working Paper #220-10 (August 2010), p.16.
  7. Walker, op.cit. p.11
  8. Harrington, F.C. Questions and Answers on the WPA, Works Progress Administration (1939).
  9. Millett, John D., The Works Progress Administration in New York City, Public Administration Service, Chicago (1939). On page 59, the author suggests that these cuts were made because “the W.P.A. had already undertaken so much park work that the question of increased city costs in order to maintain the new facilities threatened to become troublesome.” The workers affected were transferred to other city departments.
  10. Millet, op.cit. pp.101-102.
  11. Moses, Robert, Huge Park, Playground and Parkway System Nears Completion: Park Commissioner Outlines Projects Costing Millions, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday October 24, 1937, p.G5.
  12. New York City Parks Department press release, March 17, 1936, which announces an “agreement” with the WPA about signs on its construction projects, without mentioning the terms of the agreement.
  13. Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, United States, Washington DC, US Government Printing Office, December 18, 1946.

NYC Parks Department Press Release Archives

The Parks Department archives are searchable PDF files, meaning that they were scanned using optical character recognition. But they are old typewritten documents (sometimes carbon copies) that don't scan well, and furthermore have handwritten notations, which also interfere with scanning. In the following table, the Parks Dept PDF file column links to the New York City Parks Department press release archive at http://www.nycgovparks.org/news/reports/archive#pr. The next column links to a local copy of the text extracted from each archive; these are quite messy. The fourth column links to local versions of each archive, hand-corrected (by me). These are plain-text files, with the bare minimum HTML markup to allow me to link to individual press releases and to let you to search, copy, and paste, none of which can be done with the original PDFs with any reliability.

Year Parks Department PDF file Local extracted text (raw) Cleaned
1934a 41861934_press_releases_part1.pdf 41861934_press_releases_part1.txt 1934a.html
1934b 41871934_press_releases_part2.pdf 41871934_press_releases_part2.txt 1934b.html
1935 41881935_press_releases.pdf 41881935_press_releases.txt 1935.html
1936 41891936_press_releases.pdf 41891936_press_releases.txt 1936.html
1937 41901937_press_releases.pdf 41901937_press_releases.txt 1937.html
1938 41931938_press_releases.pdf 41931938_press_releases.txt 1938.html
1939 41931939_press_releases.pdf 41931939_press_releases.txt 1939.html
1940a 41941940_press_releases_part1.pdf 41941940_press_releases_part1.txt 1940a.html
1940b 41951940_press_releases_part2.pdf 41951940_press_releases_part2.txt 1940b.html
1941a 41961941_press_releases_part1.pdf 41961941_press_releases_part1.txt 1941a.html
1941b 41971941_press_releases_part2.pdf 41971941_press_releases_part2.txt 1941b.html
1942 41981942_press_releases.pdf 41981942_press_releases.txt 1942.html
1943 41991943_press_releases.pdf 41991943_press_releases.txt 1943.html
1944a 42001944_press_releases_part1.pdf
1944b 42011944_press_releases_part2.pdf
1945 42021945_press_releases.pdf
1946 42031946_press_releases.pdf

In the 1943 archive, only the entries relevant New Deal projects have been cleaned. The ones after that have not been cleaned at all.