Imagine strolling through Central Park and coming upon an encampment of shacks right out in the open, with furniture and stoves providing heat and comfort for dozens of residents.
This encampment actually existed in the early years of the Great Depression. Central Park’s Great Lawn served as a Hooverville of sorts for out-of-work, homeless New York men.
Public and official sentiment was on the side of the Hooverville residents. A New York Times article from September 22, 1932 states: ”The raid was staged on the orders of Deputy Parks Commissioner John Hart, who explained that the Park Department, much as it regretted it, intended to raze the settlement this morning.
“‘We don’t want to do it, but we can’t help it,’ Mr. Hart said, adding that although the men had maintained good order, had built comfortable shacks and furnished them as commodiously as they could, there were no water or sanitary facilities near the settlement.”
There were other Hoovervilles in the city in the 1930s. One existed along the Hudson in Riverside Park, another was at the end of 10th Street on the East River. Red Hook had its own Hooverville as well, off Columbia Street:
Tags: central park, Great Depression, Hooverville, Red Hook, Riverside Park
October 8, 2008 at 4:26 am |
Great post. Topical, given current events. It’s always shocking to me what hardships people went through in the Depression, Hoovervilles especially.
There was a Doctor Who episode last year where they went back in time to 1930s NYC, and they tried to recreate the Hooverville in Central Park. It was odd to actually see it onscreen, rather than pictures – kind of made it come alive. (Daleks notwithstanding. Heh.)
October 8, 2008 at 4:33 am |
Thanks! I was going to write in the post that we may end up seeing another Hooverville in Central Park awfully soon. But the parallel seemed obvious enough without me pointing it out.
October 8, 2008 at 2:02 pm |
There was a hooverville in the north part of central park from 1991 to 1995 and in riverside park from 1989 to 1998. Cities of Crack!
October 8, 2008 at 4:57 pm |
I read somewhere that there was a Hooverville in that big lot on Spring Street and West Street. It believe it was called “Unemployed City.”
October 9, 2008 at 2:55 am |
There was a Hooverville in SoHo on the former parking lots on Houston between Greene and Wooster, where recently lux condos were built.
^Right, Joe R, there was a Hooverville on that Spring St. lot.
And, kids, remember a similar homeless encampment until 1995 underneath the Manhattan side of the Manhattan Bridge, until it was torn down by Giuliani. Was is a Dinkensville?
October 9, 2008 at 3:54 pm |
[...] others who are more affected by the downturn should consider scoping out their turf in Central Park, as they did in the 1930s in Hoovervilles. [Ephemeral New York] How to stop worrying and learn to [...]
October 9, 2008 at 7:38 pm |
Good post. I have a photo of the same era, however, it is of the Reservoir. It was a dry lakebed in the early Thirties. In 1932, when my photo was taken (it comes from Culver Photos) there was a row of shacks in the location. I also saw a photo at the New-York Historical Society of the Hooverville that was on the West Side, from West 42nd that stretched up the banks of the riverfront.
March 13, 2009 at 9:03 am |
[...] It resonates, of course, with “Great Depression” but without the soup lines and Hoovervilles. At the same time, it differentiates between the severe contraction now under way and [...]
August 25, 2009 at 6:37 pm |
[...] tracks and sometimes in swampy areas. Hoovervilles on the other hand were anywhere and everywhere. Central Park’s great lawn had residents as did Riverside Park and Red Hook’s water front area. Public spaces stopped being places to enjoy [...]
November 4, 2009 at 4:58 am |
[...] Central Park had its own Hooverville as well. Read more about it here. [...]