On September 1, 1942, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia issued a press release appealing to New Yorkers to “avail themselves of existing recreational facilities in New York City over the Labor Day weekend.” He explained that the upcoming holiday “will be our first war-time Labor Day. Because of war conditions, transportation is difficult for everyone.” LaGuardia continued, “I, therefore, am taking this opportunity to remind all residents … that New York City offers the greatest recreational facilities to be found anywhere in the world.”
Lower Manhattan skyline from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, ca. 1940. Department of Public Works photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Mayor LaGuardia went on to list fifteen venues and activities throughout the five Boroughs. They included, swimming “at six fine beaches…sixteen fine municipal swimming pools,” and visits to Coney Island “with its tremendous beach…”. He added that there were 143 beautiful parks, “with lakes and boating facilities, bridle paths, golf links,” as well as zoos, and museums. He also recommended attending the National Tennis Championships at the Forest Hills Stadium, baseball games (New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds and Yankees vs. Philadelphia Athletics at Yankee Stadium), or Broadway’s “eighteen legitimate shows including “This Is The Army,” four mystery melodramas, five comedies, six musical comedies and two operettas.” Plus, there were night clubs, restaurants and hotels with “the best in entertainment, the finest in food and a choice of the greatest dance orchestras in the country.”
Bronx Park, ca. 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Central Park Lake, ca. 1937. Photographer: C. M. Bofinger. WPA Federal Writer’s Project photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
LaGuardia also recommended a ferry ride: “For fresh air and a ride replete with scenic interest, a trip from the Battery to Staten Island is of extreme interest.” He promoted places of historical interest, e.g. the Statue of Liberty, Grant’s Tomb, Fraunces Tavern and New York’s Chinatown. He added that “Lower Manhattan has a wealth of early skyscrapers, including the Woolworth Building, but the more modern architectural giants are the buildings in Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in mid-town Manhattan.”
Bridle Path, Central Park, ca. 1937. WPA Federal Writer’s Project photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The next day, on September 2nd, Mayor LaGuardia dictated another press release from Montreal where he was attending a meeting of the Joint Defense Commission. In this message he invited suburbanites in “the surrounding counties such as Westchester, Nassau and nearby New Jersey” to come into the city during the Labor Day weekend and share what was available to resident New Yorkers. LaGuardia explained “I would like to suggest that every commuter, who comes into New York City daily or frequently, takes the opportunity over this Labor Day weekend to bring his wife and family or friends with him on a sort of commuter’s holiday. Visit the parks, the beaches, or the museums. There are a thousand things to do in New York City and you can do one or many of them and never have a dull moment.”
Lincoln Theatre, ca. 1937. WPA Federal Writer’s Project photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Excursion boat at Battery Park, ca. 1937. WPA Federal Writer’s Project photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
It is remarkable how many of the venues and entertainments LaGuardia promoted still exist as popular attractions in 2022, eighty years later. As Mayor LaGuardia concluded his press release… “See you in New York over the weekend.”