Overview:

The Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House was built as a Community Center serving the Queensbridge Houses circa 1930. The Queensbridge Houses located on Vernon Boulevard were built as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building Settlement House is a two-story structure consisting of the main entrance hall at the south elevation leading to a gymnasium/auditorium space with stage. A wonderful tempera mural painted by Philip Guston for the WPA covers the upper wall surface of the main entrance hall. A distinctive cast concrete bas-relief sculpture, also of WPA vintage spans across the rear entrance at the north facade.