New Yorkers contributed greatly to the war effort, which was paramount in the cities, as well as across the state. New Yorkers dealt with food rationing and black outs, created Victory Gardens, purchased war bonds, worked longer hours in factories, and of course, sacrified family members to service in the war (Drezen).
Victory Gardening on the Charles Schwab estate in New York, New York.
New York became militant and propagandized. The "presence of troops, the inflow of refugees, the wartime industries, the dispatch of fleets, and the dissemination of news and propaganda from media outlets changed New York," essentially making the commercial and cosmopolitan center more militarized (WWII & NYC).
There was a huge mobilization of workers, as well as a frenzy in the business of shipbuilding. The state and city became exempliary of the kind of war-ready, supportive attitude that was fostered in the United States; "the landscape of the city acquired a martial air, as defenses in the harbor were bolstered, old forts were updated, and the docks became high security zones."
A poster advertising War Bonds from World War II
Irving Boyer, Prospect Park, ca. 1942–1944. Oil on academy board. The New-York Historical Society, Gift of Selwyn L. Boyer, from the Boyer Family Collection, 2002.49