Dubai Debt Issues Push Stocks Down
Family Gets Early Christmas Gift From Ellen DeGeneres
Photos of D Train Murder Depict Bloody Panic
Mayor: Sex Trafficking Victims, Please Speak Up
GMA: Adam Lambert, No; Chris Brown, Yes
The Parks Department is wondering what to do with the New York Pavilion from the 1964-65 World's Fair, including those 250-foot towers, you see when driving in Queens (okay, sitting in a car, bus, or airport shuttle). The Post reports that the Parks Department is asking developers for their ideas to revive that part of Flushing Corona Park. The towers themselves are crumbling and many of the inside features are rusted through and useless, though the structures designed by Philip Johnson are structurally safe. There's also the Tent of Tomorrow, a 12-story space "with a multi-colored Plexiglas roof and a terrazzo floor bearing a giant map of New York state," where the Grateful Dead, The Who, and Janis Joplin had concerts, and a roller rink, Dumpster storing space, and parking lot resided. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says, "We'd love to bring it back to life. But it would have to be something that could produce revenue." One site suggests that an Air & Space Museum be put at the NY State Pavilion. Gothamist wonders what happened to the World's Fair - they never happen anymore. Maybe it's the cheaper airline tickets.
More about the 1964-65 World's Fair. And go to Corona Park and pretend you're in your very own rap video - just bring the fish eye lens.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Current and future expos:
2004 - Seine-Saint-Denis, France
2005 - Seto, Japan
2005 - Aichi, Japan Expo 2005
2010 - Shanghai, China - Expo 2010
3 in the 1950s, 4 in the 60s, 3 in the 70s, 5 in the 80s, 4 in the 90s.
Hanover, Germany - Expo 2000
Biel, Murten, Neuchâtel & Yverdon-les-Bains in Switzerland - Expo 02.
i went to a few proms at the Terrace so I'd want them to staty out of sentimental value, but honestly as long as the giant globe stays--who cares?
wait, they're not emergency space transports?
I think they still have them. I went to the World Expo in Lisbon in 98 and it was great. I wonder when's the next time they'll have one on US soil.
As for the New York State pavilion, I think they only closed it off sometime in the last 10 years. You used to be able to just walk right in through a gate between the soaring columns and you'd find yourself in a huge open space surrounded by cracked granite, weeds and other detritus. I learned how to in-line skate on the giant map of New York, and for a while my little brother and I used to call it "the ruins". In addition to the map and the towers, I think they also have a children's theater at the base, so it'd be nice if they could find a way to renovate and keep it. But hey, as long as they're going to put up something else of value, "to the future, and beyond"
We better be careful not to fool with this spot. As you may remember, it's the alien launch pad and landing zone in Men In Black I.
Check this site out--it's much more informative and fun. I spent like three hours on this site one day, much to the detriment of the work product I was supposed to churn out...
http://www.nywf64.com/
Some amazing shots of the pavilion:
http://www.undercity.org/photos/wfs/wfs.htm
I also remember when you could walk right in...my friends and I would play on the escalators overgrown with weeds. Probably not the safest thing but fun!
on the "what to do..." aspect, i was born in flushing, and attended the fair at the ages of 4-5. the imagery and architecture has had a deep and lasting impression on me personally. i can't say i'd be a regular visitor but i'd def check out whatever they do to revitalize the space at least once. in it's state of the last 20 years or so i've had no interest. think there are other people of my gen who grew up in the area with spacey memories of the fair and would want to revisit, bring their kids and stuff.
a wig store!
Two quick notes:
The "Tent of Tomorrow" is the structure next to the towers in that pic. It used to have colorful panels and such covering those empty spaces that look like windows. If you're walking next to it, you can still see the remains of the purple and yellow paint.
The terrazo floor is a giant map of New York State with Shell gas stations, I think. I was last there many, many years ago so I might have forgot.
Matt
"wig store"... ha, as in Knoxville. How sad is it that I got that?