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Pity the New York State Pavilion
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 11, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 11, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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We think there is still free access to Times Select articles today, so we urge you to read Dan Barry's column about the NY State Pavilion from the 1964 World's Fair. Here's the opening:
Once there were elevators gliding up the sides of the towers to reveal a city unfolding; now they are rusted in mid-rise. Once there were stairwells winding within those towers; now they are rotted through. The call for a better tomorrow, for “Peace Through Understanding,” is answered by the flutter and coo of its hidden inhabitants.
Seeing again the New York State Pavilion, the massive space-age remnant of the 1964 World’s Fair that looms just beyond the Grand Central Parkway, seeing it in all its premature decrepitude, you cannot help but wonder: If this was built to evoke the future, then may the gods have mercy on us all.
Back in 2004, the Parks Department had asked developers for ideas to revive that part of Flushing-Corona Park, but it turns out that nothing came of that and now the Parks Department says they will just renovate it. But there's skepticism about whether the Parks Department will even do that: Flushing Meadows Corona Park World’s Fair Association president David Oats tells Barry, "It’s all phony. It’s been a frustrating — literally! — 40 years now."
Earlier this year, the city was asked to participate in another World's Fair. We don't know how that worked out (we assume the city said no); if you know, tell us in comments. We do hope that some glory can be restored to the pavilion - it's a well-known part of the city, especially Queens.
Photograph of the New York State Pavilion from the 1964 World's Fair by wally g on Flickr
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Times Select
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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