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World's Fair Fan Catsimatidis Willing To Pay For NY State Pavilion Restoration
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 31, 2014
Modified Mar 31, 2014
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 31, 2014
Modified Mar 31, 2014
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Original photo by Wally G
It's no secret that billionaire John Catsimatidis is a fan of the World's Fair, which he still hopes to bring back to life in Queens—in the past he has said, “I respect John Kennedy for saying that he had a dream that we’d go to the moon before the end of the decade. I respect Martin Luther King saying he had a dream we can have a black President... This is my dream." While he admitted on Friday (during a press conference about the World's Fair 50th anniversary celebrations) that his dream likely won't be able to happen until 2020, there may be something else he could do for the site even sooner.
According to the Daily News, Catsimatidis said that he's "ready and able to write a check" in order to restore the crumbling and long abandoned New York State Pavilion. The Pavilion has been closed off since the 1980s, but will be open to the public for one day this April. There has been a small group of hopeful preservationists tending to the site for years, and if they have a plan, Cats may fork over the money to back it up. He said on Friday: “I can make it happen. But you need people who have dreams. Americans need dreams. We don’t have anybody that dreams anymore.”
Matthew Silva of the New York State Pavilion Paint Project says the project can only move forward with "a public and private partnership."
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john catsimadtidis
new york state pavilion
world's fair
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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