Must-See Remains of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair

The second New York World's Fair sold itself as "A Millennium of Progress," but it lasted for only two years. When it closed for good in October 1965, some of its exhibits were crated and shipped elsewhere, and can still be seen today. The U.S. Rubber Ferris Wheel moved to Michigan. The Wisconsin Pavilion went to Wisconsin (and stands next to the world's largest formerly-talking cow). The Tyrannosaurus Rex and Brontosaurus statues were shipped to Texas, other dinos dispatched elsewhere...

Almost everything else was knocked down within six months.

Some attractions, however, were either too permanent or too inconspicuous to be demolished, and have survived in situ, outlasting New York City air and politics, for over 40 years.

The former World's Fair site is now called Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a pleasantly empty and tree-lined oasis in a sea of concrete and asphalt.

It's still not possible to travel here in a flying car, but maybe, someday....

(World's Fair Sights: Flushing Meadows, NY.
Directions: Take the #7 train to 111th St. in Queens. Walk downhill on 111th St. (south) for four blocks. Just after you cross under a bridge, you'll see the rockets to the left; you can cut diagonally through the parking lot to get to them. The supersonic jet sculpture is behind the rockets. To get to the other World's Fair sites, walk down the road to the right of the supersonic jet sculpture, then make a left at the geodesic dome and walk across the bridge over the Grand Central Pky. To the right is a gray, boxy building, the Queens Museum of Art; the plaque to the bomb victims is set in the ground, to the left of its front entrance, which faces the Unisphere. To the left of the plaque are the towers and ruins of the New York State Pavilion. The time capsules are on the far side of the Pavilion, to the right, in a little circular patio.)

February 10, 2012