INDULGE me for a day while I break my own rule and talk about one of the most photographed objects in Queens, including by me. When Donald Fagen of Steely Dan had a hit with “I.G.Y.” (referencing the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year) in 1982, he wasn’t talking about the New York 1964-1965 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, but with its elegiac references to now-forgotten or never-attained dreams of the future, he might as well have been. The 1939-40 World’s Fair may have been more storied and better-remembered in literature for its whiz-bang predictions of a better world just as Hitler was plunging Europe into war and the Perisphere and Trylon were soon to be melted down, but the 64-65 Fair had its whiz-bang moments as well…and I was there, eating Belgian waffles and wearing silly hats, making the pictures of it in this chapter possible.
NYC has pretty much eradicated much of the 1964-65 Fair, other than its more daring, audacious structures. Yet, here and there, you’ll see traces of the temporary, yet magnificent, buildings that were supposed to be the portals to the Space Age. As in 1939, war and economic meltdown pretty much scotched the more futuristic predictions. And, nothing forecast the internet.
That 35-ton 140’x120′ behemoth, the Unisphere, has become Queens’ symbol in the 4 decades it has been in Flushing Meadows, and can be a surprising and impressive sight for those who aren’t familiar with it: it seems to rise above the trees and buildings like a second moon when you are in the surrounding park and nearby neighborhoods of Corona and Queensboro Hill.
Though Earth has no rings, unlike Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the Unisphere has three. Its rings represent the orbits of the first American astronaut, the first Russian cosmonaut and the first communications satellite to orbit the Earth. It was quite an engineering feat to make the Unisphere stay in place, because the Pacific Ocean part of it is much lighter than the section showing Africa, Asia and Europe. The Unisphere tilts at the same approximate 23.5-degree angle the Earth does as it orbits the sun.
In 2014, Forgotten NY celebrated its best-attended tour in April, highlighting the Worlds’ Fairs’ remnants, attracting 65 paying customers! That was an era.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
12/22/25
2 comments
Living in nearby Kew Garden Hills, I attended both years often. At ages 10 and 11, I thought it was the most fun I ever had. There was a lot of road construction on Grand Central Parkway and many roads leading up to the fair site prior to opening. I am amazed to this day that so many multi-level structures with plumbing, electric, HVAC, elevators, escalators etc would be constructed only to be dismantled in 2 years.
As I understand it the World’s Fair did not get as many nations to participate as expected because there had been a similar event in Seattle just two years earlier. The Space Needle is the most visible remnant of the earlier fair.
Come to think of it, world’s fairs as a concept seem to have fallen by the wayside, so to speak.