the 1964/1965 new york world's fair was the third major world's fair to be held in new york city.
overview
the site is flushing meadows corona park in the borough of queens and held both the 1964/1965 new york world’s fair and the 1939/1940 new york world’s fair. preceding these fairs is the 1853-54, new york’s world’s fair, called the exhibition of the industry of all nations, located on the site of bryant park in the borough of manhattan, new york city. the 1964/1965 new york world's fair opened on april 22, 1964, and ran for two six-month seasons concluding on october 17, 1965.
it was one of the largest world's fair to be held in the united states, occupying nearly a square mile (2.6 km²) of land. the only larger fair was the 1939/40 new york worlds fair, which occupied space that was filled in for the 1964/1965 exposition. hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "peace through understanding," dedicated to "man's achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe." the theme was symbolized by a twelve-story high, stainless-steel model of the earth called unisphere. united states corporations dominated the exposition as exhibitors. the fair is best remembered as a showcase of mid-twentieth century american culture and technology. the nascent space age, with its vista of promise was well-covered by the exhibits. more than fifty-one million people attended the fair, but this was less than the hoped-for seventy million. still, the world's fair remains a major milestone for new york area baby boomers, who visited the optimistic fair as children before america entered a chaotic era of war, struggles for civil rights, and economic uncertainty.
controversial beginnings
the 1964/1965 fair was conceived by a group of new york businessmen who fondly remembered their childhood experiences at the 1939/1940 new york world's fair and wanted to provide that same experience for their children and grandchildren. thoughts of an economic boom to the city as the result of increased tourism was also a major reason for holding another fair twenty-five years after the 1939/1940 extravaganza. then new york city mayor, robert wagner, commissioned frederick pittera, a producer of international fairs and exhibitions and author of the history of international fairs & exhibitions for the encyclopaedia britannica and comptons encyclopedia to prepare the first feasibility studies for the 1964/1965 new york world's fairs. he was joined by austrian architect victor gruen (inventor of 'the shopping mall') in studies that eventually led the eisenhower commission to award the world's fair to new york city in competition with a number of american cities seeking to hold the event.
organizers turned to private financing and the sale of bonds to pay the huge costs to stage them. the organizers hired new york's "master builder," robert moses, to head the corporation established to run the fair because he was experienced in raising money for vast public projects. moses had been a formidable figure in the city since coming to power in the 1930s. he was responsible for the construction of much of the city's highway infrastructure and, as parks commissioner for decades, the creation of much of the city's park system.
in the mid-1930s, moses oversaw the conversion of a vast queens tidal marsh/garbage dump into the fairgrounds that hosted the 1939/1940 world's fair.[2] called flushing meadows park, it was moses' grandest park scheme. he envisioned this vast park, comprising some 1,300 acres (5 km²) of land and located in the center of the city, as a major recreational playground for new yorkers. when the 1939/1940 world's fair ended in financial failure, moses did not have the available funds to complete work on his project. he saw the 1964/1965 fair as a means to finish what the earlier fair had begun.
to ensure profits to complete the park, fair organizers knew they would have to maximize receipts from the fair. an attendance of seventy million people would be needed in order to turn a profit and, for an attendance that large to be possible, the fair would need to be held for two years. the world's fair corporation also decided to charge site rental fees to all exhibitors who wished to construct pavilions on the fairgrounds. this decision caused the fair to come to terms with the bureau of international expositions (bie), the international body headquartered in paris that sanctions world's fairs. the united states was not a member of the bie at the time but fair organizers understood that a sanction by the bie would assure that its nearly forty member nations would participate in the fair.
bie rules stated that an international exposition may run for one six-month period only, no rent may be charged to exhibitors who wish to participate and only one exposition may be held in any given country within a 10-year period. both seattle, washington and montreal, canada, had already been sanctioned by the bie to host world's fairs in 1962 and 1967 respectively at the time new york put their world's fair bid before the bie in 1960. robert moses, undaunted by these rules, journeyed to paris to seek official approval for the new york fair. when the bie balked at new york's bid, moses, used to having his way in new york, angered the bie delegates by taking his case to the press, publicly stating his disdain for their organization and their rules. the bie retaliated by taking the action of formally requesting their member nations not to participate in the new york fair. the 1939/1940 and 1964/1965 new york world's fairs were the only significant world's fairs in history to be held without bie endorsement.
international participation
the bie decision was nearly a disaster for the fair. the absence of canada, australia, most of the major european nations and the soviet union, all members of the bie, tarnished the image of the fair. additionally, new york was forced to compete with both seattle and montreal for international participants, with many nations choosing the officially sanctioned world's fairs of those cities over the new york fair. the fair turned to trade and tourism organizations within many countries to host national exhibits in lieu of official government sponsorship of pavilions.
new york city, in the middle of the 20th century, was at a zenith of economic power and world prestige. unconcerned by bie rules, nations with smaller economies (as well as private groups in (or relevant to) some bie members) saw it as an honor to host an exhibit at the fair in the world's most prestigious city. therefore smaller nations and third world countries made up the majority of the international participation. spain, vatican city, japan, mexico, sweden, austria, denmark, thailand, philippines, greece, and pakistan, to name some, hosted national presences at the fair.
one of the fair's most popular exhibits was the vatican pavilion where michelangelo's pietà was displayed, and a small plaza marking the spot (and pope paul vi's visit in october 1965) remains there. a recreation of a medieval belgian village proved to be very popular also. there, fairgoers were treated to a new taste sensation in the form of the "bel-gem waffle" — a combination of waffle, strawberries and whipped cream. as "belgian waffles" they continue to be sold in america. a couple in brussels, belgium—maurice vermersch and his wife are credited for the creation of belgian waffles. the name of their product was changed from the brussel waffle to the belgian waffle when they arrived at the fair.
fairgoers could also enjoy sampling sandwiches from around the world at the popular seven up international gardens pavilion which featured the innovative fiber glass seven up tower. while dining, visitors were treated to live performances of international music by the 7-up continental band as well as musical selections from the broadway stage .
elsewhere emerging african nations displayed their wares in the africa pavilion. controversy broke out when the jordanian pavilion displayed a mural emphasizing the plight of the palestinian people. the jordanians also donated an ancient column which remains at their site. the city of west berlin, a cold war hot-spot, hosted a popular display.
american industry in the spotlight
at the 1939/1940 world's fair, industrial exhibitors played a major role by hosting huge, elaborate exhibits. many of them returned to the 1964/1965 fair with even more elaborate versions of the shows they had presented twenty-five years earlier. the most notable of these was general motors corporation whose futurama, a show in which visitors seated in moving chairs glided past detailed scenery showing what life might be like in the "near-future," proved to be the fair's most popular exhibit. nearly twenty-six million people took the journey into the future during the fair's two-year run.
other popular exhibits included that of the ibm corporation, where a giant five hundred-seat grandstand was pushed by hydraulic rams high up into a rooftop theater. there, a nine-screen film showed the workings of computer logic. ibm also demonstrated handwriting recognition on a 350 series mainframe computer running a program to lookup what happened on a particular date that a person wrote down—the first interaction for many on a computer. the bell system hosted a fifteen-minute ride in moving armchairs depicting the history of communications in dioramas and film. other bell exhibits included the picture phone (to go on sale at the time of the fair) as well as a demonstration of the computer modem. dupont presented a musical review by composer michael brown called "the wonderful world of chemistry." at parker pen, a computer would make a match to a worldwide international penpal. the westinghouse corporation planted a second time capsule next to the 1939 one; today both westinghouse time capsules are marked by a monument southwest of the unisphere which is to be opened in the year 6964. some of its contents were a world's fair guidebook, an electric toothbrush, credit cards and a 50-star u.s. flag.
the sinclair oil corporation sponsored dinoland, featuring life-size replicas of nine different dinosaurs, including the corporation's signature brontosaurus. an informal poll of youngsters under eight years of age who attended the fair indicated that they overwhelmingly considered dinoland to be the "coolest" exhibit at the fair. after the fair closed, dinoland spent a period of time as a traveling exhibit.
the fair was also a showplace for independent films. one of the most noted was a religious film titled "parable" which showed at the protestant pavilion. it depicted humanity as a traveling circus and christ as a clown[23]. this marked the beginning of a new depiction of jesus[24], and was the inspiration for the musical, godspell. "parable" later went on be honored at cannes, as well as the edinburgh film festival and venice film festival.
the surprise hit of the fair was a non-commercial movie short presented by the sc johnson company (s.c. johnson wax) called "to be alive!" the film celebrated the joy of life found worldwide and in all cultures. the movie went on to win an academy award in 1966.
ford motor company introduced the ford mustang automobile to the public at their pavilion on april 17, 1964.
disney influence
the fair also is remembered as the vehicle walt disney utilized to design and perfect the system of "audio-animatronics," in which a combination of sound and computers[citation needed] control the movement of life-like robots to act out scenes. the walt disney company designed and created four shows at the fair:
* in the "it's a small world" attraction at the pepsi pavilion, animated dolls and animals frolicked in a spirit of international unity on a boat-ride around the world. the song was provided by the sherman brothers.
* general electric sponsored "progressland" where an audience seated in a revolving auditorium saw an audio-animatronics presentation of the progress of electricity in the home. the sherman brothers song "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow" was composed for this attraction.
* ford motor company presented disney's "the magic skyway," the second most popular exhibit at the fair, using ford cars in an early prototype of the omnimover system[citation needed] to move the audience through scenes featuring life-sized audio-animatronic dinosaurs and cavemen. the walt disney company had earlier been asked by general motors to produce their exhibit, but they declined. when walt disney heard that someone had told ford no, he fired them[citation needed] and told ford that they would definitely design their pavilion.
* at the illinois pavilion, a life-like president abraham lincoln recited his famous speeches in "great moments with mr. lincoln."
after the fair, there was some discussion of the disney company retaining these exhibits on-site and converting flushing meadows park into an east coast version of disneyland, but this idea was abandoned. instead, disney relocated several of these exhibits to disneyland, and subsequently replicated them at other disney theme parks; walt disney world is essentially the realization of the original concept of an "east coast disneyland" with epcot center being designed to be a "permanent" world's fair in 1982 and was expressly built as a tribute to the world's fair. two attractions from the fair exist at walt disney world, including a variation of the original "it's a small world" and the updated carousel of progress.
federal and state exhibits
the federal exhibit was titled "challenge to greatness" and focused on president johnson's "great society" proposals. the main show in the multi-million dollar pavilion was a fifteen-minute ride through a filmed presentation of american history. visitors seated in moving grandstands rode past movie screens that slid in, out and over the path of the traveling audience. elsewhere, there were tributes to president john f. kennedy, who had broken ground for the pavilion back in december 1962 but had been assassinated in november 1963 before the fair opened.
new york state played host to the fair at its six million dollar open-air pavilion called the "tent of tomorrow." designed by famed modernist architect philip johnson, the pavilion also boasted the fair's high spot observation towers. the main floor of the pavilion was a large scale design of a texaco highway map of new york state. an idea floated around after the fair to use the floor for the world trade center but it didn't materialize. once the red ceiling tiles were removed from the pavilion in the late 1970s, the floor was subject to the elements of weather and is now ruined.
wisconsin exhibited the "world's largest cheese." florida brought a dolphin show, a talented cockatoo from miami's parrot jungle, and water skiers to new york. oklahoma gave weary fairgoers a restful park to relax in. missouri displayed the state's space-related industries. visitors could dine at hawaii's "five volcanoes" restaurant. at the new york city pavilion, a huge scale model of the city of new york was on display complete with a simulated helicopter ride for easy viewing. left over from the 1939 fair, this building had also hosted the united nations from 1947-1952.
failure of amusements
one of the fair's major shortcomings was the absence of a midway. the fair's organizers were opposed, on principle, to the honky-tonk atmosphere engendered by midways, and this was another thing that irked the bie, which insisted that all officially sanctioned fairs have a midway. what amusements the fair actually had ended up being largely dull. the meadow lake amusement area wasn't easily accessible anyway, and officials objected to shows being advertised. furthermore, although the amusement area was supposed to remain open for 4 hours after the exhibits closed at 10 p.m., the fair presented a fountain-and-fireworks show every night at 9 p.m. at the pool of industry. fairgoers would see this show and then leave the fair rather than head over to the amusement area; one was hard pressed to see anyone on the fair grounds by midnight. the fair's big entertainment spectacles, including the "wonder world" at the meadow lake amphitheater, "to broadway with love" in the texas pavilion, and dick button's "ice-travaganza" in the new york city pavilion, all closed early, with heavy losses. it was apparent that the fairgoers didn't go to the fair for its entertainment value, especially as there was plenty of entertainment in manhattan.
controversial ending
the fair ended in controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement. controversy had plagued it during much of its two-year run. the fair corporation had taken in millions of dollars in advance ticket sales for both the 1964 and 1965 seasons. however, the receipts of these sales were booked entirely against the first season of the fair.this made it appear that the fair had plenty of operating cash when, in fact, they were borrowing from the second season's gate to pay the bills. before and during the 1964 season, the fair spent much money despite attendance that was below expectations. by the end of the 1964 season moses, and the press, began to realize that there would not be enough money to pay the bills and the fair teetered on bankruptcy.
while the 1939-1940 new york world's fair returned 40 cents on the dollar to bond investors, the 1964/1965 fair returned only 10 cents on the dollar.
reuse of pavilions
like its predecessor, the 1964/1965 new york world's fair lost money. it was unable to repay its financial backers their investment and it became embroiled in legal disputes with its creditors until 1970, when the books were finally closed and the new york world's fair 1964-1965 corporation was dissolved. most of the pavilions constructed for the fair were demolished within six months following the fair's close. while only a handful of pavilions survived, some of them traveled great distances and found reuse following the fair:
* the austria pavilion became a ski lodge in western new york.
* the wisconsin pavilion's front tee-pee-like portion became a radio station in neillsville, wisconsin. the pavilion's large rear structure that formed a squat-looking "h" (if seen from above) is the combined kitchen, dining hall, and recreation hall of camp ramah in upstate lakewood, pennsylvania.
* the us royal tire-shaped ferris wheel was relocated to become a road sign along interstate 94 in the metro detroit downriver community of allen park, michigan.
* the pavilion of spain relocated to st. louis, missouri and is now a part of a hilton hotel.
* the parker pen pavilion became offices for the lodge of four seasons in lake of the ozarks, missouri.
* the johnson wax disc-shaped theater was reworked and became part of the s.c. johnson wax complex in racine, wisconsin designed by frank lloyd wright.
* the stained glass windows from the vatican pavilion were built into saint mary's church in groton, connecticut.
* the christian science pavilion became a church in poway, california. the structure was demolished in 2006.
* the mormon pavilion became a church in plainview, new york, dedicated december 2, 1967 and still in use.
* a large oil painting of a woman, painted in 1964 by roy lichtenstein and titled "new york world's fair", is in the weisman art museum in minneapolis, minnesota.
* the carillon from the coca-cola pavilion was moved to stone mountain park, near atlanta, georgia.
* as noted, the disney-created attraction "it's a small world" was transferred to disneyland, along with the "carousel of progress" and the first abraham lincoln audio-animatronics figure for the original "great moments with mr. lincoln" show. scenery and the audio-animatronics dinosaurs from the ford magic skyway show were installed in the disneyland railroad's primeval world diorama, and the attraction's actual omnimover ride system was improved upon and used for tomorrowland's peoplemover.
* some of the light fixtures that lined the walkways can be found still functioning at penn hills resort in the poconos, analomink, pennsyivania, the orange county fairgrounds in middletown, ny and canobie lake park in salem, new hampshire[26].
* the skyway gondolas were moved to six flags great adventure (then just great adventure).
new york city was left with a much improved flushing meadows park following the fair, taking possession of the park from the fair corporation in june, 1967. it is heavily used for both walking and recreation. the paths and their names remain almost unchanged from the days of the fair.
at the center of the park stands the symbol of "man's achievements on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe" – the fair's unisphere symbol, depicting our earth of "the space age." (the unisphere later was made famous again in 1997 when it was featured in the film men in black.) the unisphere has become a symbol of queens, and has appeared on the cover of the county's phone books. today, with the fountains dry (except during the us open),[27] it is a popular skateboarding site. the city also received a multi-million dollar science museum and space park exhibiting the rockets and vehicles used in america's early space exploration projects.
both the new york state pavilion and the federal pavilion were retained for future use. no reuse was ever found for the federal pavilion and it became severely deteriorated and vandalized before being demolished in 1977. the new york state pavilion also found no residual use other than as tv and movie sets, such as an episode of mccloud; for the wiz; and part of the setting (and the plot) for men in black. in the decades after the fair closed, it remains an abandoned and badly neglected relic of the fair, with its roof gone the once bright floors and walls are almost faded away. in 1994, the queens theatre took over the circular circarama adjacent to the towers and continues to operate there, using the ruined state pavilion as a storage depot.
the space park deteriorated due to neglect, but the surviving rockets were restored and placed back on display in 2004. it is presently open again as part of the new york hall of science, a portion of which is a remnant of the fair. the fair's heliport has found reuse as a banquet / catering facility called "terrace on the park."
in 1978, flushing meadows-corona park, as it is now called, became the home of the united states tennis association and the us open tennis tournament is played there annually. the former singer bowl, later renamed louis armstrong stadium, was the tournament's primary venue until the larger arthur ashe stadium was built on the site of the former federal pavilion and opened in august 1997. collectively, the complex is called the usta national tennis center.
the r36 cars built for the irt 7 subway route that served the 1964 fair ran the route for over 39 years afterwards, with some cars lasting into 2003. some of them still survive today in work use or storage.
the former new york city building is home to the queens museum of art and continues to display the multi-million dollar model of the city of new york. this historic structure also (as of 2007) has an excellent display of memorabilia from the two fairs. the section where the early united nations general assembly met had now reverted back to its historic role as an ice skating rink.
shea stadium, while not part of the fair grounds proper, was opened at the same time as the fair and was listed in the fair's maps. it was the home of the new york mets baseball team until 2008. it was demolished and the space used for parking for the adjacent new stadium (citi field) in 2009.
commemorative postage stamps were produced for the fair, souvenir medals were issued, and a lot of memorabilia remains in private hands. there is significant interest in collecting these pieces. items of all types, many quite inexpensive, frequently appear in sales.
for many years the fair's amateur radio station console was used by the american radio relay league. later sold, in 2006 it was purchased by a collins radio collector in texas.
in 1995, pbs produced the 1964 world's fair, a 52-minute documentary about the fair, narrated by judd hirsch.
also, parts of universal studios florida in orlando, florida may have been inspired by the 1964 new york world's fair.[citation needed] the entrance to the park has a globe that resembles the unisphere with "universal studios" on it (although universal studios began using the globe as its logo decades earlier), and an area of the park called "world expo" that features worldly music and flags of many nations. in 1999, the world expo area expanded and opened the men in black: alien attack attraction with recreations of new york observatory towers in front of the building. the attraction itself is based on a fictional world's fair pavilion, you enter as a tourist but soon you ride an elevator to the facility and learn that you are trying out to be a part of the men in black.
walt disney moved most of his attractions from the fair to disneyland. today, "it's a small world" is still active, while mr. lincoln is currently on hiatus. parts of ford's magic skyway are installed along the disneyland railroad, while the carousel of progress still spins at walt disney world's magic kingdom. it's a small world is an attraction at all five disney magic kingdom-style parks, and its theme song is among the most popular on the planet. disney used the technologies from the fair to create arguably his greatest attraction, pirates of the caribbean, and epcot center's original attractions borrowed heavily from the audio-animatronic advances of the fair and its general ideals.
use in sports
many of the funds from the fair went into the building of shea stadium. this building served as home for the new york mets baseball team from 1964 to 2008. the stadium played host to the world series four times, in 1969, 1973, 1986, and 2000. the mets moved to the stadium from the aging polo grounds in manhattan. shea stadium also served as the home of the new york jets from 1964 to 1983, the new york yankees in 1974 and 1975 while yankee stadium was being renovated, and the new york giants in 1975. in the mets' new ballpark, citi field, there is a food court called the world's fare market which pays homage to the team's connection to the fair. the unisphere and the top of the ny pavilion can be seen from the food court entrance/exit.
1964年纽约世博会
1964年的纽约世界博览会本是为纪念纽约建城300周年而举办的。这次博览会是非bie的、民间主导的，也是世界历史上规模最大的博览会。因为商业气氛太浓而使参观者驻足不前。展期也最长，历时两年。然而这次世博会浓重的商业气氛，失去了纪念活动的意义。
基本资料
地点：美国纽约
place：new york usa
会期： 360天
duration：360 days
名称：纽约世界博览会
主题：通过理解走向和平
类别：综合类-1
category：general exhibition category 1
参观者：51670000
visitors：51670000
简介
1964年的纽约世界博览会因为商业气氛太浓而使参观者驻足不前。 从非功利的角度上讲，否定这次世界博览会的。
整个博览会包括200座建筑，并占有1939年博览会的部分旧址。它的标志建筑是一个高53米的不锈钢球体：优尼球体。本届博览会的主题是“通过理解架起和平之桥”。
博览会展示了全世界注目的复合屏幕、座椅连动式影像式娱乐、伏兹镜头、“这是小世界”，特别值得一提的是展示了可口可乐。到今天，可口可乐已是世界上最有影响力的饮料，也是美国方式最具体的代表。
失去意义
由于巨大的投资，创办者使尽浑身解数，期望用各式各样的商业来收回投资。做买卖的氛使观众驻足不前，虽然在两年中得到了516 0多万美元的收入，但仍是入不敷出。
对商业的排斥是世界博览会逐步形成的格局，作为展示与交流，世界博览会谋求最多的是通过这样的形式，创造人类交流的和平与合作的气氛。虽然世界博览会将促进商业上的沟通与交流，带来主办国的经济发展因素，但这不是世界博览会的题中之义。在逐步的发展中，创办者和创办组织都自觉地排斥太多的功利性，追求四海一家的交流氛围，违背这一追求的1964年纽约世界博览会失败了。
反复强调的世界博览会的梦，这个梦之所以能够做下去，而且能结出或多或少的果实，也正在于它对功利尽量排斥，对人类共同理想尽量扩展，尽量关注。在人文发展的基线上，世界博览会贡献了最宝贵的人类精神。
标志建筑
1964年纽约世博会会徽仍是一个地图，上面分布着世界各国的位置，象征最新通讯与运输技术的曲线环绕着四周，说明科技促进着各国间的交流，缩短了世界的距离，在展会中心，这个用不锈钢制成高42.6米的会徽造型示意着从9600公里的高度看到的地球大小。
是由美国钢铁公司建造的巨型不锈钢地球仪，直径达36米，重约90万镑，堪称世界上最大的地球模型，象征了世界和平，很好地表达了世博会主题。
世博会旧址
纽约昆斯区的法拉盛草坪－可乐娜公园上世纪初还是一片沼泽地和垃圾堆放场，但在承办过两次世界博览会后，现已建成纽约市第二大园林公园。记者近日再次慕名走访，领略岁月苍桑给当地带来的巨变。
从博览会原来的大门进入公园，入口处的篷架还是老照片中原有的模样。因2月底的纽约仍是春寒料峭，公园里游客寥寥，已没有去年夏日记者首次参观时人们成群结伴、儿童相互嬉戏的热闹景象，只有一队中学生利用这里的足球场地，在老师的号令下做着体育活动，与萌发绿意生机的林木相映成趣。
共举办三次世博会
纽约作为国际大都会，共举办过三次世界博览会。除了1853年的第二届世博会外，20世纪的两次博览会都在法拉盛草坪－可乐娜公园举办。
1939年的那次，是为了纪念美国首任总统华盛顿宣誓就职150周年，其主题是“明天的世界”。1964年则正值纽约市建市300周年，由于当时世界安全和太空探索成为热门话题，那届博览会的主题就成了“增加理解促进和平”和“人类在宇宙时代的成就”。
曾任纽约市园林局长的罗伯特?摩西是争取承办纽约世博会、并实现将会址建成昆斯区最大休闲场所梦想的主要推动者。不过，由于1939年的世博会出现亏损，原先会址荒芜，为了筹措经费举办1964年世博会，摩西不惜违反国际展览局的规定，对参展国家和地区以及私营公司收取租金，因此，这一届世博会并没有得到正式批准，欧洲的大部分国家也没有参加。在只有36个国家和地区参展的情况下，组委会不得不邀请美国的21个州加入进来。美国许多大公司也出资兴建自己的展馆，使得占地25万平方米场地上的展馆总数达到140个。这次博览会的参观者达到了5100万人次，创下新的记录。
世博会旧址大变样
历经近40年的风雨，当年世博会的100多座展馆现仅存4座，其中科技馆、昆斯艺术博物馆、公园剧院等仍在对外开放。但世博会化腐朽为神奇，将沼泽地和垃圾场从人们的记忆中抹去，取而代之的是优美的园林公园。那里矗立着一个当年由美国钢铁公司建造的直径达36米的巨型不锈钢地球仪，它如今仍堪称世界上最大的地球模型。
经过几十年的整修扩建，由世博会会址改建的公园面积已扩大到56万平方米，拥有动物园、水上乐园、溜冰场、高尔夫球场、足球场、网球场、棒球场等众多娱乐设施。其中美国国家网球中心就设在公园内，先后建立的路易斯?阿姆斯特朗运动场和阿瑟?阿什运动场成为每年一度的美国网球公开赛的比赛场地。
还准备扩建新项目
法拉盛草坪－可乐娜公园公关部经理库玛小姐介绍说，公园管理部门正在准备增建一些新的项目，包括建立儿童游乐场地和游泳池等，同时将对锈迹斑斑，存在安全隐患的纽约州展馆进行评估，以决定是否继续保留。
据报道，已有民间团体建议保留这一历史性建筑，将其改建成航空博物馆。人们有理由相信，经过纽约人不断的努力，这个昔日的世博会会址将以更加美丽的姿态吸引海内外游客