Subsonic Radio

On a trip to NYC last week I finally got to go to Flushing Meadows, site of the 1939-40 and 1964-65 World's Fairs. Although Walt's imprint is all over the latter fair, I am particularly fond of the 1939 one. If I could go back in time, this is where I'd go first.



The area is one giant park, with the US Open Tennis grounds on one side, museums on another, and lots of grass in between. Still, there are some remnants including the 140 foot high Unisphere from the 1964 fair:



And of course the towers made famous in the first Men In Black movie and, more recently, Iron Man 2. Rusting peacefully.

That is very cool that you got to go there. It is too bad they couldn't have preserved the site.

Cool pictures!! I haven't been there since 1964.

It was fun just walking on some of the streets where you knew fair goers walked.

horizons1 wrote:It was fun just walking on some of the streets where you knew fair goers walked.

It was featured in a CSI:NY episode a while back so I tried to soak in as much as I could through the tv

I have driven past that once or twice and it really is a shame to see it all rusting away. I too really wished that somebody would have preserved the site.

Same was true for the WF site in Belgium from back in the 1950's, but within the last 10 years it's centerpiece - the Atomium - got completely renovated. Who knows? Maybe someone will do the same for NYWF site one day?

Very cool! I would love to step back in time and attend the World's Fair! What were those towers used for???

I will actually be up there later this month for the Maker Faire being held right around the corner at the New York Hall of Science http://makerfaire.com/newyork/2010/

I haven't been to the worlds fair grounds yet, but I am going to make special early bird trip there to catch the sunrise. Your pics are really good.

boilerbabe wrote:Very cool! I would love to step back in time and attend the World's Fair! What were those towers used for???

The towers are observation towers from the 1964 Fair. They used to have "bullet" elevators attached to the outsides.

The streets are carryovers from the 1939 Fair, so there is a lot of history.

Dr. Ravenscroft wrote:I will actually be up there later this month for the Maker Faire being held right around the corner at the New York Hall of Science http://makerfaire.com/newyork/2010/

I haven't been to the worlds fair grounds yet, but I am going to make special early bird trip there to catch the sunrise. Your pics are really good.

Be sure to take a few photos to share