Perhaps the most curious structure in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the New York State Pavilion. It is an unusual relic of the 1964 World’s Fair. Let me tell you about the New York State Pavilion.
The New York State Pavilion was designed by architect Philip Johnson. Its observation towers gave fairgoers views over the fairgrounds. They looked out to the rest of the city. The Tent of Tomorrow was the adjoining elliptical arena. It shaded a massive map of the Empire State. This map had a cable-suspended roof of multicolored glass.
Unlike its companions, the New York State Pavilion has not benefited from much upkeep. It has not had any use since it was shuttered in 1976. But on the 50th anniversary of the opening day of the 1964 World’s Fair, the Tent of Tomorrow was open to the public. It was a rare and momentary viewing.
Public access to the historic New York State Pavilion is worth celebrating. However brief it may be access is uncertain. The City’s Parks Department released cost estimates for three possible paths forward. It would cost $14 million for demolition. It would cost $43 million for stabilization with no public access. Or it would cost $52 million for restoration into an active attraction. Setting aside the debate over whether the New York State Pavilion is a treasure or blight, these numbers don’t bode well for the chronically underfunded park.
The New York State Pavilion has found a new advocate in Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. She plans to request $14 million from the City Council. This would get a restoration process underway. A community group called People for the Pavilion is pursuing preservation and restoration. They join a longstanding crew of community volunteers. They have kept the New York State Pavilion painted in its characteristic red and white strips since 2009.
The 50th anniversary of the ’64 Fair will bring renewed attention to the state of the New York State Pavilion. It may bring renewed interest in a future life for its towers and tent.
For now, the New York State Pavilion stands as a monument to the challenges of preservation. It shows the cost of deferred maintenance. All this is in a park that exemplifies inequitable park funding in New York. For those reasons alone, the New York State Pavilion deserves a visit.
The New York State Pavilion drew an estimated 51 million visitors to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. People celebrated culture technology and man’s achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe. The Pavilion is a monumental concrete and steel structure. It combined a theater three observation towers and a 100-foot high open-air elliptical ring.
The Pavilion’s main exhibition space dazzled and delighted fairgoers. It featured the world’s largest suspension roof and a 567-panel terrazzo road map of the Empire State. A vast majority of the structures constructed for the World’s Fair were either demolished or relocated. The New York State Pavilion remained in active use for years as a community roller rink and concert venue.
The New York State Pavilion is a remarkable relic. It represents not only World’s Fair architecture but also this fascinating era in American history. Architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable called it a runaway success. She said it was a sophisticated frivolity. She felt it was seriously and beautifully constructed. She called it carnival with class.
In 2016, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and People for the Pavilion hosted the New York State Pavilion Ideas Competition. The competition sought to raise awareness across Queens and around the world of the New York State Pavilion and its possible future uses.
In April 2023, the New York City Parks Department completed the first phase of stabilization work on the structure. The department is in the planning stages of a second-phase restoration project. This could ultimately allow the observation towers to open.