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I remember the day vividly. It was one
of those picture-perfect summer days where you could just lay
in the grass for hours and watch the white puffy clouds drift
by against a perfect blue backdrop. But there would be no lazing
around today! Today was a day for adventure and it was about
to begin right now!
My grandfather and I pile into my parent's
old Chrysler New Yorker and stop to pick up my friend before
we get on the Long Island Expressway for the drive to the Park.
Once we're on the highway I turn on the radio. My grandfather
doesn't mind pop music. As we listen to the latest rock and disco
tunes we drive along on this warm summer day with the windows
rolled down counting the exits one-by-one. This is necessary
because the old Chrysler has this nasty habit of overheating
in the summertime if the air conditioning is used!
What a sight it is to approach the Park
from the east on the LIE. Just as you pass over that last rise,
all of a sudden, the Park is upon you. Wow! The Unisphere, New
York State Pavilion and Heliport look so large. At this point,
both my friend and I are trying to imagine what it must have
looked like when this view was filled with the kaleidoscope of
structures that comprised the Fair. My grandfather is smiling;
not because of us but because, in his mind, he can see what we
can only imagine.
Finally we are here. My grandfather slowly
drives off the LIE onto the service road next to the Grand Central
Parkway and into the Park through what was once the New Amsterdam
Gate. Wow! Look at those stone markers. They are engraved to
commemorate two World's Fairs. Hey, there's the Fair Administration
Building! And look over there -- it's the Press Building. Drive
slow grandpa, there's some cops out front. My friend and I are
hanging out the window like dogs at this point soaking in every
detail.
A little background about New York in general
and the Park specifically: It's the mid-seventies and New York
is on the verge of bankruptcy. In Manhattan, bridges and roads
are literally falling down around people for lack of funds to
maintain them. You wouldn't let your child wander through Times
Square alone for all of the drug dealers, hookers and adult bookstores
around and the subways are a very dangerous and intimidating
ride at their graffiti-covered best. Out
in Queens things are not going much better at Flushing Meadows.
They've just announced that the U.S. Open will be moving to the
Park soon from its current home in Forest Hills. The fountains
don't work. Almost everything and every building has been vandalized
or abandoned for lack of interest and funds so the Park Service
can barely keep up on cutting the grass or picking up the trash.
While this is bad for the Park this is very good for us since
this will give us almost unlimited access to go or see anything
that we want to by car. This is going to be especially helpful
to this little adventure since my grandfather is suffering from
asbestos on his lungs which prevents him from walking very long
distances.
And so our adventure starts. Soon after
we pass the Press Building we come to a bridge over the Grand
Central Parkway that allows us to drive into the old Transportation
section of the Fairgrounds and right by the Hall of Science.
My grandfather stops and describes to us the type of wiring and
lighting he did in the Great Hall. Unfortunately we can't go
inside since it's closed today but we can walk around the Space
Park. All the display panels are overgrown with weeds and bushes
and one of the rocket boosters has fallen down off of its pedestal.
Being a big science fiction fan I think this is what would happen
to the world if some great war caused mankind to abandon its
cities.
Next stop, the Heliport. Wow! It's so much
bigger up close. It's such a shame they let those panels on the
underside fall out. Across the way is the zoo. Is it possible
that dome is from the Fair? No time to look up-close. We have
so much more to see. "Stop!" my friend calls out. "The
map says this is where the General Motors Pavilion was!"
My grandfather stops and we pile out of the car. We all stand
there in awe. It's hard to believe that one of the biggest and
most popular exhibits at the Fair stood on this very spot. But
it did; and all we can see now in its place is a baseball field.
Next stop: the New York State Pavilion.
Back over the other bridge into the main part of the Park again.
We stop in front of this most imposing structure. The colorful
roof is gone now. All that is left are the support cables and
center ring. There is graffiti on much of the outside walls but
looking through the gates on three sides, the interior doesn't
look too badly damaged. Damn! I wish we could squeeze through
one of these gates to see the largest map of NYS in the world
or get one of those elevators to work so we could view the Fairgrounds
from the highest point in the Park.
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