My parents took me to that fair all the way from Pittsburgh. I was 12. I took pictures with my Official Kodak Worlds Fair Camera. I loved the fair and everything in it & so did my parents. I will be 71 next month.
@@RoundABoutStudio I just donated to the People"s Pavilion. It wasn't much but I felt a little was better than doing nothing. When I was very young and in the hospital my father gave me one wish. I asked to go to the World's Fair. He moved heaven and earth to get us there and I will never forget the wonders I saw. Thank you for this film.
😢I remember my family before Amtrak took the train up from Baltimore, and rode the subway out to Flushing Queens. First I had to get used to the name…Flushing. It was so magical. It was as the the song says “How you going to keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen the lights of the city”. The visit to New York was an experience in itself, but on top of that the experience of the fair with all the exhibitions, and seeing many different people. It was powerful. I remember one exhibit that allowed you to test your musical abilities by repeating patterns of tones. I discovered I had perfect pitch and scored 100%. A career in music was my obvious take away. The fair was amazing in so many other ways that fed my 15 yr old imagination. But again being exposed to so many different people from all over the world made me want to travel as soon as I could manage it. I thank my parents for the experience.
Beautifully done. My parents frequented the Fair so I’m somewhat sentimental about this. They absolutely loved it. Hopefully someday in the near future NYC can do the right thing and support a total restoration.
It won't take a fortune to restore if carpenter masons and fixer uppers just decide to do it. Believe me, yours is a cake walk while others arduous and harmful. Recall Ted Wheeler!
It seems this documentary on the World's Fair Pavilion started being shared and gaining awareness in early March of 2023 after being posted to UA-cam for nearly a year and a half! Interesting how the algorithm works, eh? I remember driving by it with my parents as a child and always wondering what it was like in its heyday. I’m sure you’re thrilled to see it finally getting the recognition it deserves, Matthew. Not sure what avenue you're choosing to take with film, but documentary filmmaking should be one of them. Here's to well over a million views by the end of this year!
@@RoundABoutStudio 😊👍 Fabulous job, Good Sir! Thank you so very much for sharing this little treasure! I was there in '64, a 14-year-old, from Maryland, with my family. It was glorious! It hurt to see what happened to it. So much potential, left to, basically, demolition by neglect. It still hurts to see it, knowing how it was, but it hurts a lot less now. Random suggestion? I don't know who to say it to, but I'm sure you have connections I could never reach, so I'll tell you. Since money, and agenda, as usual, seem to be the holdups . . . Perhaps contact the 'old' bands --- what's left of them --- and/or maybe even new bands, Broadway, other known money sources . . . What about Benefit Concerts? Proceeds to be in a fund to save and restore the Pavillion to, if not its former glory, to at least some sort of glory that it deserves. David Gilmour has done benefits for Ukraine. Other bands and plays and concerts have done benefits for various causes. Band Aid. Farm Aid. We Are the World. Springsteen. Mellencamp. Sting. Willie. Sorry. Just a Random Thought that popped into my head while watching your wonderful labor of love. Thank you again, for the nostalgia trip, and for the update. Nice to see people caring again, and for caring enough to do something about it.
My uncle was wounded in Germany during ww2 he was with his best friend when it happened! They were separated on the battlefield. My uncle survived with a limp. They were reunited at that worlds fair !my uncle’s friend was in a wheel chair and saw jack. They hadn’t seen each other since 44 or 45. He didn’t talk about the war but my aunts and my grandmother said it was the most emotional they had ever witnessed. What are the odds of that happening?
Couple of war heroes meeting again by coincidence, very cool. My sister was off a cruise ship in Mexico and saw her best friend from high school who was there but had gotten off a different ship. When stuff like this happens it makes we wonder how often it almost happens. Like maybe you only saw the back of a person’s head so you didn’t realize who they were. Or they weren’t on your plane but on the very next plane
SUPERB documentary with outstanding visuals, narrative, and music. I was captivated from beginning to end. You effectively transmitted to me the memories and observations of the people who spoke in this film. As I was there as a 10 year old in 1964, it has a special meaning for me. Thank you.
This is sickening when I think of the beauty of the actual 1964 and 1965 World's Fair. Those great memories turned into theurban filth and garbage seen today.
On October 7, 1965, I had just turned 15 Years old. I played in a Rock & Roll Band, and we got to play at the NY Pavilion. It's truly a cherished memory. I'd love to play there again, but would love to see it utilized for young entertainers, and for the enjoyment of public.
@@davidjackson7281 Sorry to say I didn't. We lived in Nassau County, about 45 minutes away from the Fair. The day we played, the drummers father packed the band into his station wagon. We did our set, packed up, and back home. I had been to the Fair earlier that year with friends. We had a blast! For what it's worth, I went to a Murray the K Easter Show in Manhattan to see the Young Rascals. Turns out on the same Bill was the first USA Appearance of The Cream & The Who. Very Cool!
@@Frank-in-NY Thanks for the nice recollection. Sounds likes the father was a cool "roadie". How long was your musical career? I am glad you had a blast at the Fair. I went to the Seattle fair. Did you have a chance to ever go to Freedom Land in the Bronx during its short lifespan? The Murray the K show sounds absolutely fantastic! Growing up in the Bay Area I saw a lot of shows. The Rolling Stones at Altamont being the biggest, naturally. Santana, Grateful Dead and others played at my hgh school. My two favorite guitarists that I saw were Alvin Lee of Ten Years After and Duane Allman. Did you go to Fillmore East? I never saw Cream who were a huge favorite. But I did see Jack Bruce, Traffic and Wings.
@@davidjackson7281 The drummers family treated the band extremely well. I was in Bands in and out till I was about 19, wrote some songs with some friends, recorded them, and try to shop for a record deal. Hard business. Then life happens. Marriage, Career, Family. I still play guitar, and took some piano lessons in my mid-thirties, I bang on that too.. Yes, I went to Freedom Land with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. I actually still have a few souvenirs. My favorite guitarist is Larry Carlton. Larry is a Grammy winning guitarist (Hill Street Blues Theme). He wrote and played the Guitar Solo on Steely Dan's song "Kid Charlemagne" . I saw him play it with Steely Dan on the Classics East Tour at Citifield. First Concert I went to was The Yardbirds opened by the Vagrants, at the Commack Arena. Geez...I saw Logins & Messiah, Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers at the Nassau Coliseum, Ed McMahon was the Host...Weird. Paul McCartney Several Times. Moody Blues at Jones Beach backed by the Long Island Philharmonic. Thinking of the Rascals, they did a Reunion Show at Jones Beach Theater. I met Jimmy Webb there. He is a Grammy winning songwriter; MacArthur Park, Up Up And Away, Wichita Lineman.....Shook my hand. That Made My Day! Never made it to the Fillmore East. Spent time roaming the Village, The Night Owl, Cafe Wha, Electric Circus....The Colors The Colors...Those were the days. HA! Never saw the Stones, great band! You saw some terrific acts for sure!
@@Frank-in-NY You saw some fantastic music as well. I had interest in the business of music and dabbled in it while in college (booking acts and promoting shows) but like you life happens. I totally agree and understand the music business is/was hard and brutal. Also, the 'golden age' of possible successful entry for me ended in the mid-seventies. I am glad you still play music. Meeting the phenomenal Jimmy Webb was surely a fantastic lifetime memory. I read his biography. He loved Corvettes. A great show I saw was another world-class guitarist Glen Campbell. I was a bit shy saying hi to Greg Allman at a Rite Aid Drug store in Novato, CA. The Rascals were fantastic and I loved Steely Dan. I am so glad you got to go to Freedom Land. Mary Weiss said seeing the Everly Brothers perform their harmonies there was a major musical influence for her. I love Queens and Staten Island.
My mom used to say that the fair is the reason I was born a few weeks early. You see my dad insisted that her 8-month Pregent wife go to the fair in late April 1965. Two days later her water broke and she had me. She insists that all of the walking and activities was a factor that induced her labor.
We drove from Oregon as a family to go here in 1965. My Grandparents lived in Corona just off the freeway and we would watch the lights at night. I was 7 years old, remember it well. Nice to see people are beginning to pay attention to the grounds. Its a shame it did not get developed properly years ago.
Whenever I have passed the World's Fair Pavilion and Unisphere, I think of my grandparents, who lived in Astoria. We made the trip from New Jersey regularly. I remember being in the back seat of a car as a boy looking out the window at low flying jets coming in and out of LaGuardia, Shea Stadium and the fairgrounds, which looked like something of a relic even in the mid 70s. But that place always drew my eyes to it with a sense of wonder. As an adult I would drive by it with more frequency when I lived on Long Island. I never knew about the giant map before, which was quite impressive. And seeing the fairgrounds as they had functioned when it was shiny and new, immediately compared to its rather quick decay was very interesting. It's great to see that restoration efforts have been made by a small but very committed group of preservationists. Those grounds do deserve a lasting residence because the architecture enduringly captures the imagination. Nicely done.
I was born right when the fair ended. My grandfather would take me there on Sundays when I was 5-6 years old and we would ride the tram around the park. I hope it gets restored.
Wow I skated in this place back in 1973/74. It was a great place and I loved the floor which is a map of New York State! Thanks for bring back a great memory of my childhood!
When you got off the train and walked down the ramp to enter it was magical.The happiest of places,felt so safe,schools came by,families,friends played in the bands,the foreign costumes represented, all so peaceful ,gorgeous,and after we had a big pool and lake with boats to go to on weekends.Never been anything like this since.
Thanks for this. I was unaware of the documentary. I actually teared up when I found the fate of the terrazzo NYS map. Like many other kids who toured that fair, I remember standing on the map of my hometown, feeling like a colossus. I pass the ruins regularly, but the loss of that floor - that gorgeous floor - sigh...I think that hurts me even more than the loss of that colorful roof. It's in interesting perspective to view the planning, building and preservation of the site as an adult rather than just relying on my childhood memories of the fair. Again, thank you!
This is the best movie of Architecture I've seen in my life. Every aspect of it was shown, from drawings, conception, construction, using, the archives and more. But it also about the communauty saving his heritage and uniqueless. From dream til ruins, then, the emerging of hope. Thank you.
Goosebumps. I went to the Worlds Fair 64/65' as a child and also roller skated there in the early 70's. We would come from Astoria and play tag in all the abandoned buildings left over from the fair. On a Sunday Flushing Meadows park was a ghost town. This brings back memories. Thanks
My parents went to the 1939/1940 fair and I went with them to the 1964/1965 fair when I was only 3 years old, but I still remember it!!! It was glorious! I continued to go to Flushing Meadows Park here and there when I was older until I moved away from Queens in 1975. It is wonderful to remember the good old days and the wonderful life and times that I shared with my family living in Queens. Driving past these beautiful structures was always a great reminder of my fun childhood!. I now tell my children about the great NY World's Fair and what an impact it made on my 3 year old mind! I hope that the Pavillion can be restored and enjoyed again!!
When I become, a successful singer, I will do everything I can to find a purpose for this building. I am only 25 years old but I love the history behind it. I remember going to the airport twice in my life, and I never been up close to it before. Only from the Grand Central Parkway, but every time I see this building it mesmerizes me. I am infatuated with the history and would love to one day have it be renovated and used as a concert hall. It would be so fitting to have a concert hall and a theatre together. It genuinely warms my heart.
Went there with my aunt in the sixties it was great. I will always remember my time at the world’s fair A lot of futuristic stuff and a helicopter ride I still have a idea of that fair in my memories.😊
@@johndor8772 I wonder what you saw when you were there. I love helicopter rides, there used to be one in Coney Island but they got rid of it. I'm sure the worlds fair version was much better. I love hearing about peoples experiences from the world fair. I am fascinated by the worlds fair. Makes me realize I was born in the wrong time period 😔
@@VoiceActingGod I am from Philadelphia so it was different for me but the GM display was cool and now at sixty eight I still have a picture of the metal globe in my mind and I have been to about thirty Belmont s Saratoga saw easy goer at the big A.Saw Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway in the seventies so I saw much in the city . I always liked different things and people the fair was a once in a lifetime thing , My aunt was a little nuts but I was grateful she took me.
Great documentary Matthew. I was in junior high school in 1965, and attended the WF with my parents. My dad was in a medical residency in Baltimore, and this was my first trip to the City. It was a beautiful day in late summer , and we took the train out to Flushing Meadows. Once you came down the ramp, and into the fair proper, it was like entering the Garden of Earthly Delights, full of exotic smells, and people from all over the world. The line to see the Mona Lisa was too long, so I wandered over to the exhibit showing the wrist watch TV, just like Dick Tracy. I also loved the ride in the GM Pavillion as well. We were, as a country then, on top of the world, and I can still conjure up that distant feeling. I think I slept on the train ride back to Manhattan. The great historian Gibbon wrote this about Ancient Rome, "Paths of Glory led but to ruin" How prescient he was. Keep up your excellent work. Thanks.
Very well done! I have always been mesmerized by this site and the history of the structures, aside from the "Men In Black" fame....this is an EXCELLENT doc Mr. Silva!
I went to it with the school group. The Pieta by Michelangelo was brought to and displayed at this fair. It was not insured for the trip because it is priceless.
Also the Post Office Tower in London built around the same time still looks good today in my opinion. Although I’ve lived all of my 58 years in England I’ve never seen the building with the towers until now ! Thanks for this 😁👍
My parents went to that fair. I was 7 when it opened. Growing up, we had a mix of glasses in the kitchen to drink from. No Martha Stewart complete collection stuff! But we had two large tall glasses that had stained glass type of images on the outside that had this World's Fair structures. It was a treat when we were allowed to use those. I see some of those types of glasses on sale on Ebay and Amazon, etc. going about $20 USD a piece. They were very pretty glasses and quite unique for 1965 and added color to our kitchen cabinet insides
I lived in Queens - late 60s early 70s - until I was four, and I remember my mom taking us to Corona Park to skate in the ice rink. One of the few things I remember from back in that time. Great documentary. What a shame that they didn't preserve this landmark...the story about the floor of the map of NY 😢
What a wonderful building and I am so happy that they are preserving it. My world's fair experience is from Expo67 and the feeling in this film is a kindred spirit for the millions of people that hold Expo67 dear to their hearts.
I used to go digging for fragments,I still have ,one being a piece of plaster that has orange ,blue , gold gilded small tiles from one of the pavilions. Also inherited a collection of world fair memorabilia thousands of pieces from many fairs, from my dear partner. Sadly sold all.
My parents were married in October 1965. They spent their honeymoon here. (And I was born 9 months later. Hmmmmm) I have their photo album. Some cool postcards and photos. Dad was a car guy,so there is pix of Chysler's cool Turbine car and inside the G.M. pavilion.
I was 12, and my family had a lucky connection to Robert Moses. While I wish I recalled more, what is still in my memory banks is our being given an opportunity to get a circular spin around the pavilion in the turbine car and then given a plastic scale model of it that's unfortunately long gone. Your dad was right, the turbine car was cool but not at all practical in any way. They even knew that then at Chrysler it seems. I can't recall the subsequent reasons it was a non starter, yet it was a long list. Almost laughable really when it got sorted out. For a slew of like duh reasons, it seems a very BAD idea to use turbines of that era in cars, just not worth all the WTF hassles? ;-)
Great documentary. I attended the Worlds Fair as a 14 year old in 1965 and remember being so fascinated by the future predictions and the various pavilions. Approaching driving age, at the time I especially enjoyed the "Big Three" automobile companies exhibits. While unpacking some boxes from our last move several years ago I found at the very bottom the official fold out picture map of the Worlds Fair in perfect condition. I was so excited I brought it down to a local custom framing store and had it opened and framed. I hung it in my work office for all to see and it became quite the conversation piece. One of them remarked that something like another Worlds Fair might be just the thing to help bring this world together. God only knows that governments can't and in many cases won't. Does anyone out there know of any foundation or charitable organization dedicated solely to the saving/repurposing the New York State Pavilion?
Thanks for this video. It's inspiring to see the Fair guests so hopeful and happy in their Sunday clothes. It looked like a wonderful experience. I like the map. What a way to learn geography. We should do that more.
We just started getting Sinclair gasoline here in the Quad Cities in Davenport, Iowa. Of course it's not the same Sinclair as it was back in 1964-5, but the logo is the same. Just last night it was telling my friend about what it was like to be at the World's Fair and to go through the Sinclair exhibit and to come home with a blue Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Green Brontosaurus, models that we bought as souvenirs. I'll never forget the World's Fair. I'm so grateful thatI lived so close and had that experience. I remember it was a very very hot day and my mother and I took off our shoes and put our feet in the fountain at the Unisphere. It was wonderful!
I was there as a 4 year old and still remember the giant car, monsters made from car parts, the giant Uniroyal tire, those odd buildings looking like a stack of balls, It's a Small World, etc. We have a collection of slides my Dad took too.
when i was a kid i was in a marching band and we played there what a thrill it was the worlds fair was so wonderful its a small world lol its where it all began
At the age of 10, the high point of this fair was sitting in the driver's seat of a new Mustang convertible to ride through the Ford pavilion, obviously before I could drive. The low point was the incredibly obnoxious endless repetition of "It's A Small World" in the Pepsi pavilion, my introduction to a song I still despise. I have no specific memory of this building, which I guess I must have gone to, although I remember reading of the controversy about Andy Warhol's mural of the Most Wanted Men (and I think seeing where it had been), and I do remember watching a 360 degree movie someplace around this time, which could've been here. Of course, having now watched this documentary, I wonder if anything has actually been done in the nearly 10 years since it was filmed.
There was a racing video game I played, I can't remember which one but this pavilion was in it. I always forgot to look up its origin. Thanks for this documentary!
I've never been there, but I've known of the site through my own exploration of World Fair Historical Sites and Old Amusement Parks vlogs. I am OVERJOYED to see this and know that this Amazing part of Americana and New York State will be Preserved. THANK YOU to All who made all of this happen. Thank You ! :)
Very well done video. It brought back many nice memories from a long time ago. Good luck with the project! We need to preserve more of our past for future generations to appreciate. Great way to provide good paying, union jobs for young people. College isn't the answer for everyone.
It was used as Munchkin Land in the film The Wiz. That's how I initially found out about it. And then I watched a documentary about the Worlds Fair and I was like "Hey! That was in The Wiz!" 😄 And then, at one point in the film, the main characters were chased by the Flying Monkeys in Shea Stadium.
There are some basic lessons to be learnt here. Why can''t it be a sculpture, just the way it is, but maintained? The Trade fair missed a theme that is today and that is sustainability. Whats wrong with what it is? Its a moment in time when the organisors missed their mark on what the future would hold for this building, the future of New York and the future of sustainability. This video, and story is what the Pavilion brings to us now, it is very much alive. It is a field trip for every school to see in real life, the past, the now and the future. The economics of the Fair at the time, the failure to budget for the future, the contrast of the excessesses of the 1960's and our scarce resources today. The pavillion is very much alive today.
I didn’t attend the world’s fair. I was 8 or 9, but later, I believe I was in high school, we took a class trip to the fair grounds. They use to have a ride with a layout of the city and if memory serves me, you rode around the edge of the city. I don’t remember it being futuristic. It was an actual layout of New York.
Amazing how good they did make it . Its sad that it can't be totally repaired i understand why but its still great that these people have done till 2014
I was impressed by the sculptre of the world globe. Drove by the faur area maybe in 1980 was surprised the sculpture was still there, it looked quite lonely. If I could have taken it I would have.
In Turin, Italy the "Palazzo del Lavoro" now also known as "Palazzo Nervi" from the name of the architect has a very similar history, and also was astonishingly modern, built in 1961 for the fair Italia'61 (Italy'61) which celebrated 100 years of unified Italy; the fair had many baeutiful pavillions and was built around a park, also had its own monorail and cableway
I - unfortunately - wasn't born, yet, to have gone, but, I DO know that the 'na-sayers' of the fair (of which Life Magazime was one) said (I'm paraphrasing) that what the fair offered could be seen in any road-side shopping pavillions, and malls (this was the era of their birth), and didn't see the fair offering anything truly ...new, which, is pretty accurate, when you listen to this gentelman (John Kriskewiccz)'s comment here (15:24), about them (critics) 'not getting it'. Again, speaking as a native NYC'er, and lifelong resident, I ALWAYS wished to have seen it, but,I DO 'get it's, esp, because we, in NYC only lettuce 'doors open' to an onslaught of fast food franchises, etc, in the past 2-4 decades, and our 'mall'(the Mid-Manhattan Mall) was nothing compared to suburbia.BUT; it's the fact that we were NOT like 'any other place', as so many places have - VERY unfortunately - become. I also had to scratch my head's when they're (or, more accurately, the afformentioned Mr Kriskewiccz 🙄😩) talking about (16:49) 'Phil Johnson', the architect. Yeah, I'm VERY familiar with an architect, but, his name's 'Phillip Johnson', since when did this ... 'dumbing down, familiarisation - esp of someone who's been DEAD for several decades now, by people who weren't old enough to shave (IF he was even born whilst Mr Johnson was living) occur?!?!? (Yes , I DO like Mr Johnson's buildings, but, the NY State Pavillion, which they begin this very portion of the documentary by showing some people - mostly people from the area, who want to beautify the park, becasue no one else is doing anything - painting only a small portion,and the huge amount of settling which has caused huge movement in several sections to occur is NOT something I , nor I think (m)any architectural fans, or students of his point to as one of Johnson's 'best'.
We went to the fair for one day. I remember it was so hot. We didn't go back for a second day. But seeing this is a comedown. At least the people there are trying to fix it at the community level. They should call it the Robert Moses Industrial Memorial, a last hurrah of the industrial age. This fair occurred just before a series of strikes crippled and then drove New York City into bankruptcy in the mid-seventies. That the newly founded countries attended with the UN a few miles away was not lost on people. The Seattle Space Needle is the only Worlds Fair (1962) building that I know of that is still functioning of it's own accord.
I shot some footage last week and it looks like the city or orginazation is restoring it . I will soon release the footage later today. Love to interview anyone from this film to bring awareness and help out in anyway. The structures are so bad ... the place needs a face-lift. Maybe steve cohen can help?
comapred to everyone who went to the fair,im still in love with old world's faire building and spaces,so rich in history.my favorite one as to be Expo67 in Montreal cause i live around there.those event are so ephemereal but it stays in the collective memories for generations.It's nice to see peoples wanting to preserve as much as possible but its sad to see just like for expo67 the temporary mindset that countries and organisers have when they plan.wanted so much to be erased after wards...structures costing milliojns and millions of Dollars for what?just to show off for a couples of months?
From the 60s to the 70s is where employment exams were replaced by affirmative action hiring policies for state positions. Rather than education & mental acumen determining suitably for employment, positions were filled based upon equity quotas. The fallout from these policies was the statewide deterioration of infrastructure and widespread corruption.
People have always cared about the New York pavillian and at the time the fair closed, the city said they were going to use the pavillian as a permanent city building. That didn't happen. All care and up keep was abandoned and the building was left to rot. at the time the people wanted to turn the pavillion into a museum, the pilings were tested and found in serious need of restoration at that time.. That was 10 years ago. The city was notified and they did nothing to preserve the building. Now we have all the speeches and movements but nothing is being done to preserve the pilings, this is rather important since it is the pilings that give the building strenght and hold the roof up. but nothing has been done even now. I dont know where the point of no return will come, we may be past it already. Cities like to beat their chest and say the are going to do something but the buidling is still sitting there rotting away. The only result I can see coming is it being torn down, or falling down and being hauled to the dump. That is what will be New Yorks history.
@@RoundABoutStudio The guy appears twice in the video. I didn't see his name or title referenced anywhere but appears towards the end at about 1:09:31. To me anyway he bears a striking resemblance to the famous NJ-born actor I alluded to earlier, right down to the Jersey accent.
A new epoxy tiles, and canvas roof, new LEDs, after the sinking is repaired (Structural engineers) make a GoFundMe for it. Some boatsman mates chip, weld and paint.
When the Fair ended I heard they were "preserving" this exhibit. I thought it was a great idea. But then I said to myself there is no way in hell the City will do what is necessary to preserve it.
The ONLY way anything can be salvaged from these structures is for a private entity to acquire title to the property and eliminate the city from the project. As long as the NYC Parks department has any role whatsoever in the future of this facility, things will only continue to deteriorate.
Having been able to be at the Fair in 64-65, this doc is absolutely wonderful. Thank you Mr. Silva for posting it on UA-cam.
Did you have a chance to see any music entertainment such as the Shangri-Las. They had a day designated for them.
@louis Hazard .. +1 .. Fond memories. .. I was 7yo.
I went a couple of times also. I was 9 - 10 years old.
My parents took me to that fair all the way from Pittsburgh. I was 12. I took pictures with my Official Kodak Worlds Fair Camera.
I loved the fair and everything in it & so did my parents.
I will be 71 next month.
My 1984 high school prom was held at "Terrace on the Park" banquet hall in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, right next to the fair.
I didn't think I could sit through this and planned on jumping ahead to highlights, but it's well done and I watched the entire video.
Glad you enjoyed the film. It was really fun making it.
@@RoundABoutStudio I just donated to the People"s Pavilion. It wasn't much but I felt a little was better than doing nothing. When I was very young and in the hospital my father gave me one wish. I asked to go to the World's Fair. He moved heaven and earth to get us there and I will never forget the wonders I saw. Thank you for this film.
😢I remember my family before Amtrak took the train up from Baltimore, and rode the subway out to Flushing Queens. First I had to get used to the name…Flushing. It was so magical. It was as the the song says “How you going to keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen the lights of the city”. The visit to New York was an experience in itself, but on top of that the experience of the fair with all the exhibitions, and seeing many different people. It was powerful. I remember one exhibit that allowed you to test your musical abilities by repeating patterns of tones. I discovered I had perfect pitch and scored 100%. A career in music was my obvious take away. The fair was amazing in so many other ways that fed my 15 yr old imagination. But again being exposed to so many different people from all over the world made me want to travel as soon as I could manage it. I thank my parents for the experience.
Amazing story. Thank you for sharing!
Beautifully done. My parents frequented the Fair so I’m somewhat sentimental about this. They absolutely loved it. Hopefully someday in the near future NYC can do the right thing and support a total restoration.
It won't take a fortune to restore if carpenter masons and fixer uppers just decide to do it.
Believe me, yours is a cake walk while others arduous and harmful. Recall Ted Wheeler!
It seems this documentary on the World's Fair Pavilion started being shared and gaining awareness in early March of 2023 after being posted to UA-cam for nearly a year and a half! Interesting how the algorithm works, eh? I remember driving by it with my parents as a child and always wondering what it was like in its heyday. I’m sure you’re thrilled to see it finally getting the recognition it deserves, Matthew. Not sure what avenue you're choosing to take with film, but documentary filmmaking should be one of them. Here's to well over a million views by the end of this year!
The UA-cam algorithm is strange indeed. I released this film world wide almost ten years ago. 🤷♂️
@@RoundABoutStudio 😊👍
Fabulous job, Good Sir!
Thank you so very much for sharing this little treasure!
I was there in '64, a 14-year-old, from Maryland, with my family. It was glorious!
It hurt to see what happened to it. So much potential, left to, basically, demolition by neglect.
It still hurts to see it, knowing how it was, but it hurts a lot less now.
Random suggestion?
I don't know who to say it to, but I'm sure you have connections I could never reach, so I'll tell you.
Since money, and agenda, as usual, seem to be the holdups . . .
Perhaps contact the 'old' bands --- what's left of them --- and/or maybe even new bands, Broadway, other known money sources . . .
What about Benefit Concerts?
Proceeds to be in a fund to save and restore the Pavillion to, if not its former glory, to at least some sort of glory that it deserves.
David Gilmour has done benefits for Ukraine. Other bands and plays and concerts have done benefits for various causes. Band Aid. Farm Aid. We Are the World. Springsteen. Mellencamp. Sting. Willie.
Sorry. Just a Random Thought that popped into my head while watching your wonderful labor of love.
Thank you again, for the nostalgia trip, and for the update.
Nice to see people caring again, and for caring enough to do something about it.
My uncle was wounded in Germany during ww2 he was with his best friend when it happened! They were separated on the battlefield. My uncle survived with a limp. They were reunited at that worlds fair !my uncle’s friend was in a wheel chair and saw jack. They hadn’t seen each other since 44 or 45. He didn’t talk about the war but my aunts and my grandmother said it was the most emotional they had ever witnessed. What are the odds of that happening?
Beautiful story
Couple of war heroes meeting again by coincidence, very cool. My sister was off a cruise ship in Mexico and saw her best friend from high school who was there but had gotten off a different ship. When stuff like this happens it makes we wonder how often it almost happens. Like maybe you only saw the back of a person’s head so you didn’t realize who they were. Or they weren’t on your plane but on the very next plane
What a cool story!
SUPERB documentary with outstanding visuals, narrative, and music. I was captivated from beginning to end. You effectively transmitted to me the memories and observations of the people who spoke in this film. As I was there as a 10 year old in 1964, it has a special meaning for me.
Thank you.
This is sickening when I think of the beauty of the actual 1964 and 1965 World's Fair. Those great memories turned into theurban filth and garbage seen today.
We are kindred spirits. My memories and experience come from Expo67 when I was 11. I was totally enthralled and it still is part of me.
I was there in 1965 as a 7 year old. This brought back so many memories. A real shame that NYC hasn’t really stepped up very much to preserve it.
Definitely a shame when people all around the world let good real estate and good people go to waste
On October 7, 1965, I had just turned 15 Years old. I played in a Rock & Roll Band, and we got to play at the NY Pavilion. It's truly a cherished memory. I'd love to play there again, but would love to see it utilized for young entertainers, and for the enjoyment of public.
Did you have a chance to see any other musical acts such as the Shangri-Las?
@@davidjackson7281 Sorry to say I didn't. We lived in Nassau County, about 45 minutes away from the Fair. The day we played, the drummers father packed the band into his station wagon. We did our set, packed up, and back home. I had been to the Fair earlier that year with friends. We had a blast! For what it's worth, I went to a Murray the K Easter Show in Manhattan to see the Young Rascals. Turns out on the same Bill was the first USA Appearance of The Cream & The Who. Very Cool!
@@Frank-in-NY Thanks for the nice recollection. Sounds likes the father was a cool "roadie". How long was your musical career? I am glad you had a blast at the Fair. I went to the Seattle fair. Did you have a chance to ever go to Freedom Land in the Bronx during its short lifespan? The Murray the K show sounds absolutely fantastic!
Growing up in the Bay Area I saw a lot of shows. The Rolling Stones at Altamont being the biggest, naturally. Santana, Grateful Dead and others played at my hgh school. My two favorite guitarists that I saw were Alvin Lee of Ten Years After and Duane Allman. Did you go to Fillmore East? I never saw Cream who were a huge favorite. But I did see Jack Bruce, Traffic and Wings.
@@davidjackson7281 The drummers family treated the band extremely well. I was in Bands in and out till I was about 19, wrote some songs with some friends, recorded them, and try to shop for a record deal. Hard business. Then life happens. Marriage, Career, Family. I still play guitar, and took some piano lessons in my mid-thirties, I bang on that too.. Yes, I went to Freedom Land with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. I actually still have a few souvenirs. My favorite guitarist is Larry Carlton. Larry is a Grammy winning guitarist (Hill Street Blues Theme). He wrote and played the Guitar Solo on Steely Dan's song "Kid Charlemagne" . I saw him play it with Steely Dan on the Classics East Tour at Citifield. First Concert I went to was The Yardbirds opened by the Vagrants, at the Commack Arena. Geez...I saw Logins & Messiah, Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers at the Nassau Coliseum, Ed McMahon was the Host...Weird. Paul McCartney Several Times. Moody Blues at Jones Beach backed by the Long Island Philharmonic. Thinking of the Rascals, they did a Reunion Show at Jones Beach Theater. I met Jimmy Webb there. He is a Grammy winning songwriter; MacArthur Park, Up Up And Away, Wichita Lineman.....Shook my hand. That Made My Day! Never made it to the Fillmore East. Spent time roaming the Village, The Night Owl, Cafe Wha, Electric Circus....The Colors The Colors...Those were the days. HA! Never saw the Stones, great band! You saw some terrific acts for sure!
@@Frank-in-NY You saw some fantastic music as well. I had interest in the business of music and dabbled in it while in college (booking acts and promoting shows) but like you life happens. I totally agree and understand the music business is/was hard and brutal. Also, the 'golden age' of possible successful entry for me ended in the mid-seventies. I am glad you still play music.
Meeting the phenomenal Jimmy Webb was surely a fantastic lifetime memory. I read his biography. He loved Corvettes. A great show I saw was another world-class guitarist Glen Campbell. I was a bit shy saying hi to Greg Allman at a Rite Aid Drug store in Novato, CA. The Rascals were fantastic and I loved Steely Dan. I am so glad you got to go to Freedom Land. Mary Weiss said seeing the Everly Brothers perform their harmonies there was a major musical influence for her. I love Queens and Staten Island.
My mom used to say that the fair is the reason I was born a few weeks early. You see my dad insisted that her 8-month Pregent wife go to the fair in late April 1965. Two days later her water broke and she had me. She insists that all of the walking and activities was a factor that induced her labor.
I'm smiling , I'm crying , I'm back in a time of happiness and most wonderful memories of my time living in New York .
Thank you. 💯♥️
I’m so glad you found the film and that it meant something to you. It was a thrill to make.
We drove from Oregon as a family to go here in 1965. My Grandparents lived in Corona just off the freeway and we would watch the lights at night. I was 7 years old, remember it well. Nice to see people are beginning to pay attention to the grounds. Its a shame it did not get developed properly years ago.
What a great documentary. The people who attended the Worlds Fair must have been had a wonderful time there.
Whenever I have passed the World's Fair Pavilion and Unisphere, I think of my grandparents, who lived in Astoria. We made the trip from New Jersey regularly. I remember being in the back seat of a car as a boy looking out the window at low flying jets coming in and out of LaGuardia, Shea Stadium and the fairgrounds, which looked like something of a relic even in the mid 70s. But that place always drew my eyes to it with a sense of wonder. As an adult I would drive by it with more frequency when I lived on Long Island. I never knew about the giant map before, which was quite impressive. And seeing the fairgrounds as they had functioned when it was shiny and new, immediately compared to its rather quick decay was very interesting. It's great to see that restoration efforts have been made by a small but very committed group of preservationists. Those grounds do deserve a lasting residence because the architecture enduringly captures the imagination. Nicely done.
Yes, I was 5 years old when I visited World Fair. I got a toy tram. Lots of memories!
I was born right when the fair ended. My grandfather would take me there on Sundays when I was 5-6 years old and we would ride the tram around the park. I hope it gets restored.
This is sorely needed our youth is constantly exposed to negative propaganda on tic tock.
Wow I skated in this place back in 1973/74. It was a great place and I loved the floor which is a map of New York State! Thanks for bring back a great memory of my childhood!
When you got off the train and walked down the ramp to enter it was magical.The happiest of places,felt so safe,schools came by,families,friends played in the bands,the foreign costumes represented, all so peaceful ,gorgeous,and after we had a big pool and lake with boats to go to on weekends.Never been anything like this since.
Thanks for this. I was unaware of the documentary. I actually teared up when I found the fate of the terrazzo NYS map. Like many other kids who toured that fair, I remember standing on the map of my hometown, feeling like a colossus. I pass the ruins regularly, but the loss of that floor - that gorgeous floor - sigh...I think that hurts me even more than the loss of that colorful roof. It's in interesting perspective to view the planning, building and preservation of the site as an adult rather than just relying on my childhood memories of the fair. Again, thank you!
Oh such a glorious time to have been born and be alive. I was born in 57. Things like this were so unique and exciting.
This is the best movie of Architecture I've seen in my life. Every aspect of it was shown, from drawings, conception, construction, using, the archives and more. But it also about the communauty saving his heritage and uniqueless. From dream til ruins, then, the emerging of hope. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words.
Goosebumps. I went to the Worlds Fair 64/65' as a child and also roller skated there in the early 70's. We would come from Astoria and play tag in all the abandoned buildings left over from the fair. On a Sunday Flushing Meadows park was a ghost town. This brings back memories. Thanks
This is the best , detailed documentary on the pavilion ever .
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I worked really hard to make it.
My parents went to the 1939/1940 fair and I went with them to the 1964/1965 fair when I was only 3 years old, but I still remember it!!! It was glorious! I continued to go to Flushing Meadows Park here and there when I was older until I moved away from Queens in 1975. It is wonderful to remember the good old days and the wonderful life and times that I shared with my family living in Queens. Driving past these beautiful structures was always a great reminder of my fun childhood!. I now tell my children about the great NY World's Fair and what an impact it made on my 3 year old mind! I hope that the Pavillion can be restored and enjoyed again!!
I wish the map of NY could be restored. This was a really sweet documentary, Matthew. Thanks for posting it.
When I become, a successful singer, I will do everything I can to find a purpose for this building. I am only 25 years old but I love the history behind it. I remember going to the airport twice in my life, and I never been up close to it before. Only from the Grand Central Parkway, but every time I see this building it mesmerizes me. I am infatuated with the history and would love to one day have it be renovated and used as a concert hall. It would be so fitting to have a concert hall and a theatre together. It genuinely warms my heart.
Went there with my aunt in the sixties it was great. I will always remember my time at the world’s fair A lot of futuristic stuff and a helicopter ride I still have a idea of that fair in my memories.😊
@@johndor8772 I wonder what you saw when you were there. I love helicopter rides, there used to be one in Coney Island but they got rid of it. I'm sure the worlds fair version was much better. I love hearing about peoples experiences from the world fair. I am fascinated by the worlds fair. Makes me realize I was born in the wrong time period 😔
@@VoiceActingGod I am from Philadelphia so it was different for me but the GM display was cool and now at sixty eight I still have a picture of the metal globe in my mind and I have been to about thirty Belmont s Saratoga saw easy goer at the big A.Saw Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway in the seventies so I saw much in the city . I always liked different things and people the fair was a once in a lifetime thing , My aunt was a little nuts but I was grateful she took me.
@Donnell Okafor Yeah, wtf is that fool on about. Won’t find shit to restore that old junk place.
@Donnell0303tell us more of your fame and success
That would be a great place to hold those Comicon Events. Which i've hearing so much about.
Great documentary Matthew. I was in junior high school in 1965, and attended the WF with my parents. My dad was in a medical residency in Baltimore, and this was my first trip to the City. It was a beautiful day in late summer , and we took the train out to Flushing Meadows. Once you came down the ramp, and into the fair proper, it was like entering the Garden of Earthly Delights, full of exotic smells, and people from all over the world. The line to see the Mona Lisa was too long, so I wandered over to the exhibit showing the wrist watch TV, just like Dick Tracy. I also loved the ride in the GM Pavillion as well. We were, as a country then, on top of the world, and I can still conjure up that distant feeling. I think I slept on the train ride back to Manhattan. The great historian Gibbon wrote this about Ancient Rome, "Paths of Glory led but to ruin" How prescient he was. Keep up your excellent work. Thanks.
Excellent documentary. Very glad UA-cam's algorithms put this in my suggestion feed.
Very well done! I have always been mesmerized by this site and the history of the structures, aside from the "Men In Black" fame....this is an EXCELLENT doc Mr. Silva!
Thanks so much.
Thanks for sharing with us 🙋♀
I went to it with the school group. The Pieta by Michelangelo was brought to and displayed at this fair. It was not insured for the trip because it is priceless.
I can't wait to see that time capsule opened!
Awesome that Led Zeppelin played there, too! 😎😎😎😎
This is remarkable, thank you.
Wonderful film. Though I never got to go to the fair, I remember ads and stories from the time. Thanks so much!
I literally lived within a mile of this place for most of my childhood. Used to walk into the worlds fair from a side entrance when it was open .
That was great, I really enjoyed this .
So glad!
Also the Post Office Tower in London built around the same time still looks good today in my opinion. Although I’ve lived all of my 58 years in England I’ve never seen the building with the towers until now ! Thanks for this 😁👍
Omg, that dinner at the end looked out of this world. How nice! Great you’re having such great experiences.
My parents went to that fair. I was 7 when it opened. Growing up, we had a mix of glasses in the kitchen to drink from. No Martha Stewart complete collection stuff! But we had two large tall glasses that had stained glass type of images on the outside that had this World's Fair structures. It was a treat when we were allowed to use those. I see some of those types of glasses on sale on Ebay and Amazon, etc. going about $20 USD a piece. They were very pretty glasses and quite unique for 1965 and added color to our kitchen cabinet insides
I lived in Queens - late 60s early 70s - until I was four, and I remember my mom taking us to Corona Park to skate in the ice rink. One of the few things I remember from back in that time. Great documentary. What a shame that they didn't preserve this landmark...the story about the floor of the map of NY 😢
Great film, thank you so much
What a wonderful building and I am so happy that they are preserving it. My world's fair experience is from Expo67 and the feeling in this film is a kindred spirit for the millions of people that hold Expo67 dear to their hearts.
I used to go digging for fragments,I still have ,one being a piece of plaster that has orange ,blue , gold gilded small tiles from one of the pavilions. Also inherited a collection of world fair memorabilia thousands of pieces from many fairs, from my dear partner. Sadly sold all.
My parents were married in October 1965. They spent their honeymoon here. (And I was born 9 months later. Hmmmmm)
I have their photo album. Some cool postcards and photos. Dad was a car guy,so there is pix of Chysler's cool Turbine car and inside the G.M. pavilion.
I was 12, and my family had a lucky connection to Robert Moses. While I wish I recalled more, what is still in my memory banks is our being given an opportunity to get a circular spin around the pavilion in the turbine car and then given a plastic scale model of it that's unfortunately long gone. Your dad was right, the turbine car was cool but not at all practical in any way. They even knew that then at Chrysler it seems. I can't recall the subsequent reasons it was a non starter, yet it was a long list. Almost laughable really when it got sorted out. For a slew of like duh reasons, it seems a very BAD idea to use turbines of that era in cars, just not worth all the WTF hassles? ;-)
I think if you research turbine engines (not superchargers) in cars it's the definition of Ill Suited. Who knew? ;-)
This is a most excellent documentary.
In the past, people longed for the future. In the future, people long for the past.
Great documentary. I attended the Worlds Fair as a 14 year old in 1965 and remember being so fascinated by the future predictions and the various pavilions. Approaching driving age, at the time I especially enjoyed the "Big Three" automobile companies exhibits.
While unpacking some boxes from our last move several years ago I found at the very bottom the official fold out picture map of the Worlds Fair in perfect condition. I was so excited I brought it down to a local custom framing store and had it opened and framed. I hung it in my work office for all to see and it became quite the conversation piece. One of them remarked that something like another Worlds Fair might be just the thing to help bring this world together. God only knows that governments can't and in many cases won't.
Does anyone out there know of any foundation or charitable organization dedicated solely to the saving/repurposing the New York State Pavilion?
Watch the end credits.
my dad would bring me and my sisters and friends to roller skate here my dad broke his wrist the last time we went good memories
That is not a pavilion. That is a energy vortex manipulator.
UM - What ?
This is why the seattle center is so amazing we still use our strange tower...hockey team still uses the center...
Thanks for this video. It's inspiring to see the Fair guests so hopeful and happy in their Sunday clothes. It looked like a wonderful experience. I like the map. What a way to learn geography. We should do that more.
We just started getting Sinclair gasoline here in the Quad Cities in Davenport, Iowa. Of course it's not the same Sinclair as it was back in 1964-5, but the logo is the same.
Just last night it was telling my friend about what it was like to be at the World's Fair and to go through the Sinclair exhibit and to come home with a blue Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Green Brontosaurus, models that we bought as souvenirs. I'll never forget the World's Fair. I'm so grateful thatI lived so close and had that experience. I remember it was a very very hot day and my mother and I took off our shoes and put our feet in the fountain at the Unisphere. It was wonderful!
I got one of the green ones at the fair. It was molded in the vending machine while you waited and came out still warm. I still remember the smell.
I was there as a 4 year old and still remember the giant car, monsters made from car parts, the giant Uniroyal tire, those odd buildings looking like a stack of balls, It's a Small World, etc. We have a collection of slides my Dad took too.
when i was a kid i was in a marching band and we played there what a thrill it was the worlds fair was so wonderful its a small world lol its where it all began
At the age of 10, the high point of this fair was sitting in the driver's seat of a new Mustang convertible to ride through the Ford pavilion, obviously before I could drive. The low point was the incredibly obnoxious endless repetition of "It's A Small World" in the Pepsi pavilion, my introduction to a song I still despise. I have no specific memory of this building, which I guess I must have gone to, although I remember reading of the controversy about Andy Warhol's mural of the Most Wanted Men (and I think seeing where it had been), and I do remember watching a 360 degree movie someplace around this time, which could've been here. Of course, having now watched this documentary, I wonder if anything has actually been done in the nearly 10 years since it was filmed.
There was a racing video game I played, I can't remember which one but this pavilion was in it. I always forgot to look up its origin. Thanks for this documentary!
Very well done. Already planning to make a side trip if I make it to NYC to visit. Thank You.
I've never been there, but I've known of the site through my own exploration of World Fair Historical Sites and Old Amusement Parks vlogs. I am OVERJOYED to see this and know that this Amazing part of Americana and New York State will be Preserved. THANK YOU to All who made all of this happen. Thank You ! :)
Very well done video. It brought back many nice memories from a long time ago. Good luck with the project! We need to preserve more of our past for future generations to appreciate. Great way to provide good paying, union jobs for young people. College isn't the answer for everyone.
My class went to Flushing Meadows on a field trip around 1980. We went again in '83
Corona didn't glom it's name onto the parks name until the late 80's or thereabouts. It's FLUSHING Meadows Park and always will be.
I feel like the Phoenix Trotting Park from 1964 deserved this appreciation:’)
This would be so great for a movie set, not the whole thing just the climax.
It was used as Munchkin Land in the film The Wiz. That's how I initially found out about it. And then I watched a documentary about the Worlds Fair and I was like "Hey! That was in The Wiz!" 😄 And then, at one point in the film, the main characters were chased by the Flying Monkeys in Shea Stadium.
There are some basic lessons to be learnt here. Why can''t it be a sculpture, just the way it is, but maintained? The Trade fair missed a theme that is today and that is sustainability. Whats wrong with what it is? Its a moment in time when the organisors missed their mark on what the future would hold for this building, the future of New York and the future of sustainability. This video, and story is what the Pavilion brings to us now, it is very much alive. It is a field trip for every school to see in real life, the past, the now and the future. The economics of the Fair at the time, the failure to budget for the future, the contrast of the excessesses of the 1960's and our scarce resources today. The pavillion is very much alive today.
I didn’t attend the world’s fair. I was 8 or 9, but later, I believe I was in high school, we took a class trip to the fair grounds. They use to have a ride with a layout of the city and if memory serves me, you rode around the edge of the city. I don’t remember it being futuristic. It was an actual layout of New York.
Nice work team.
Yes it's sad these things are past, but wonderful if you experienced them.
Amazing how good they did make it . Its sad that it can't be totally repaired i understand why but its still great that these people have done till 2014
I remember going when I was a kid I'm now a 65 year old kid wish I could go back.
@10:36 that building is still around in Neillsville Wi
I was impressed by the sculptre of the world globe. Drove by the faur area maybe in 1980 was surprised the sculpture was still there, it looked quite lonely. If I could have taken it I would have.
In Turin, Italy the "Palazzo del Lavoro" now also known as "Palazzo Nervi" from the name of the architect has a very similar history, and also was astonishingly modern, built in 1961 for the fair Italia'61 (Italy'61) which celebrated 100 years of unified Italy; the fair had many baeutiful pavillions and was built around a park, also had its own monorail and cableway
One thing ALL these fairs said about the future was "People will be civil & live together in peace!" They missd that along with flying cars!
I - unfortunately - wasn't born, yet, to have gone, but, I DO know that the 'na-sayers' of the fair (of which Life Magazime was one) said (I'm paraphrasing) that what the fair offered could be seen in any road-side shopping pavillions, and malls (this was the era of their birth), and didn't see the fair offering anything truly ...new, which, is pretty accurate, when you listen to this gentelman (John Kriskewiccz)'s comment here (15:24), about them (critics) 'not getting it'. Again, speaking as a native NYC'er, and lifelong resident, I ALWAYS wished to have seen it, but,I DO 'get it's, esp, because we, in NYC only lettuce 'doors open' to an onslaught of fast food franchises, etc, in the past 2-4 decades, and our 'mall'(the Mid-Manhattan Mall) was nothing compared to suburbia.BUT; it's the fact that we were NOT like 'any other place', as so many places have - VERY unfortunately - become.
I also had to scratch my head's when they're (or, more accurately, the afformentioned Mr Kriskewiccz 🙄😩) talking about (16:49) 'Phil Johnson', the architect. Yeah, I'm VERY familiar with an architect, but, his name's 'Phillip Johnson', since when did this ... 'dumbing down, familiarisation - esp of someone who's been DEAD for several decades now, by people who weren't old enough to shave (IF he was even born whilst Mr Johnson was living) occur?!?!? (Yes , I DO like Mr Johnson's buildings, but, the NY State Pavillion, which they begin this very portion of the documentary by showing some people - mostly people from the area, who want to beautify the park, becasue no one else is doing anything - painting only a small portion,and the huge amount of settling which has caused huge movement in several sections to occur is NOT something I , nor I think (m)any architectural fans, or students of his point to as one of Johnson's 'best'.
Great documentary. What's going on at the pavilion now? Has it been restored? What transpired since the mentioned funding came into play in 2014?
We went to the fair for one day. I remember it was so hot. We didn't go back for a second day. But seeing this is a comedown. At least the people there are trying to fix it at the community level. They should call it the Robert Moses Industrial Memorial, a last hurrah of the industrial age. This fair occurred just before a series of strikes crippled and then drove New York City into bankruptcy in the mid-seventies. That the newly founded countries attended with the UN a few miles away was not lost on people. The Seattle Space Needle is the only Worlds Fair (1962) building that I know of that is still functioning of it's own accord.
I shot some footage last week and it looks like the city or orginazation is restoring it . I will soon release the footage later today. Love to interview anyone from this film to bring awareness and help out in anyway. The structures are so bad ... the place needs a face-lift. Maybe steve cohen can help?
This is an idea that has outlived it's usefulness, as the Olympics will do also a couple more decades from now
Wow imagine the history. Just think how many deals were struck within these walls
That is the problem. Those drug deals.
A great potential overhead drone racing facility.
comapred to everyone who went to the fair,im still in love with old world's faire building and spaces,so rich in history.my favorite one as to be Expo67 in Montreal cause i live around there.those event are so ephemereal but it stays in the collective memories for generations.It's nice to see peoples wanting to preserve as much as possible but its sad to see just like for expo67 the temporary mindset that countries and organisers have when they plan.wanted so much to be erased after wards...structures costing milliojns and millions of Dollars for what?just to show off for a couples of months?
I said goodbye to one of my loves at Flushing meadows
From the 60s to the 70s is where employment exams were replaced by affirmative action hiring policies for state positions. Rather than education & mental acumen determining suitably for employment, positions were filled based upon equity quotas. The fallout from these policies was the statewide deterioration of infrastructure and widespread corruption.
How true and how tragic. T/Y for sharing this fact that people do not understand......
Yep, funny how reality hurts peoples feelings so much lol. Yes to equality, no to equity
People have always cared about the New York pavillian and at the time the fair closed, the city said they were going to use the pavillian as a permanent city building. That didn't happen. All care and up keep was abandoned and the building was left to rot.
at the time the people wanted to turn the pavillion into a museum, the pilings were tested and found in serious need of restoration at that time.. That was 10 years ago. The city was notified and they did nothing to preserve the building.
Now we have all the speeches and movements but nothing is being done to preserve the pilings, this is rather important since it is the pilings that give the building strenght and hold the roof up. but nothing has been done even now.
I dont know where the point of no return will come, we may be past it already.
Cities like to beat their chest and say the are going to do something but the buidling is still sitting there rotting away.
The only result I can see coming is it being torn down, or falling down and being hauled to the dump.
That is what will be New Yorks history.
Amazing
Thank you! Cheers!
I never knew what this building in GTA4 was ... now I know.
Remember the kodak stuff up in the towers and gazing down at the map of NYS.
Played roller hockey there on the map New York.
Great documentary! That one guy really looks like Joe Pesci and even sounds like him when he talks. :-)
Which guy?
@@RoundABoutStudio The guy appears twice in the video. I didn't see his name or title referenced anywhere but appears towards the end at about 1:09:31. To me anyway he bears a striking resemblance to the famous NJ-born actor I alluded to earlier, right down to the Jersey accent.
I never understood why they decided to leave this structure but then demolished the US Pavilion in 1977. This thing is a hot mess.
Wonder what it looks like now ?
A new epoxy tiles, and canvas roof, new LEDs, after the sinking is repaired (Structural engineers) make a GoFundMe for it. Some boatsman mates chip, weld and paint.
I want to know what you guys are planning on doing for 2024 if you plan on having another event
When the Fair ended I heard they were "preserving" this exhibit. I thought it was a great idea. But then I said to myself there is no way in hell the City will do what is necessary to preserve it.
The ONLY way anything can be salvaged from these structures is for a private entity to acquire title to the property and eliminate the city from the project. As long as the NYC Parks department has any role whatsoever in the future of this facility, things will only continue to deteriorate.
Exactly my thought as of about half way through the film.
Very interesting should be saved