Waterfront Alliance is leading a resilience study of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. If you enjoy time in the park, please fill out this survey to help us better understand your experience of how climate change is affecting the park.
One of the largest and most iconic parks in New York City, Flushing Meadows Corona Park (FMCP) was not always the vibrant park it is today. From rich tidal wetlands to dumping grounds, the landscape of FMCP has significantly evolved over the last three centuries.
Before FMCP was a park, it was a series of creeks and wetlands. The salt marsh hosted a handful of biodiverse species and plants, including cord grass and birds, and had natural drainage processes (1). Indigenous peoples used the site as a natural fishing and hunting ground. However, this nature would not last as the timber industry ushered in with European settlement and made the site a strategic trading point.
In the early 20th century, the Flushing site was penned the “Valley of Ashes” by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby for its rolling hills of ash collected from New York City (NYC) homes. The vision for a park came along when NYC Park Commissioner Robert Moses set his sights on the dumping ground as potential space to expand his legacy and create the namesake “Robert Moses Park” (2). He found that the site’s proximity to Manhattan, Long Island, and the water made it a suitable geographical center of New York. Beyond the ash, Moses envisioned a Queens Park corridor that would connect three series of parks (Kissena, Cunningham, and Alley Pond) and support his attempts to “renew” the city (3). To undergo this major and costly transformation, Moses leveraged not one, but two World’s Fairs.
1939-40 World’s Fair: “The World of Tomorrow”
An international exposition, the World’s Fair of 1939-40 was Moses’ opportunity to make permanent changes to the “Valley of Ashes”. Through State and Federal funding, “a tidal dam was built across Flushing Creek and was reconfigured” to create what is now known as Willow and Meadow Lakes (4). A boat basin, underground system of utility lines, and thousands of trees and plants were also added.
Credit: Queens Public Library
The Fair itself highlighted “The World of Tomorrow” with futuristic model homes and novel inventions on display (5). However, to Moses’ dismay, the result of the 1939 World’s Fair was underwhelming. The Fair’s lower than expected attendance and remaining financial deficit meant that his plan for the site would not materialize. Over the next couple years, the park was neglected as the city went through an economic downturn and World War II. However, the remaining infrastructure would lay the groundwork for a future Flushing Meadows.
Source: New York Public Library
1964-65 World’s Fair: “Peace through Understanding”
A second chance for a Queens “chain of urban parks” coincided with the 1964-65 World’s Fair (6). Once again, Moses converged his interest with hosting the World Fair in Flushing and built an exposition based on his plans for the park, including an interior roadway system and landscaping. Flushing Creek was buried to provide space for pavilions and the iconic Unisphere fountain.
Credit: Queens Public Library
The Fair grew in popularity by its final season, showcasing future and modern technology; including exhibits such as General Motors’ “Futurama II”, a portrayal of the world in 2064, and International Business Machines’ basic computers (7). Fairgoers delved into the modernity and innovation displayed by different countries, states, and American companies of the time. The Fair also featured now iconic structures, including the 120-foot-tall Unisphere to symbolize the Space Age and the New York Pavilion. The Fair drew in people from around the world, spurred economic activity in Queens, and changed the way residents saw Flushing Meadows.
While more refined from 1939, the 1964 World’s Fair did not provide Moses the profit expected to complete his desired park either. In its aftermath, the Fair’s temporary remnants were demolished or left to decay. However, the Fair’s development led to permanent changes that provided for a park landscape organized around the reconfigured Flushing Creek. From the Fair site grew soccer fields, playgrounds, boating, and signature park features that have since shaped Queens. After the 1964 World’s Fair closed, the “Valley of Ashes” would officially become what is now known today as Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
To learn more about the World’s Fair History at FMCP, join the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Waterfront Alliance on Saturday, September 15 for the monthly Guided World’s Fair History Walk.
The Waterfront Alliance, in partnership with NYC Parks, is developing a climate resiliency plan for FMCP. The plan will identify areas in the park that can be designed to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from flooding and extreme heat. Take our public survey to share with us how you use FMCP today and how you think it could be adapted to climate change.
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Footnotes:
1 Macaulay Honors College at Baruch. “Early History: The Swamp and Ash Dump.” Seminar 3: Science & Technology in NYC, https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/munshisouth10/group-projects/flushingmeadows/flushing-meadows-past/.
2 Caro, Robert. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. Vintage Books, 1974.
3 Caro, Robert. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.
4 New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. “Flushing Meadows Corona Park: Strategic Framework Plan.” (2004). https://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/vt_flushing_meadows/presentation/01introduction.pdf
5 Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park. “World’s Fair History at FMCP”. (2024) https://allianceforfmcp.org/history
6 Caro, Robert. “The Power Broker.” (1974)
7 NYC Parks. “1964 World’s Fair in Photos.” https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/fmcp-worlds-fairs/1964-photos
