parklandmonumental

Flushing Meadows: the park of two World's Fairs

The steel globe, the rusting Tent of Tomorrow, and a model of the whole city under one roof.

Photo: Ajay Suresh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

4 km

Time

~ 90 min

Difficulty

Moderate

Start

Mets–Willets Point (7)

End

Flushing–Main St (7)

Best at

afternoon

Right now

22°C· Clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Flushing Meadows is the park two World's Fairs built and then walked away from, in 1939 and 1964, leaving their monuments behind on the old ash flats. Four kilometres across it, from the ballpark gate to the Chinatown at the far edge, with the fairs' great leftovers in the middle.

Come off the 7 at Willets Point, past Citi Field, and the Unisphere is straight ahead — the twelve-storey steel globe from 1964, ringed by its fountains, far larger in the flesh than in any picture. South of it stand the rusting towers of the New York State Pavilion, Philip Johnson's roofless 'Tent of Tomorrow', forever one budget away from coming down. The Queens Museum holds the quiet marvel: the Panorama, a scale model of all five boroughs built block by block for the fair and kept current ever since.

Walk west past the rockets at the science museum, then east out of the park into Flushing — a Chinatown that answers to no other, dense and complete. The 7 ends there. Arrive hungry.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 65 m·↓ 59 m·1–15 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Mets–Willets Point
Step off the 7 and walk in past Citi Field on your right. The bridge over the rail yards drops you straight into the park the two World's Fairs left behind, in 1939 and again in 1964.
01
Mets–Willets Point
Step off the 7 and walk in past Citi Field on your right. The bridge over the rail yards drops you straight into the park the two World's Fairs left behind, in 1939 and again in 1964.
02
2
The Unisphere
The 1964 fair's centrepiece and the thing everyone comes for — a twelve-storey steel globe ringed by fountains, built by US Steel and never taken down. Stand in the plaza and look up; it's bigger than every photograph makes it.
02
The Unisphere
The 1964 fair's centrepiece and the thing everyone comes for — a twelve-storey steel globe ringed by fountains, built by US Steel and never taken down. Stand in the plaza and look up; it's bigger than every photograph makes it.
03
3
New York State Pavilion
The other 1964 survivor, just south — Philip Johnson's 'Tent of Tomorrow' towers, all rust and open sky now, the cable roof long gone. They've been on the edge of demolition for decades; go while they're still standing.
03
New York State Pavilion
The other 1964 survivor, just south — Philip Johnson's 'Tent of Tomorrow' towers, all rust and open sky now, the cable roof long gone. They've been on the edge of demolition for decades; go while they're still standing.
04
4
Queens Museum & the Panorama
Inside the one fair building still in use is the Panorama of the City of New York — a hand-built scale model of all five boroughs, every block, every building, made for the 1964 fair and kept up since. The best half-hour in the park.
04
Queens Museum & the Panorama
Inside the one fair building still in use is the Panorama of the City of New York — a hand-built scale model of all five boroughs, every block, every building, made for the 1964 fair and kept up since. The best half-hour in the park.
05
5
New York Hall of Science
The science museum, west across the park, in another fair building. Skip the inside if it's not your thing, but the rockets standing in the yard out front are free to look at and unexpectedly moving.
05
New York Hall of Science
The science museum, west across the park, in another fair building. Skip the inside if it's not your thing, but the rockets standing in the yard out front are free to look at and unexpectedly moving.
06
6
Flushing–Main St
End by walking east out of the park and into Flushing proper — one of the great Chinatowns of the city, dense and entirely its own. The 7 terminates here under the crowds; the food is the reason to arrive hungry.
06
Flushing–Main St
End by walking east out of the park and into Flushing proper — one of the great Chinatowns of the city, dense and entirely its own. The 7 terminates here under the crowds; the food is the reason to arrive hungry.

Flushing Meadows: the park of two World's Fairs

On the map.

Things to notice.

Mets–Willets Point

Mets–Willets Point

The Unisphere

The Unisphere

New York State Pavilion

New York State Pavilion

Queens Museum & the Panorama

Queens Museum & the Panorama

New York Hall of Science

New York Hall of Science

Flushing–Main St

Flushing–Main St

Two more, on similar days.

Astoria: the moving image and the great pool

Central Park: the southern loop