Editing 1964 New York World's Fair (section)

==== Site clearing ====
{{Further|Flushing Meadows–Corona Park#Late 20th century}}
[[File:Terrace on the Park - Flushing Meadows, Queens, NYC.jpg|thumb|Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was built as the heliport for the 1964 World's Fair but now houses a restaurant.|alt=A futuristic, one-story building is elevated on two concrete columns.]]

Moses predicted the WFC would need to spend $11.6&nbsp;million to clear Flushing Meadows–Corona Park after the fair closed.<ref name="O'Neill 1965">{{cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Maureen |date=October 18, 1965 |title=It Was Great Fun, But Not for Investors |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-it-was-great-fu/149444374/ |work=Newsday |pages=5, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-it-was-great-fu/149444414/ 87] |access-date=June 16, 2024 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|914444455}}}}</ref> He recommended the demolition of most of the pavilions.<ref name="Newsday 1965">{{cite news |date=March 4, 1965 |title=Moses Taps 2 Pavilions for Long Run |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-moses-taps-2-p/147513573/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516194356/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-moses-taps-2-p/147513573/ |archive-date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=May 16, 2024 |work=Newsday |page=4  |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|914411421}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Alden |first=Robert |date=March 5, 1965 |title=Pavilions Listed for Future Uses; Moses Suggests Demolition of Many Noted Structures |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/03/05/archives/pavilions-listed-for-future-uses-moses-suggests-demolition-of-many.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516194355/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/03/05/archives/pavilions-listed-for-future-uses-moses-suggests-demolition-of-many.html |archive-date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=May 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By mid-1965, the WFC proposed the preservation of 19 structures,<ref name="Hornaday 1965a" /><ref name="nyt-1965-08-01" /> while the remaining pavilions were offered to anyone who could afford to relocate them.<ref name="nyt-1965-08-01" /><ref name="Johnson 1965" /> Several exhibitors, including U.S. Steel and Thailand, chose to sell their buildings due to the high cost of demolition,<ref name="Samuel p. 82">{{harvnb|Samuel|2007|ps=.|page=82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |date=June 26, 1965 |title=For Sale at Fair: Tire Ahd Temple; Ferris Wheel and Exhibit of Thailand Seek Buyers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/06/26/archives/for-sale-at-fair-tire-ahd-temple-ferris-wheel-and-exhibit-of.html |access-date=June 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> while others sold the contents of their pavilions,<ref name="Samuel p. 81">{{harvnb|Samuel|2007|ps=.|page=81}}</ref><ref name=p155262802>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|155262802}} |title=World's Fair Arranging Super Rummage Sale |date=September 26, 1965 |pages=E8 |work=Los Angeles Times|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> and people offered to salvage parts of some buildings.<ref name=p155262802/><ref name="nyt-1965-08-15" /> Any other buildings had to be demolished within 90 days of the fair's closure.<ref name="Hornaday 1965" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Knowles |first=Clayton |date=October 19, 1965 |title=City May Get U.S. And State Pavilions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/19/archives/city-may-get-us-and-state-pavilions.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518173504/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/19/archives/city-may-get-us-and-state-pavilions.html |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |access-date=May 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Samuel p. 84">{{harvnb|Samuel|2007|ps=.|page=84}}</ref> Each exhibitor was supposed to have placed money in [[escrow]] or posted a [[Bond (finance)|bond]] to cover the demolition costs, but most exhibitors had not done so. The WFC feared exhibitors would abandon their pavilions.<ref name="nyt-1965-10-20">{{Cite news |last=Alden |first=Robert |date=October 20, 1965 |title=Fair Faces Lag in Demolitions; Fears Many Exhibitors Will Default on Restorations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/20/archives/fair-faces-lag-in-demolitions-fears-many-exhibitors-will-default-on.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516215355/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/20/archives/fair-faces-lag-in-demolitions-fears-many-exhibitors-will-default-on.html |archive-date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=May 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Demolition began the day after the fair closed<ref name="Samuel p. 84" /> and the rubble was dumped into [[Flushing Bay]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Feinstein |first=Selwyn |date=October 14, 1965 |title=Wreckers to Enter World's Fair Monday In Smashing Finale to Controversial Show |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=32 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133005094}}}}</ref> By November, the site was filled with rubbish and rats.<ref name="nyt-1965-11-28">{{Cite news |last=Brody |first=Jane E. |date=November 28, 1965 |title=Rubbish and Rats Plague Fair Site; Workmen Combine Cleanup With Tear-Down Operation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/11/28/archives/rubbish-and-rats-plague-fair-site-workmen-combine-cleanup-with.html |access-date=June 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Scientists temporarily preserved three of the fair's buildings for structural testing.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 19, 1966 |title=World's Fair Buildings Will Fall to Science: Tests to Run Into May |work=The Washington Post, Times Herald |page=B3 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|142880643}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 15, 1966 |title=Scientists Will Rattle World's Fair Skeleton |work=Newsday |page=11 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|915191388}}}}</ref> The deadline for demolition was extended to December 1966,<ref name="nyt-1966-02-20">{{Cite news |last=Porterfield |first=Byron |date=February 20, 1966 |title=Wreckers Press Fairgrounds Job; Deadline Extended to Dec. 31 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/02/20/archives/wreckers-press-fairgrounds-job-deadline-extended-to-dec-31.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and by the middle of that year, about 24 structures remained.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 4, 1966 |title=Park on Fair Site Due in December; Last 23 Doomed Buildings to Be Torn Down by July |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/04/04/archives/park-on-fair-site-due-in-december-last-23-doomed-buildings-to-be-to.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Moses suggested his [[Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority]] should provide funding to convert the fairground into a park.<ref name="Samuel p. 86">{{harvnb|Samuel|2007|ps=.|page=86}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Alden |first=Robert |date=August 19, 1965 |title=Moses Gives Plan on Fair Site Work; He Tells Executive Board Triborough Authority Will Undertake Revamping |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/08/19/archives/moses-gives-plan-on-fair-site-work-he-tells-executive-board.html |access-date=June 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The city government took over Flushing Meadows–Corona Park from the WFC in June 1967.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 5, 1967 |title=Moses' '27 Dream Becomes a Reality |work=Newsday |page=15 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|915469728}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Schumach |first=Murray |date=June 4, 1967 |title=Moses Gives City Fair Site as Park; Flushing Meadows in Queens Becomes the 2d Biggest Recreation Area Here |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/06/04/archives/moses-gives-city-fair-site-as-park-flushing-meadows-in-queens.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Few improvements were made to the park for several years<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Samuel |date=September 10, 1972 |title=Future of the Fair Site Still Debated |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/10/archives/future-of-the-fair-site-still-debated.html |access-date=June 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="The Washington Post 1974">{{cite news |date=August 11, 1974 |title=A Fair Revisited, A Plan Unrealized |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=M16 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|146140243}}}}</ref> and many of the remaining structures were vandalized.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peck |first=Richard |date=October 21, 1973 |title=In Flushing Meadows The Glitter Is Gone But Hope Still Flourishes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/21/archives/in-flushing-meadows-the-glitter-is-gone-but-hope-still-flourishes.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="The Washington Post 1974" /> According to a 1986 report, the city government had to spend $107&nbsp;million (${{Inflation|index=US|value=107|start_year=1986|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US}}) to turn the fairground into a park.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schachter |first=Harvey |date=June 7, 1986 |title=From Euphoria to Debt: A World Fair Review |work=The Whig-Standard |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|353374980}}}}</ref> In the 1980s, a 1989 World's Fair was proposed for the site to mark the 25th Anniversary of the 1964 fair, but the proposal was unsuccessful.<ref name="p278141630">{{cite news |last=Polsky |first=Carol |date=April 23, 1989 |title=Another NY World's Fair? Hopes Fade 39 and '64 Expos Fondly Remembered |work=Newsday |page=19 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278141630}}}}</ref> The paths remain almost unchanged into the 21st century.<ref name="Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation 2015">{{cite web |date=May 3, 2015 |title=Flushing Meadows-Corona Park: Historic Preservation Studio |url=https://issuu.com/barrettreiter/docs/fmcp_hpstudioii2015_printedition_re |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401145529/https://issuu.com/barrettreiter/docs/fmcp_hpstudioii2015_printedition_re |archive-date=April 1, 2017 |access-date=March 31, 2017 |publisher=[[Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation]] |page=71 |via=Issuu}}</ref>