Last Tuesday, April 22 was the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the 1964 Fair. To mark the occasion, the New York State Pavilion was opened to the public for one day only, and only for a few hours.
So I played hooky from work, and we went and stood in line for hours just to be able to go inside for 15 minutes (turns out 15 minutes was more than enough time!) We got there at about 9:15 (for an 11 am opening), pleasantly surprised that there were fewer than 100 people ahead of us.
BUT...by the time we actually got to go inside (after enduring a really unconscionable delay of 45 minutes or so), there were "literally" thousands of people in line!
Though not too terribly high on the "WOW" factor, the view from inside is pretty cool; it's an angle you don't get to see everyday, obviously.
And I know the volunteers mean well, but, to be honest, I don't think the re-painting helps a whole lot. It certainly doesn't add anything; the somewhat garish new coats of paint are a jarring contrast to the rest of the dilapidated structure. The effect feels rather like someone's trying to disguise the fact that the whole thing is just one giant ruin.
Another nice surprise was that they had two fragments (and I do mean fragments) from the pavilion's mosaic floor, which depicted a giant map of New York. I think I read somewhere that what remains of the mosaic (or maybe it's terrazzo?) was removed (or covered over?) in order to preserve it so that it can be restored one day.
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| Long Island; Route 27 Leading into Montauk |
By the way, yours truly was born two months and a day before the fair opened. But I didn't go to the fair; they left me home!
