Flushing Meadows–Corona Park

Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is a big public park in the northern part of Queens, New York City. It is the fourth-largest park in the whole city and covers 897 acres. The park is bordered by major roads and waterways, including the Van Wyck Expressway to the east, Grand Central Parkway to the west, Flushing Bay to the north, and Union Turnpike to the south.

Originally, the area was made up of wetlands along the Flushing River. In the early 1900s, it was used as a place to dump ashes. The idea to create a large park there began in the 1920s. The land was later chosen to host the 1939 New York World's Fair and again for the 1964 New York World's Fair. After the second fair, the park went through a tough time but has improved since the 1990s.

Today, the park still shows the layout from the World's Fairs. It includes many popular places such as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, and Citi Field, where the New York Mets play baseball. Other highlights are the New York Hall of Science, the Queens Museum, the Queens Zoo, and the famous Unisphere sculpture. The park is cared for by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, with help from local groups.

Etymology

The park is named after the nearby areas of Flushing and Corona. These places are separated by the park. The name "Flushing" comes from a town called Vlissingen in the Netherlands. Over time, "flushing" came to mean cleaning by rushing water. The name "Corona" was added when the 1964 New York World's Fair was held there.

History

Early years

During cold times long ago, ice shaped the land in North America. This created valleys and hills, including where Flushing Meadows Park is now. The area had rivers and wetlands, home to birds and small animals.

People lived there long ago, and later Dutch settlers arrived and built towns. The land was used for farming. During a big war, soldiers used a farmhouse there.

In the 1800s, roads and railroads were built through the area. Later, people built homes there for fun. One man built a big hotel on the water.

Filling and use as a dumping ground

In 1907, a man named Michael Degnon bought land near a river. He wanted to build a port for ships. To do this, he filled the land with ash from fires and trash from the city. This created a big pile of waste called a dump. For many years, lots of trash was dumped there. The trash made bad smells and many flies. Some famous books wrote about this place.

Park planning and World's Fairs

1939–1940 Fair and aftermath

Main article: 1939 New York World's Fair

In the 1920s, a city planner named Robert Moses wanted to make a big park there. He thought it would be very nice for everyone. In 1939, a big fair was held there to show new ideas from many countries.

Many things were built for the fair, like lakes and paths. After the fair ended, the land was meant to become a park. But it took many more years to finish.

1964–1965 Fair

Main article: 1964 New York World's Fair

The same place was used again in 1964 for another big fair. New fun things were built, like a big metal ball called the Unisphere. After the fair, the city worked to turn the place into a real park.

Late 20th century

In the years that followed, the park needed many repairs. People worked to fix it up and make it nicer. In 1978, a big tennis match started being played there.

In the 1980s and 1990s, more work was done to clean and improve the park. New buildings and places to play were added.

Early 21st century

By 2000, lots of money was spent to make the park better. New places to swim and play sports were built. In 2015, a fun market started where people could buy food from many places around the world.

In 2022, experts worried that parts of the park might flood because of changes in the weather. People are working to protect the park.

Geography

Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke and Michael Rapuano for the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs. It is the fifth-largest public park in New York City. For many years, people thought the park was 1,255 acres, but a survey in 2013 showed it is actually 897 acres when including major roads and other areas around the park.

The northern part of the park has wide paths that were used during the World's Fairs to lead visitors to important places like pavilions and fountains. Today, you can still see the Unisphere and the Queens Museum there. There are also beautiful fountains and open spaces where people can play sports or relax.

The southern part of the park has two lakes called Meadow Lake and Willow Lake. These lakes are fed by the Flushing River, which flows north to Flushing Bay. The area around Meadow Lake has grassy areas and places to have picnics, while Willow Lake is a nature reserve with many plants and birds. The park is surrounded by highways, which makes some parts harder to reach.

Notable structures

Attractions

Sports stadiums

Near the northern end of the park is a "Sport Center" zone where the US Open tennis tournament is held. In 2006, the tennis center was named the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center after tennis player Billie Jean King. Its main court is Arthur Ashe Stadium, and another big court is Louis Armstrong Stadium. Citi Field, home of the New York Mets since 2009, is at the far north end of the park. Shea Stadium, where the Mets and the New York Jets used to play, once stood where Citi Field is now.

Besides these stadiums, other sports places were once planned for the park. In the 1950s, some people wanted the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team to move here, but they went to Los Angeles in 1958 instead. Later, ideas for a racing track for a Formula One race came up, but they were stopped. In the 1980s, a football team wanted to build a stadium here, but those plans fell through. More recently, a soccer stadium was planned but moved to another location. In 2022, plans were made to build a new stadium called Etihad Park near Citi Field, expected to open in 2027.

Recreational facilities

Meadow Lake in the park has a boat house from the 1939 World's Fair. You can rent boats there for rowing and paddleboating. The lake is also used for rowing by the group Row New York. Every year, there is a Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York on the lake. There are also paths to bike around the lake that connect to the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway.

Willow Lake has a nature trail that reopened in 2013. The trail is called the Pat Dolan Trail. The park has many fields and playgrounds for different sports popular in Queens, like soccer and cricket. There is also a place to run, and by the 2020s, the park had eight playgrounds and a skate park. Near the northeast corner, there is the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatics Center and the Al Oerter Recreation Center, both opened in 2008.

World's Fair facilities

Some buildings from the 1964 World's Fair are still used today. The New York Hall of Science at the park's northern corner opened during the fair and is still there. The Flushing Meadows Carousel also started at the 1964 Fair and is still operating. The New York State Pavilion from the same fair is still there but needs fixing. The Queens Theatre in the Park moved into part of the pavilion in 1993. The Queens Museum was the United Nations General Assembly's home after the 1939 Fair and was used for the 1964 Fair too.

Art installations

Outside the tennis center is a sculpture called Soul in Flight by Eric Fischl, unveiled in 2000. It honors Arthur Ashe. In 2022, a statue of rapper LL Cool J was shown in the park for a short time.

Other infrastructure

The park has three places where the Metropolitan Transportation Authority keeps its vehicles: the Jamaica subway yard, the Corona subway yard, and the Casey Stengel Bus Depot. The Jamaica Yard is at the very south end of the park, while the other two are near Citi Field.

Transportation

The New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road both have stops near the north end of the park. The IRT Flushing Line subway station at Mets–Willets Point has trains that stop there. The Long Island Rail Road also has a station close by. These stations help people get to places like Citi Field and the Hall of Science. Several buses, including the Q58, Q64, Q74, Q88, Q90, and Q98, pass through or near the park.

In media

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald might have used the area of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park as a setting, when it was still a dump, along with nearby Willets Point.

The movie Men in Black (1997) showed the restaurants on top of the New York State Pavilion as alien spaceships. Another film, Men in Black 3 (2012), was partly filmed there, including a scene showing the old Shea Stadium from the 1969 World Series.

Skateboarders have used the New York State Pavilion for tricks since the 1990s. The TV show The King of Queens also filmed some of its opening scenes there. The finish line of the first season of The Amazing Race was at the Unisphere in the park, and it was also a stop in Season 25. Movies like Iron Man 2 (2010), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) used the park as the location for the Stark Expo. Musician Paul Simon chose the park for his final live concert on September 22, 2018, because he grew up nearby and visited the park often.