World's Fair Festival: Part 2 - NY State Pavilion

While we were at the 50th Anniversary World's Fair Festival in Queens, we got the extraordinary opportunity to tour the inside of the New York State Pavilion. The Philip Johnson-designed complex was built for the 1964 World's Fair and included the Tent of Tomorrow, the Theaterama, three observation towers and a large scale terrazzo Texaco highway map of New York State on the main floor.

Unfortunately the structures have basically become ruins over time and are currently closed to the public (the Theaterama has been restored and is home to the Queens Theatre). I have been admiring the inside of the pavilion (through very tiny fence openings) since I first went to the park last year, and never dreamed that I'd actually be able to step inside of it (legally).

I tried, unsuccessfully to get inside during tours back in April but the demand was insane and I was totally bummed that I had missed out. When we got to the festival, by chance we heard a woman explaining to a long line of people waiting to sign up for walking tours that they were not in line to tour the pavilion — if they wished, they would have to go stand in a different line right outside of the pavilion. We immediately hurried over to the entrance and found that there was almost no line at all — in fact I confirmed with a volunteer that they were even doing tours because the line was so inexplicably short. We totally just lucked out though, because very soon enough it started to grow, and by the time we got out of the pavilion the line was appropriately (i.e. very) long.

We all had to put on hard hats before we entered, but then we were allowed to wander as we pleased. We were once gently told to hurry up, but not before I had already taken about a million photos and squealed with delight more times than I can remember.

There isn't much left inside of the pavilion, but just being able to step inside was thrilling beyond words. There were pieces of the terrazzo map on display, with the rest of it (or what's left, anyway) covered in gravel to protect it from any further decay. There were a few objects on display, including a piece of the "Otis Escal-Aire," a streamlined escalator that debuted at the fair and later was used by Diana Ross in The Wiz — you can still see the entire thing, although you couldn't get very close, and the upper mezzanine was not open for exploration.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the pavilion finally getting a major restoration, which I'm totally supportive of — we all signed a petition to help save the structures — but the ruins are also so amazing in their current state. No matter what ends up happening with the pavilion, I'll always be glad that I saw how it looked during its 50th year, and sad I never got to experience it in its full '60s glory.