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For many visitors, the Queens Museum's current exhibit, "Remembering the Future: The New York World's Fairs from 1939 to 1964" brings a rush of nostalgia: a shiny, red '64 Mustang strikes a sexy pose at the front door; in a corner, a pair of old nylon
| stockings from the 1939 fair - the year they were introduced to |
| the world - appear stiff enough to walk away on their own. |
But for Marc H. Miller, curator at the Queens Museum, who helped organize the exhibit, the anniversary of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs has conjured up thoughts of Robert Moses, New York City's admired and hated urban planner who masterminded both fairs. Moses built Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and, unintentionally, left a mixed cultural legacy to Queens from the fairs.
"Flushing Meadows was his big fantasy creation," said Miller on a recent Saturday in his office, which is hidden behind an exhibit wall at the museum. "It started back in the 1930s, when he first heard of plans for a world's fair, the 1939 World's Fair. And he instantly linked it to his own goal, which was to convert what was an ash dump into the park.
"He kind of laid down the rule that the only way that he would cooperate with plans for a World's Fair was if it involved Flushing Meadows....