Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Once a swamp and ash dumpsite, Flushing Meadows Corona Park is now the largest park in Queens and the second-largest in the City of New York, after Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx. At 1,255 acres, Flushing Meadows is one and a half times the size of Central Park in Manhattan and is home to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, US Open Tennis, Queens Museum of Art, New York Hall of Science as well as the Queens Botanical Garden, Queens Zoo, Queens Theatre in the Park and the famous Queens landmark, the Unisphere.

Wedged between the Van Wyck Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway, and stretching from Union Turnpike to Flushing Bay, the park hosts an 84-acre manmade freshwater Meadow Lake and a smaller Willow Lake, which sits in a natural wetlands area. It also hosts a pitch-and-putt golf course (miniature golf), playing fields, picnic areas and bicycle paths. A 66.3-million Pool & Rink sports complex boasts an Olympic-sized public pool with adjustable floor and diving tank, and an indoor ice rink used year-round by recreational and professional skaters.

The park also features several annual festivals, including the Colombian Independence Day Celebration – one of the largest Latino events in NYC, and the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival on Meadow Lake, a race of picturesque dragon-like boats, ritually blessed by a Buddhist monk, as they sail in memory of ancient Chinese patriot-poet Qu Yuan who drowned in Ni Lo River. Rental boats are available for rowing and paddleboating on Meadow Lake, which feeds northward into the Flushing River and Flushing Bay. The American Small Craft Association also houses a fleet of sloop-rigged sailboats, used for teaching, racing and recreation by the club's members.

In addition to offering recreational and environmental activities, Flushing Meadow has true historical significance. Once referred to as the "valley of ashes" by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, the site was cleaned up by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in preparation for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. The Fair promoted the concept of "Building the World of Tomorrow," and science and technology as a means to economic prosperity and personal freedom. Twenty five years later, the Park hosted another World's Fair which celebrated the beginning of the space age "through peace and understanding."

One of the 1939-1940 World's Fair's most famous exhibits was the Westinghouse Time Capsule, made from non-ferrous alloy (Cupaloy), invented and designed to resist corrosion for 5,000 years to preserve and deliver the records of the 20th century civilization to its successors. The Time Capsule held writings by Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann, copies of Life Magazine, a pack of cigarettes, a Mickey Mouse watch, a Gillette Safety Razor, a fountain pen, a doll, an alphabet block set, and even seeds such as wheat, corn, oats, rice and soy. The 1964-1965 Fair gave Corona Park such inspiring landmarks as the Unisphere, New York State Pavilion and Terrace on the Park – originally a helipad for helicopter tours and transportation to and from the airports, but nowadays a banquet hall with an awesome view of the Manhattan skyline. To continue the tradition, Time Capsule II was created for the 1964-1965 Fair as well. A granite monument marks the spot where two time capsules now lie buried underground, deposited on September 23, 1938 and October 16, 1965. Both are to be opened at the same time in the year 6939, five thousand years after the first capsule was sealed.

- Lina Zeldovich