New York State Pavilion
56-01 Grand Central Parkway | also 12 United Nations Avenue South | Flushing Meadows-Corona Park | built 1964
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1962
Governor Rockefeller breaks ground on Philip Johnson's New York State Pavilion
Rockefeller drove a foundation pile at the groundbreaking on October 8, 1962, for a pavilion with a Tent of Tomorrow, a Theaterama and three observation towers. He had picked Philip Johnson as architect, Johnson later said, and wanted the pavilion to be the tallest structure at the fair. The fair corporation had capped buildings in the state section at 80 feet, but after Johnson persisted it relented in August 1962.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1963
Lev Zetlin's cable roof for the Tent of Tomorrow is jacked up onto its 16 columns
The Tent of Tomorrow's suspension roof was assembled at ground level and raised to the top of its concrete columns at the end of October 1963, lifted 2.5 feet at a time. Engineer Lev Zetlin based it on a similar roof at the Utica Municipal Auditorium; 48 pairs of cables held 1,400 to 1,500 red and blue translucent plastic panels, and it was called the world's largest cable roof. On the floor lay a Texaco highway map of the state made of 567 terrazzo panels.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1964
Hundreds of civil rights protesters are arrested at a sit-in on the fair's opening day
Moses and Rockefeller opened the fair on April 23, 1964, and during the ceremony hundreds of civil rights demonstrators sat in at the pavilion and were taken into custody. The year before, a study had found only two African Americans among the 68 workers building it, prompting protests and a lawsuit. As the fair's third-most-popular pavilion, drawing nearly a quarter of all fairgoers, it remained a frequent target of demonstrations.
“During the opening ceremony, hundreds of civil rights activists organized a sit-in at the pavilion and were arrested.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1969
Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead play rock shows under the Tent of Tomorrow
The tent and towers had been locked after the fair, but by mid-1969 the Tent of Tomorrow was being used for concerts. Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead played rock shows there, and promoter Bill Graham booked pop concerts in the space. The tent was closed in 1970 over fears that its plastic roof was decaying.
“Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead hosted rock concerts in the tent, and the music promoter Bill Graham also booked pop concerts there.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1972
A roller rink opens on top of the tent's terrazzo map of New York State
Over objections from the local community board, the city let a skating company take over the Tent of Tomorrow, and its rink opened in March 1972, filling to capacity within three months. To protect the terrazzo highway map, operators Robert and Chris Jelin laid plastic over the floor and allowed only skates with plastic or wooden wheels. The city shut the rink and canceled the lease in July 1974 after finding severe roof damage, and the roof panels were later removed.
“The Tent of Tomorrow's roller rink opened in March 1972 and was operating at capacity within three months.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1978
Sidney Lumet films The Wiz inside the tent and offers to fix it, but the city says no
Director Sidney Lumet used the Tent of Tomorrow as a set for his 1978 film The Wiz. According to preservationist David Oats, who was campaigning to save the decaying terrazzo map, Lumet offered to repair the pavilion while filming. The city turned him down and told him to leave the pavilion the way he had found it.
“…the film director Sidney Lumet had offered to repair the pavilion when he was shooting his 1978 film The Wiz there.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1997
Men in Black casts the pavilion's observation towers as disguised flying saucers
The abandoned pavilion's exterior appeared in the 1997 film Men in Black, where the towers turn out to be flying saucers in disguise; Universal Studios Florida later built replicas of the towers for its Men in Black ride. The site has also served as a set for a 2009 episode of CSI: NY and for the 2010 film Iron Man 2, which showed it as a Stark Industries exhibit.
“The pavilion's exterior was used as a setting in the 1997 film Men in Black, in which the towers were presented as disguised flying saucers.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2015
Union trainees repaint the long-abandoned Tent of Tomorrow yellow
Labor unions announced in May 2015 that they would repaint the Tent of Tomorrow, with most of the work done by union trainees and $3 million in materials donated by contractors. The job took more than 8,000 hours and 1,600 gallons of yellow paint and was finished by August 2015. The year before, the tent had briefly reopened for the fair's 50th anniversary, and a full restoration of the tent and towers began in 2019.
“…contractors donated $3 million worth of materials to repaint the tent yellow. Workers spent over 8,000 man-hours on the repainting…”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- New York State PavilionWikipedia
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