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The Queens Museum (formerly the Queens Museum of Art) is an art museum and educational center at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. Established in 1972, the museum includes the Panorama of the City of New York, a room-sized scale model of the five boroughs of New York City built for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Its collection includes a large archive of artifacts from both the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, a selection of which is on display. , Queens Museum's director is Sally Tallant.
The museum's building was constructed for the 1939 New York World's Fair as the New York City Pavilion. The structure was used as an ice-skating and roller-skating rink during the 1940s and 1950s, except when it housed the United Nations General Assembly from 1946 to 1951. The building also served as the New York City Pavilion for the 1964 World's Fair and was preserved following the fair. The museum opened in the northern part of the building in November 1972. The museum was renovated in the late 1970s, during which a community gallery was added; another renovation in the 1990s added an entrance from the east. The museum was expanded significantly in the 2010s, during which the ice rink was closed. Another expansion was announced in the 2020s.
The New York City Pavilion ultimately cost $1.645 million.; The pavilion was the second-largest structure at the fair, after the United States pavilion, and it was intended as a permanent structure for the outset, in contrast to nearly all the other structures, which would have been demolished. Next to the building was a plaza named City Hall Square, which separated it from the Trylon and Perisphere, the central monument of the 1939 fair. Around it was a spiral hedge ranging from tall, as well as English boxwood trimmed in the shape of the fair's seal. Malvina Hoffman designed a bas-relief called Dances of the Races to the east of the building, while William Zorach designed the sculptural group Builders of the Future to the west. Inside the pavilion were dioramas, murals, models, and displays about various departments of the city government. The pavilion included exhibits on such topics as the WNYC radio station, the city's courts, and the Independent Subway System, along with stage shows and a voting demonstration. There were a total of 63 exhibits, as well as an auditorium.
La Guardia dedicated the building when the fair opened on April 30, 1939. The fair ran for two 6-month seasons until October 26, 1940. A special edition of New York Advancing, a book about the city government, was published in celebration of the fair's opening. The special edition included an official guide to the New York City Pavilion.; After the end of the fair's first season in November 1939, the space east of the building was converted to a concert area,; and furniture was stored in the pavilion prior to the 1940 season. A memorial plaque was installed on the New York City Pavilion after two policemen were killed in 1940 while attempting to defuse a bomb nearby.
The United Nations was planning a permanent headquarters during the 1940s. While the organization was deciding on a permanent headquarters, UN Secretary-General Trygve Lie decided in April 1946 to use the New York City Pavilion as a meeting hall for the United Nations General Assembly.; The city and UN agreed to spend $2.27 million to renovate the pavilion and environs,; and workers began renovations in May 1946. A wall was built between the northern and southern halves of the building, and an auditorium and small annex was built in the northern half. The southern half was converted to space for air conditioning equipment. Workers also planted a flower garden at the site of the Trylon and Perisphere, in addition to 1,000 trees, 2,500 shrubs, and 200,000 other plants around the building. In addition, nearby roads were upgraded. Early plans called for the General Assembly to use the building for only six months; the building would have continued to function as a roller-skating and ice-skating rink afterward.
Once the renovations were completed, the UN took over the building that September, and a formal ceremony was hosted on October 18, 1946.; Later that year, the UN decided to build its permanent headquarters in Manhattan, and the UN was allowed to stay at the New York City Pavilion until the Manhattan headquarters was finished. Numerous significant events occurred at the New York City Pavilion in the UN's early years, including the creation of UNICEF, the partition of Korea, and the authorization of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (during which Israel was created). The UN renewed its lease of the building in late 1947. The pavilion was the temporary home of the General Assembly until October 20, 1951,; and the General Assembly met in Manhattan afterward.
After the UN vacated the space, contractors converted the building back into a rink as part of a $237,000 renovation. A wooden roller-skating rink and a ice rink were added, and ramps and public announcement systems were also installed. The rink reopened on October 18, 1952,; and was renovated again in mid-1953. To celebrate the New York City Pavilion's usage as a temporary General Assembly hall, the building was depicted in a stamp released by the United Nations in 1958.; By the 1960s, it was one of two major structures in Flushing Meadows Park that remained from the 1939 fair, the other being Billy Rose's Aquacade.
The New York City Building was formally rededicated on April 25, 1964,; two days after the 1964 World's Fair opened. Tickets to the ice-skating show ranged from $1 to $2, while tickets for simulated helicopter rides above the Panorama cost 10 cents apiece. The main attraction in the building was the Panorama of the City of New York, which had cost the city $600,000 and taken two years to construct. The building's ice rink was equipped with a ski run, in addition to six movable stages and 12 stationary stages. Memorabilia and artworks from 34 museums were displayed inside the building to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the British conquest of New Netherland, and a film displayed the history of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA). Radio station WNYC also moved much of its broadcasting operations to the City Building during the 1964 World's Fair. A replica of a New York City Police Department precinct was added to the building.
During the 1964 season, there were rarely any queues to get inside the City Building. The Panorama was initially relatively unpopular with visitors, but it ultimately recorded an average of 1,400 visitors a day. Dick Button's Ice-Travaganza was also unsuccessful, despite the building's central location within the World's Fair grounds. The New York City Building operated until the end of the 1964 World's Fair in October 1965.; From the outset, Moses planned to preserve the New York City Building after the 1964 World's Fair, and the World's Fair Corporation set aside funding for the building's renovation at the end of the fair. The initial plans called for the Panorama to be moved from the building to the Civic Center of Manhattan, allowing the City Building to be used as a skating rink. Moses subsequently offered to have the TBTA take responsibility for the Panorama. The City Building was one of the few buildings to remain from the 1964 fair, along with the Unisphere, Singer Bowl, New York State and U.S. pavilions, and the Hall of Science. The structure was used by the TBTA in the 1960s, and the city government took over the surrounding park in 1967.
Originally, the Queens County Art and Cultural Center occupied , and two-fifths of the museum's space was taken up by the Panorama. There was only about of actual display space, which meant that the museum had to close every time a temporary exhibit was being added or replaced. The museum had four to five school groups per day, though nearly as many school groups had to be denied admission to the lack of space. The museum's main entrance was at the northern end of the New York City Pavilion building, while the ice-skating rink occupied the structure's southern half. The museum's collection also had no clear focus; according to a 1991 New York Times article, many visitors assumed the Queens Museum was a history museum or knew only about its Panorama. Shortly after the museum opened, the city allocated $140,000 for additional upgrades to the New York City Pavilion, which was later increased to $317,000. The ice-skating rink continued to operate five days a week.
Thomas Hoving, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's director, was hired as the museum's interim director in March 1975, and the dissent surrounding the museum subsided. Blanche Taub, the leader of the Friends, was also elected to the museum's board of trustees, and the board itself was replaced shortly thereafter.; Amid the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, the city reneged on a $350,000 grant that it had offered to the museum's staff for a renovation of the building. It took more than two years before a permanent director was hired. Janet Schneider was hired as the museum's executive director in February 1978. Geraldine Eiber, who was appointed the same year as the museum's president, wanted to increase public awareness of the museum, in addition to obtaining new art and corporate sponsorships. The New York City Council provided more than $500,000 for an expansion of the Queens Museum shortly afterward, which would add over of exhibition space. The Queens Museum's Community Gallery opened in September 1979 as an exhibit space for the local community. The Queens Museum also began visiting local groups in an attempt to increase residents' involvement with the museum.
The museum continued to expand its space within the New York City Pavilion through the 1980s. By 1982, the New York Daily News reported that the museum's gallery, studios, workshops, office, and backroom spaces took up nearly half the building. The Queens Museum began developing a sculpture hall in 1983, when Chase Manhattan Bank gave the museum $150,000 to fund the acquisition of casts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. Ultimately, the Queens Museum loaned 40 casts permanently, and the sculpture hall opened in 1986 with 22 casts. The museum also considered restoring the Panorama and adding moving walkways to that exhibit. Schneider resigned in 1989 after twelve years as the museum's director; by then, the museum was planning a $14 million expansion. Steven Klindt was hired as the new director later that year. By then, the museum had 100,000 annual visitors (many times higher than in the 1970s), though membership was less than projected, with 1,200 members. Furthermore, many visitors were either part of school groups or came specifically to see the Panorama.
During the renovation, the museum recorded fewer visitors, in part because the Panorama was temporarily removed and because the existing exhibits did not appeal to Queens's increasingly ethnically diverse population. The museum also began looking to hire an executive to help raise funds, and Carma C. Fauntleroy was hired as the museum's executive director in 1993. In addition, museum executives began meeting with Queens community groups, as the museum wanted to host more shows that signified Queens's cultural diversity. The renovation was completed in November 1994 with double the amount of gallery space. Fauntleroy said the new galleries would allow the museum to display more visual art. The renovation ultimately cost $15 million. In the long term, the museum also wanted to expand into the space occupied by the ice rink.
By the late 1990s, Queens borough president Claire Shulman was considering replacing the New York City Pavilion's ice rink with a new rink at Cunningham Park in eastern Queens. The relocation would allow the Queens Museum to expand even further, though the proposal was controversial. At the time, the ice rink was deteriorating, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation preferred to demolish the rink rather than repair it. Laurene Buckley took over as the museum's executive director in July 1999, with plans to expand the permanent collection and attract more visitors. That November, she initiated the First Thursdays program, in which the museum hosted events and activities one Thursday a month.;
Tom Finkelpearl was hired as the museum's director in early 2002.; Finkelpearl said at the time that many visitors to Flushing Meadows Corona Park continued to ignore the museum because the building looked "like it's closed, even when we're open". He was advocating for changes to the museum's renovation plans by late 2004, saying that Moss's plan "wasn't jelling from a practical perspective". Accordingly, the museum abandoned Moss's plan in early 2005. The museum solicited a new proposal from Grimshaw Architects,; which agreed to work with local engineering firm Ammann & Whitney. Queens borough president Helen Marshall gave the museum a $10.6 million grant for the expansion in March 2006, which at the time was the largest gift the museum had ever received. Grimshaw presented revised designs for the expansion that October. The revised plans called for new facades to the west and east, as well as a Skylight interior courtyard. At the time, the renovation was supposed to cost $37 million of which $21 million came from Marshall's office.
The museum began an expansion project in 2009.Halperin, Julia. (July 16, 2013), "Queens Museum to double in size" The Art Newspaper Grimshaw Architects and Ammann & Whitney developed plans for of exhibition, education, and office space, as well as eight new artist studios. The new space would be created on the site of the old ice skating rink. The ice rink was relocated to a new facility in the northeastern section of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. and the interior of the ice rink was demolished by the beginning of 2010. The project ultimately ended up costing $69 million. The expanded museum reopened in November 2013 with a new entrance at Grand Central Parkway. After it reopened, the museum shortened its name to Queens Museum.
In 2017, the museum controversially canceled an agreement to rent space for a party celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.; Raicovich had called the party a "political event". Local politicians worked to restore the museum's commitment to host the event, which was ultimately reinstated at the museum. The event included a staged reenactment of the November 29, 1947, United Nations vote to partition the British Mandate for Palestine.; As a consequence of the controversy, the Queens Museum's board commissioned an investigation into misbehaviors by Raicovich and deputy director David Strauss. Raicovich resigned in January 2018,; and Strauss was fired. The British curator Sally Tallant was hired as the museum's new director in late 2018.; ;
The Queens Museum was closed temporarily from March to September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The city government gave the museum $26.4 million in September 2021 to complete the second phase of its expansion.; In mid-2022, the museum hired Levenbetts to design the renovation, which museum officials predicted would cost $69 million.; The project would create a children's museum wing; add of storage space; build a art lab; and add classrooms, conservation, and exhibit preparation spaces. The project was to involve repairing the south facade as well. The city allocated another $8.5 million for the children's museum space in August 2023.
The exterior is primarily made of concrete. When the New York City Pavilion was built, it had rectangular pillars, Glass brick walls, and a geometric cornice. In advance of the 1964 fair, the glass blocks were covered up, and the cornice was removed. Prior to the 2013 renovation, the building had no main entrance; thus, many visitors to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park did not know of the museum's existence. After the 2013 renovation, there is a , glass wall on the western facade of the museum building. The glass facade consists of fritted glass panels interspersed with aluminum panels. At night, the facade is illuminated by LED lights that are visible from Grand Central Parkway immediately to the west. The eastern end of the building has a set of revolving doors embedded within a curtain wall, which in turn is recessed behind a colonnade.
After the Fair closed, the Panorama remained open to the public, and Lester's team updated the map in 1967, 1968, and 1969. After 1970, very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model, adding over 60,000 structures. In March 2009, the museum announced that it would allow people to donate at least $50 to have accurate scale models created and added. The mechanical "helicopter" vehicles for conveying exhibition visitors were showing signs of wear, and were removed before the 1994 reopening. The Panorama has also hosted temporary exhibits, such as models of unbuilt structures in the 2018 exhibit Never Built New York.
The current installation, dating to a 1990s renovation of the museum by Rafael Viñoly, features accessible ramps and an elevated walkway which surround the Panorama. Since 2023, the museum has also allowed visitors a closeup look at individual structures in the Panorama, via an electronic kiosk display.
The Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity (a predecessor to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection) commissioned the Cartographic Survey Force of the Works Progress Administration to create the map for the 1939 World's Fair. Work began in 1938, with a budget of $100,000 (), but it was not displayed at the 1939 fair. The reason for this is variously attributed to World War II-era security concerns and the map's large area. The map was displayed at Grand Central Palace in 1948, the only time in the 20th century that it was publicly displayed. For the rest of the century, the map remained in storage and experienced dust and water damage. Museum officials announced in 2005 that they would install the map in the museum. The map was restored by the McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Lab in Oberlin, Ohio, between 2006 and 2008, then displayed at the Queens Museum.
The museum began hosting exhibits relating to Queens residents and ethnic groups in the 1990s. These included exhibits about Korean Americans and the musician Louis Armstrong. Exhibits in the first decade of the 21st century included a showcase of crime scene photographs from the Daily News archives, a showcase of banners created by schoolchildren, a show about the diplomat Ralph Bunche, drawings from the court reporter William Sharp, and an exhibit of photographs of Robert Moses's work. During the 2010s, temporary exhibits included collections of World's Fair artifacts. When the museum reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, it hosted exhibitions about the concept of home, the photographer Bruce Davidson, and children's art.
The Queens Museum has also been involved in community projects. These have included the restoration of Corona Plaza, a public plaza near the New York City Subway's 103rd Street–Corona Plaza station, in the early 21st century. Starting in 2004, the museum helped sponsor the Queens Culture Trolley, which traveled between Flushing Meadows and the neighborhoods of Corona and Jackson Heights.;
When the museum opened, it sold annual memberships. Members received regular newsletters and bulletins, and the museum also hosted member-only events and exhibition previews. , the Queens Museum sells four tiers of memberships, and the museum hosts member-only publications, events, and exhibition previews. The Queens Museum is also part of the Culture Pass program, whose members can enter for free.;
In the 1970s, the museum's annual operating budget totaled $150,000, of which four-fifths came from the New York City government. The budget grew steadily during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching $2 million by 1989. During the 1990s, the museum had an operating budget of $1.8 million, and seven-tenths of the budget was funded by the city or other public sources. For the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2022, the Queens Museum recorded total revenue of $6.38 million, expenses of $6.59 million, assets of $36.6 million, and liabilities of $364,000.
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