Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Encyclopedia
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, often referred to as Flushing Meadow Park, Flushing Meadows Park or Flushing Meadows, is a public park in New York City
. It contains the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the current venue for the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets
baseball team, the New York Hall of Science
, the Queens Museum of Art
and the Queens Wildlife Center.
It is located in the borough
of Queens
, between the Van Wyck Expressway and Grand Central Parkway
and stretches from Flushing Bay, at the southern edge of LaGuardia Airport
, to Union Turnpike
.
The second largest public park in the City of New York (after Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx), it was created as the site of the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair
and also hosted the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair
. It is maintained and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
. The park is at the eastern edge of the area encompassed by Queens Community Board 4
.
's The Great Gatsby
. The site, known at the time as the Corona Ash Dumps, was cleared by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses
, in preparation for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. Faced with having to dispose of the mountains of ashes, Moses strategically incorporated a significant portion of the refuse into the bases of the Van Wyck Expressway running along the eastern side of the park, the nearby Interboro Parkway (now Jackie Robinson Parkway
), and the Long Island Expressway that divides the park into north and south halves. The Grand Central Parkway
separates a western lobe from the main part of the northern half, while the east-west Jewel Avenue bisects the southern half.
Some of the buildings from the 1939 Fair were used for the first temporary headquarters of the United Nations
from 1946 until it moved in 1951 to its permanent headquarters
in Manhattan
. The former New York City building was used for the UN General Assembly during that time. This building was later refurbished for the 1964 Fair as the New York City Pavilion, featuring the Panorama of the City of New York, an enormous scale model of the entire city. It is one of two buildings that survive from the 1939-40 Fair, and the only one that remains in its original location. (The other is the Belgium exhibition building
, disassembled and moved to the campus of Virginia Union University in 1941.) It is the home of the Queens Museum of Art
, which still houses, and occasionally updates, the Panorama. The Unisphere
, built as the theme symbol for the 1964/1965 World's Fair, is the main sculptural feature of the park. It stands on the site occupied by the Perisphere
during the earlier Fair.
Since 1978 the US Open tennis tournament has taken place in Flushing Meadows Park at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center; its center court is Arthur Ashe Stadium
and its secondary stadium court is Louis Armstrong Stadium
. Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets
since 2009, sits at the north end of the park. Shea Stadium
, the Mets' previous home, once stood adjacent to Citi Field.
Rental boats are available for rowing and paddleboating on the park's Meadow Lake, which feeds northward into the Flushing River
and thence into Flushing Bay. Meadow Lake is the site of the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, and teams from New York practice in Meadow Lake during the summer months. The American Small Craft Association (TASCA) also houses a fleet of over a dozen 14.5' sloop-rigged sailboats which are used for teaching, racing and recreation by the club's members. Bicycling paths extend around Meadow Lake and connect to the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway
. Paths around Willow Lake, the smaller and higher of the two lakes, in a natural wetlands area in the little-used far southern section of the park, are currently closed to the public. The many recreational playing fields and playgrounds in the park are used for activities that reflect the vast ethnic mix of Queens; soccer and cricket
are especially popular.
The park is also the home of Queens Theatre in the Park, the New York Hall of Science
, the Queens Museum of Art
Queens Museum of Art, and "Terrace on the Park
" (a banquet and catering facility, the Fair's former helipad).
The New York State Pavilion
, constructed as the state's exhibit hall for the 1964/1965 World's Fair, is also a feature of the park. However, no new use for the building was found after the Fair, and the structure sits derelict and decaying. The other buildings left for a while after the Fair's conclusion to see if a new use for them could be found, such as the United States Pavilion, have subsequently been demolished. One such parcel became the site of the Playground for All Children, one of the first playgrounds designed to include handicapped-accessible activities. The design competition was won by architect Hisham N. Ashkouri
and the facility was completed in 1981. It was refurbished and reopened in 1997.
By the early 2000's, the park had become the residence of a number of homeless people, who received attention after five abducted, raped and threatened to kill a woman who had been sitting with her partner at a nearby subway station.
On June 24, 2005, the park hosted the Reverend Billy Graham on what he stated was his last tour in North America
.
A $66.3 million aquatic center, encompassing an Olympic-sized indoor pool and an NHL regulation-sized skating rink, opened in 2008. The facility, utilized by schools, leagues and community members of all ages, is the largest recreation complex in any New York City park, at 110000 square feet (10,219.3 m²). The complex incorporates features for the physically disabled.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It contains the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the current venue for the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
baseball team, the New York Hall of Science
New York Hall of Science
The New York Hall of Science occupies one of the few remaining structures of the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City. Today, it stands as New York City's only hands-on science and technology center...
, the Queens Museum of Art
Queens Museum of Art
The Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
and the Queens Wildlife Center.
It is located in the borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, between the Van Wyck Expressway and Grand Central Parkway
Grand Central Parkway
The Grand Central Parkway is a parkway that stretches from the RFK-Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens-Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, which runs across the northern part of Long Island through Nassau County and into Suffolk...
and stretches from Flushing Bay, at the southern edge of LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
, to Union Turnpike
Union Turnpike (New York)
Union Turnpike is a thoroughfare stretching across central and eastern Queens in New York City. It runs from Myrtle Avenue in Glendale to Marcus Avenue in North New Hyde Park, about a mile into Nassau County, New York. Initially designed as a toll road, it takes a straight-arrow path from Kew...
.
The second largest public park in the City of New York (after Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx), it was created as the site of the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
and also hosted the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
. It is maintained and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
. The park is at the eastern edge of the area encompassed by Queens Community Board 4
Queens Community Board 4
The Queens Community Board 4 is a local government in the New York City borough of Queens, encompassing the neighborhoods of Elmhurst, Corona and Roosevelt Avenue, and also includes LeFrak City, Queens Center and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park...
.
Two World's Fairs
The 1255 acres (5.1 km²) park was created from the former dumping ground characterized as "a valley of ashes" in F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
. The site, known at the time as the Corona Ash Dumps, was cleared by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
, in preparation for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. Faced with having to dispose of the mountains of ashes, Moses strategically incorporated a significant portion of the refuse into the bases of the Van Wyck Expressway running along the eastern side of the park, the nearby Interboro Parkway (now Jackie Robinson Parkway
Jackie Robinson Parkway
The Jackie Robinson Parkway is a parkway in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The western terminus of the parkway is at Jamaica Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York. It runs through Highland Park, along the north side of Ridgewood Reservoir, and through Forest Park...
), and the Long Island Expressway that divides the park into north and south halves. The Grand Central Parkway
Grand Central Parkway
The Grand Central Parkway is a parkway that stretches from the RFK-Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens-Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, which runs across the northern part of Long Island through Nassau County and into Suffolk...
separates a western lobe from the main part of the northern half, while the east-west Jewel Avenue bisects the southern half.
Some of the buildings from the 1939 Fair were used for the first temporary headquarters of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
from 1946 until it moved in 1951 to its permanent headquarters
United Nations headquarters
The headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The former New York City building was used for the UN General Assembly during that time. This building was later refurbished for the 1964 Fair as the New York City Pavilion, featuring the Panorama of the City of New York, an enormous scale model of the entire city. It is one of two buildings that survive from the 1939-40 Fair, and the only one that remains in its original location. (The other is the Belgium exhibition building
Belgian Building
The Belgian Friendship Building or Belgian Pavilion is the former exhibition building for Belgium from the 1939/1940 World's Fair in New York City. It now serves as Barco-Stevens Hall on the campus of Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Virginia.It was designed by Belgian architects Victor...
, disassembled and moved to the campus of Virginia Union University in 1941.) It is the home of the Queens Museum of Art
Queens Museum of Art
The Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
, which still houses, and occasionally updates, the Panorama. The Unisphere
Unisphere
The Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the borough's most iconic and enduring symbols....
, built as the theme symbol for the 1964/1965 World's Fair, is the main sculptural feature of the park. It stands on the site occupied by the Perisphere
Perisphere
The Trylon and Perisphere were two modernistic structures, together known as the "Theme Center," at the center of the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940. Connected to the spire-shaped Trylon by what was at the time the world's longest escalator, the Perisphere was a tremendous sphere, 180 feet in...
during the earlier Fair.
1965-present
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Arthur Ashe Stadium, a part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center located within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens, is the main tennis stadium of the US Open, the last of each year's four Grand Slam tournaments, and also where the annual Arthur Ashe...
and its secondary stadium court is Louis Armstrong Stadium
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Louis Armstrong Stadium is a tennis stadium of the US Open, the last of each year's four Grand Slam tournaments. It is located at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the New York City borough of Queens; it was the main stadium before Arthur Ashe...
. Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
since 2009, sits at the north end of the park. Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
, the Mets' previous home, once stood adjacent to Citi Field.
Rental boats are available for rowing and paddleboating on the park's Meadow Lake, which feeds northward into the Flushing River
Flushing River
The Flushing River, more properly and historically known as Flushing Creek, is a waterway that flows through the northern part of central Queens in New York City, emptying into the East River...
and thence into Flushing Bay. Meadow Lake is the site of the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York
The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York is an annual sporting and multicultural event held in August on Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York to celebrate the fifth moon of the lunar calendar...
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, and teams from New York practice in Meadow Lake during the summer months. The American Small Craft Association (TASCA) also houses a fleet of over a dozen 14.5' sloop-rigged sailboats which are used for teaching, racing and recreation by the club's members. Bicycling paths extend around Meadow Lake and connect to the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway
Brooklyn-Queens Greenway
The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway is a bicycling and pedestrian path connecting parks and roads in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, connecting Coney Island in the south to Fort Totten in the north, on Long Island Sound...
. Paths around Willow Lake, the smaller and higher of the two lakes, in a natural wetlands area in the little-used far southern section of the park, are currently closed to the public. The many recreational playing fields and playgrounds in the park are used for activities that reflect the vast ethnic mix of Queens; soccer and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
are especially popular.
The park is also the home of Queens Theatre in the Park, the New York Hall of Science
New York Hall of Science
The New York Hall of Science occupies one of the few remaining structures of the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City. Today, it stands as New York City's only hands-on science and technology center...
, the Queens Museum of Art
Queens Museum of Art
The Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
Queens Museum of Art, and "Terrace on the Park
Terrace on the Park
Terrace on the Park is a banquet hall in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The building was constructed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to serve as the heliport for the 1964 New York World's Fair. It is located to the south of the New York Hall of Science. The bulk of the building is...
" (a banquet and catering facility, the Fair's former helipad).
The New York State Pavilion
1964-1965 New York World's Fair New York State Pavilion
1964-1965 New York World's Fair New York State Pavilion is a historic world's fair pavilion at Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in Flushing, Queens, New York. The New York State Pavilion was designed and built between 1962 and 1964. It was designed by famed modernist architect Philip Johnson...
, constructed as the state's exhibit hall for the 1964/1965 World's Fair, is also a feature of the park. However, no new use for the building was found after the Fair, and the structure sits derelict and decaying. The other buildings left for a while after the Fair's conclusion to see if a new use for them could be found, such as the United States Pavilion, have subsequently been demolished. One such parcel became the site of the Playground for All Children, one of the first playgrounds designed to include handicapped-accessible activities. The design competition was won by architect Hisham N. Ashkouri
Hisham N. Ashkouri
Hisham N. Ashkouri is a Boston and New York-based architect.Dr. Ashkouri graduated first in class in 1970 with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the University of Baghdad and continued for his Masters of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania under the late Louis I. Kahn in 1973...
and the facility was completed in 1981. It was refurbished and reopened in 1997.
By the early 2000's, the park had become the residence of a number of homeless people, who received attention after five abducted, raped and threatened to kill a woman who had been sitting with her partner at a nearby subway station.
On June 24, 2005, the park hosted the Reverend Billy Graham on what he stated was his last tour in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
A $66.3 million aquatic center, encompassing an Olympic-sized indoor pool and an NHL regulation-sized skating rink, opened in 2008. The facility, utilized by schools, leagues and community members of all ages, is the largest recreation complex in any New York City park, at 110000 square feet (10,219.3 m²). The complex incorporates features for the physically disabled.
Popular culture
- The great ash heap/valley of ashes in F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
was spruced up for the 1939 World's Fair and is now Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. - The UnisphereUnisphereThe Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the borough's most iconic and enduring symbols....
and some of the buildings from the 1964 World's Fair can be seen in an episode of The FlintstonesThe FlintstonesThe Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
entitled, "The Time Machine", which originally aired on January 15, 1965. - In the series finale of the police sitcom Barney MillerBarney MillerBarney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
, Detective Ron HarrisRon Harris (detective)Ron Harris was a fictional police detective from the television show Barney Miller. He was played by actor Ron Glass.In addition to his police work, Harris was also a writer. He published a book called "Blood on the Badge" about the experiences of a New York police officer...
considers resigning from the NYPDNew York City Police DepartmentThe New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
when he learns he is being assigned to Flushing Meadows. - The 1978 film adaptation of The WizThe Wiz (film)The Wiz is a 1978 musical film produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featuring an entirely African-American cast, The Wiz was adapted from the 1975 Broadway musical...
used the New York State Pavilion's Tent of Tomorrow as the set for Munchkinland. - They Might Be GiantsThey Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
shot the music video for "Don't Let's StartDon't Let's Start"Don't Let's Start" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their eponymous debut album They Might Be Giants. It was the first single released from the album, released as a maxi-single. The song is one of the band's most popular and well-known songs, despite failing to chart...
" in the Flushing Meadows Park. - In the 1989 film Black Rain, the opening dissolve has a stylized Japanese rising sun blending into a shot of the UnisphereUnisphereThe Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the borough's most iconic and enduring symbols....
with star Michael DouglasMichael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
riding past on a motorcycle. - In the 1997 Music Video for (Notorious B.I.G) highly popular hit single "Mo Money Mo Problems" rap moguls Puff Daddy (Sean CombsSean CombsSean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
) and Ma$e (MaseMaseMason Durell Betha , better known by stage name Mase who was previously known as Murda Ma$e, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and inspirational speaker...
) appear to be dancing in front of the UnisphereUnisphereThe Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the borough's most iconic and enduring symbols....
. - In the 1997 movie Men in BlackMen in Black (film)Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
, Agent J (Will SmithWill SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
) and Agent K (Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
) attempt to stop Edgar the Bug (Vincent D'OnofrioVincent D'OnofrioVincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
) from leaving earth in the observation tower, which transforms into an alien space ship, then crashes into the Unisphere. - The opening for the television series The King of QueensThe King of QueensThe King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
depict Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie (Leah ReminiLeah ReminiLeah Marie Remini is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens and as Stacey Carosi on the NBC sitcom Saved by the Bell...
) playing in front of the UnisphereUnisphereThe Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the borough's most iconic and enduring symbols....
. - Flushing Meadows is referenced in the 9th-seasonThe Simpsons (season 9)The Simpsons ninth season originally aired between September 1997 and May 1998, beginning on Sunday, September 21, 1997 with "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson". The show runner for the ninth production season was Mike Scully...
episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
entitled "The City of New York vs. Homer SimpsonThe City of New York vs. Homer Simpson"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" is the first episode of The Simpsons ninth season, and premiered on September 21, 1997 on Fox. The episode sees the Simpson family traveling to Manhattan to recover the family car, which was taken by Barney Gumble and abandoned outside the World Trade Center...
". Homer SimpsonHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
, badly needing to go to the restroomUrinationUrination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
, sees a bus headed toward Flushing Meadows and imagines himself running through a green meadow filled with many toiletToiletA toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
s. - The park was the final destination on the first season of The Amazing RaceThe Amazing RaceThe Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
. - The Law & Order: Criminal IntentLaw & Order: Criminal IntentLaw & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
episode "World's FairWorld's Fair (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)"World's Fair" is a sixth season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detectives Logan and Wheeler investigate the murder of a young Pakistani-American female college student, found slain in front of the Unisphere, which sparks racial violence...
" includes scenes set in Flushing Meadows Park near the Unisphere, where a murder victim is discovered. - In the fourth episodeYoko (Flight of the Conchords)"Yoko" is the fourth episode of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords. It first aired in the United States on Sunday, July 8, 2007.This episode received a Emmy Award nomination in 2008 for "Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series"....
of the 2007 HBO series Flight of the ConchordsFlight of the Conchords (TV series)Flight of the Conchords is an American television comedy series that debuted on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show stars the real-life duo, Jemaine Clement...
, Bret McKenzieBret McKenzieBret Peter Tarrant McKenzie is a comedian, actor, musician and producer, best known for being one half of the Grammy Award winning musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement....
takes a date to the UnisphereUnisphereThe Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the borough's most iconic and enduring symbols....
in the park. - The 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
features a full fictional recreation named "Meadows Park". - The CSI: NYCSI: NYCSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
episode "ManhattanhengeManhattanhengeManhattanhenge – sometimes referred to as the Manhattan Solstice – is a semiannual occurrence in which the setting sun aligns with the east–west streets of the main street grid in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The term is derived from Stonehenge, at which the sun aligns...
" depicts Flushing Meadows as a murderer's potential hiding place. - The ledges that surround the Unisphere have appeared in numerous professional skateboard videos.
- Flushing Meadows plays host to the Stark Expo in the 2010 film Iron Man 2Iron Man 2Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon...
. It is also used for the same event in Captain America: The First AvengerCaptain America: The First AvengerCaptain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...