A 3rd World's Fair In Queens? Could Be!
BY JOHN TOSCANO

A third World's Fair may be coming to Queens in the not-too-distant future. AThis past Sunday, on the 67th anniversary of the opening of the 1939-40 World's Fair, David Oats, president of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Association, announced the start of a serious exploratory effort on the feasibility of a third New York World's Fair, but not at the same location as the two previous events held in Queens. Oats' group is now eyeing the Willets Point junkyards as the site.

Public domain photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Gottscho-Schleisner Collection; reproduction number LG-G613-35557 The Pennsylvania Railroad S1 6-4-4-6 steam locomotive was one of the many attractions at the New York World's Fair, July 15, 1939.

Oats, who was involved in the staging of the second of those spectaculars as an aide to the legendary Robert Moses, said the possibility of another fair in Queens arose after an invitation from the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) to consider staging another world exposition here in 2012 or 2015.

If a 2015 fair were held here, it would mark the 75th anniversary of the 1939-40 and the 50th anniversary of the 1964-65 Fairs.

Oats, a Forest Hills resident, Queens civic leader, newspaper editor and World's Fair historian, stated in a news release that his association "believes that another fair is a long shot at best, but fairs throughout history have brought out the best of humankind and it's certainly worth the shot. Besides, preparations for World's Fairs are far more desirable than preparations for world wars."

Photo Max Mordecai (deceased). Summer, 1964. Permission to print under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.Photograph of the New York World's Fair 1964/1965 as viewed from the Observation Towers of the New York State Pavilion.

Oats' organization's main problem probably would be convincing United States officials to go along with the idea.

According to the letter he received from BIE applauding the efforts of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park World's Fair Association to spearhead the organization of a World's Fair in New York City, the United States government withdrew from the BIE in June 2001.

But, the letter continued, "BIE regulations do not preclude the application of a non-member country to host a World's Fair."

The letter concluded: "I sincerely hope that your organization's efforts will successfully persuade the U.S. to join the BIE again and lead New York City to bid for a 2012 or 2015 Expo."

But there could be other obstacles for Oats and his organization to surmount. For one, Oats and his organization's vice president focused mostly on Willets Point as the fair site in their press conference following Sunday's announcement.

But the junkyards may be on their way out since the Bloomberg mayoral administration is close to selecting a developer to transform the junkyard area into a bustling community of small businesses.

Also, in Monday's press accounts of Oats' announcement, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall's Public Information Officer, Dan Andrews, was quoted as saying "We have to take a really hard look" at the idea of a third World's Fair in Queens.

Andrews added that this was the first he was hearing about the proposal.

But none of these negative points could douse Oats' ardor for another fair. He told reporters on Sunday, "We have to jump on right away if there is a possibility. We have to get a solid proposal. The mayor has to go for it. The city has to officially go for it."

The idea should appeal to Mayor Michael Bloomberg for many reasons, among them the economic benefits. But he may also want to settle a score with Oats for Oats' opposing plans to build a new stadium for the New York Jets football team in the railroad yards on Manhattan's West Side. Oats wanted the stadium built in Queens. The mayor's grandiose plan, part of his summer Olympics dream, subsequently failed.

However, a spokesman for the mayor stated encouragingly that although the mayor had not seen any proposal, "It's worth noting that from finance and business, to the arts, to publishing, to international diplomacy, New York is undoubtedly the center of the world-even more so now than when we hosted the previous World's Fairs."