The 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair was the third major World’s Fair to be held in New York City and the second World’s Fair to be held at Flushing Meadows Park in the Borough of Queens, New York in the 20th century. It opened on April 21, 1964 for two six-month seasons concluding on October 21, 1965.

View image gallery of 1964-65 New York World’s Fair Flashcards >>

For more information on the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair visit:

• 1964 New York World’s Fair on Wikipedia
• The Story of the Fair on nywf64.com

In 1976, Charlotte Street epitomized the decay and destruction of the South Bronx. President Jimmy Carter witnessed cement rubble on the devastated street and pronounced the need for grand changes that would transform the lives of poor people in the neighborhood and beyond. Rather than living in large, public housing, families needed homes of their own. Carter, along with other earnest city planners, were trying to vaticinate somehow, to imagine city life that would take on the pleasures that would come with a sense of ownership in a single family home.

More than thirty years later, Susan Agliata and I seek out this architectural anomaly in the heart of the Bronx. Charlotte Street is a street of modest but well-cared-for single and double story homes. Each home is surrounded by a six foot high fence and every window is barred. Unlike the rest of the borough which is bustling and croweded on a lovely fall afternoon, Charlotte feels simultaneously inhabited and desolate.

Today I visited Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY. This sprawling public park was once the site of the 1939 and 1964-65 World’s Fair.

View full album of photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/abecedariumnyc/Vaticinate