Flushing, Queens: The Rocket Thrower – Robert Moses, the 1964/65 World’s Fair, and Art in the Space Age
The Space Age was a time of bewildering change, yet also of great optimism about the future. Conceived at a time of general consensus in 1958 and designed to celebrate and promote the U.S. entry into the Space Age, the 1964/65 Fair opened instead amidst the turbulent conflicts of the Mid-Sixties. Robert Moses’s presidency of the World’s Fair Corporation became another flash-point for the conflicts emerging in the spheres of civil rights, planning, architecture, and art in New York. Donald De Lue’s sculpture The Rocket Thrower illustrates the conflicts between Moses’s conservative aesthetic, the press, and the changing culture of the 1960′s. Explore the “space age” art and architecture that survives in Flushing Meadows today which recalls those times and their contradictory currents.
This tour is part of a weeklong festival celebrating the Rocket Thrower. The statue is included in the MAS’s Adopt-A-Monument program which through private funding conserves and maintains works of public art. The Rocket Thrower is the last of 36 outdoor monuments in this program waiting to be restored.
Date: Sunday May 6, 2012
Time: 12:00pm-2:00pm
Event Start/End: The East side of the Unisphere, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, opposite the Queens Museum of Art
Hosts: John Kriskiewicz, with John Krawchuk
Registration: No need to sign up, just show up at the posted meeting location.
Accessibility: Fully Accessible
Historic Flushing (Queens): Colonists, Quakers, and Tree Nurseries
From the brave English settlers who defied tyrannical Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant in the name of religious tolerance, to the oldest house of worship in New York State, to the terrible sacrifice suffered by Declaration of Independence Signer Francis Lewis, Flushing has seen New York history unfold on its land since the 1600s. Find out where Thomas Jefferson shopped for trees for his beloved Monticello, and where Quaker founder George Fox preached to hundreds under the shade of two grand oak trees, all here in the erstwhile village once called the prettiest on Long Island.
*Please note: This tour is about Flushing from the 1600s through the early 20th century, not present-day Asian Flushing*
Date: Sunday May 6, 2012
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Event Start: Meet outside the Burger King, near the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
Event End: Outside the John Bowne House, 31-01 Bowne Street.
Host Organization: Linda McDonnell, Friendly Native New Yorker Tours
Registration: No need to sign up, just show up at the posted meeting location.
Accessibility: Partially Accessible – curbs, uneven terrain, busy sidewalks
Explore the early twentieth century’s “Working Man’s Riviera,” now the twenty-first century’s “Working People’s Hamptons”! New York City’s beachside bungalows in Far Rockaway are experiencing a revival in interest by young families, artists, surfers and beach lovers. Experience:
• Historic beach bungalows built from 1918–1920
• Adjacent to a seven-mile boardwalk
• Cleanest public beach in New York State
• Fire Island experience within New York City limits
• Emerging neighborhood as featured in PBS’s film “The Bungalows of Rockaway” and program “A Walk through Queens”, hosted by Barry Lewis & David Hartman
• Attractive urban waterfront environment
Time: 2:00pm-3:30pm
Date: Saturday May 5, 2012
Event Start: 189 Beach 24th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Event End: Far Rockaway Beach’s boardwalk at Beach 26th Street
Host: Beachside Bungalow Preservation Association
Registration: No need to register, just show up at the starting location.
Accessibility: Fully Accessible
Complete Streets (r)Evolution: Jackson Heights and Elmhurst
Walk with us in Elmhurst, a bustling neighborhood with historic architecture, where busy Queens Boulevard is being re-imagined into a “complete street” for all users. Next door, Jackson Heights, a 1920′s planned community and home to “Little India,” is undergoing a transformation as streets are converted to plazas for needed public space, and traffic calming improvements make this family-centric neighborhood safer for kids and adults alike to walk and play.
Every day, all over the city, Transportation Alternatives is working to revitalize New York City’s neighborhoods and restore a vibrant culture of street life. This walk features one of the many communities where T.A. advocacy brings safe and healthy streets for all.
Time: 11:30am-1:00pm
Date: Saturday May 5, 2012
Event Start: NW corner of Queens Boulevard and 55th Avenue; in front of the Georgia Diner
Event End: Broadway and 74th Street
Hosts: Transportation Alternatives’ Queens Volunteer Committee, Jackson Heights Green Alliance
Registration: RSVP at http://transalt.org/events/calendar/5848 – NOTE: there is a limit of 40 people total for this event.
Accessibility: Partially Accessible – curbs, uneven terrain, busy sidewalks
Revisit Rockaway Beach: Village Inside a Bustling Resort
Join Rockaway native and author of Images of America: Rockaway Beach, Vivian Carter, in walking Rockaway Beach. Event participants will be exploring the area between Beach 84 Street and Beach 102 Street, while learning about the historical Village of Rockaway Beach, established in 1897. This event will be offered on both Saturday, May 5th, and Sunday, May 6th.
*This walk will be happening on both May 5th, and May 6th
Date: Saturday May 5, 2012
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Date: Sunday May 6, 2012
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Event Start: Doughboy Memorial, Beach 94
Event End: Rockaway Beach Boulevard
Registration: No need to sign up, just show up at the posted meeting location.
Accessibility: This event is accessible and welcoming to wheelchairs, children, and seniors.
Jane Jacobs Rockapulco Bike Tour
This tour will be for historians and others interested in exploring the local neighborhoods of the Rockaways. We have a select number of bikes that can be loaned for this tour and bikes are available on a first come first serve basis.
Date: Saturday May 5, 2012
Time: 3:00pm-5:00pm
Event Start: Starting from Firehouse 59 (Rockaway Beach Blvd at Beach 59th St.)
Event End: Ending point TBA
Host Organization: Jeanne DuPonte, of the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance
Registration: Advanced registration is required, email: info@rwalliance.org
Accessibility: Not Accessible – stairs, obstacles, uneven terrain, steep paths
