New York Hall of Science

The New York Hall of Science, branded as NYSCI, is a science museum at 47Template:Hyphen01 111th Street, within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Corona neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York. It occupies one of the few remaining structures from the 1964 New York World's Fair, along with two annexes completed in 1996 and 2004. There are more than 400 interactive exhibits, which focus on biology, chemistry, and physics. Wallace Harrison designed the original structure, an Template:Convert curving concrete structure called the Great Hall. It adjoins an entrance rotunda designed by Beyer Blinder Belle; a glass-and-metal north wing designed by Todd H. Schliemann; a science playground; and Rocket Park, which contains a collection of spacecraft.

The museum includes the Hall of Science pavilion and the adjacent Space Park, developed for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The Hall of Science opened as a fair attraction on June 16 and reopened as a museum on September 21, 1966. There was an attempt to renovate the museum in the 1970s. The museum was temporarily shuttered in January 1981 for another renovation, but, due to financial issues, it was abandoned after the renovation was completed in 1983. Alan J. Friedman took over, reopening it in 1986; he also oversaw the development of the two annexes. The original building was renovated between 2009 and 2015. It was temporarily closed during the early 2020s due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida.

The New York Hall of Science mainly focuses on children's education. It includes a large permanent collection and range of traveling exhibitions. It has hosted numerous temporary exhibits over the years, although many of its exhibits in the 1960s and 1970s had only a tangential connection to science. It offers several programs for students, operates the Alan J. Friedman Center for youth education and holds events such as the seasonal Queens Night Market and Maker Faire.

World's Fair use

The current New York Hall of Science museum includes both the Hall of Science pavilion and the adjacent Space Park at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens.<ref name="NYC Parks a069" /> Both structures were originally constructed for the 1964 New York World's Fair,<ref name="NYC Parks a069">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower had approved in 1959.<ref name="Samuel p. 6; Tirella p. 14">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> Before the Hall of Science was constructed, New York City had no science-specific museum. There had been a small science museum, the New York Museum of Science and Industry, at Rockefeller Center until the 1940s.<ref name="Samuel p. 165">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Development

Initial plans

U.S. Representative Seymour Halpern introduced legislation in 1960 to provide funding for a permanent science museum, library, and auditorium at the fair.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Robert Moses, who was the president of the World's Fair Corporation (WFC), also advocated for a large science museum at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moses initially supported the creation of a science museum at the nearby United States Pavilion.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> In 1962, City Councilmember Bernard H. Manheimer introduced legislation in the New York City Council to establish a science museum for $15–20 million. At the time, nine sites were under discussion, including the World's Fair site.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. and City Council president Paul R. Screvane supported a science museum at the World's Fair. The proposed science museum was to be located at 111th Street near the Long Island Rail Road tracks in Corona,<ref name="nyt-1963-04-10">Template:Cite news</ref> on a site that other exhibitors had shunned.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054">Template:Harvnb</ref> To pay for the exhibits, Screvane applied for funding from an unspecified private foundation, which rejected the request as "weak".<ref name="nyt-1963-10-06">Template:Cite news</ref>

A competing museum, the New York Museum of Science and Technology, had received a charter from the New York state government in December 1962.<ref name="nyt-1963-04-10" /><ref name="Stern (1995) pp. 1052–1054">Template:Harvnb</ref> The museum's board preferred erecting a building in Manhattan, saying that the World's Fair building would contain only Template:Convert, cost up to $8.5 million, and could not be ready within a year.<ref name="nyt-1963-04-10" /> There were concerns that the World's Fair site would be too far from Manhattan,<ref name="Samuel p. 165" /><ref name="nyt-1963-04-10" /><ref name="Rhoades 2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> even though there was a New York City Subway station nearby at 111th Street.<ref name="nyt-1963-10-06" /> Another institution, the New York Academy of Sciences, wanted to build a 21-story science museum at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.<ref name="Samuel p. 165" /> Nonetheless, in April 1963, the Hall of Science at the World's Fair received approval from Wagner,<ref name="nyt-1963-04-18">Template:Cite news</ref> the New York City Planning Commission,<ref name="nyt-1963-04-19">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the City Council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller authorized the city government to negotiate with nonprofit organizations to operate the Hall of Science.<ref name="nyt-1963-04-29">Template:Cite news</ref>

Design and construction

Wallace K. Harrison was hired to design the museum, which was to include Template:Convert of exhibit space on two levels. Initially, the city allocated $3.6 million to the Hall of Science, taking funds that had been earmarked for an incinerator.<ref name="nyt-1963-10-06" /> Work on the Hall of Science began on June 19, 1963.<ref name="nyt-1963-06-20">Template:Cite news</ref> By that October, the museum needed another $1.6 million in funding. To expedite the Hall of Science's construction, Harrison decided to prefabricate the concrete panels for the museum building, rather than pouring the panels on-site.<ref name="nyt-1963-10-06" /> That month, Wagner approved a $5.5 million contract for the construction of the World's Fair museum,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1963-10-19">Template:Cite news</ref> and he provided a $474,000 appropriation for the museum.<ref name="nyt-1963-10-19" /> There were also disputes over who would operate the Hall of Science. Moses claimed that the Museum of Science and Technology's board had no control over the museum, and he wished to appoint a new board for the Hall of Science.<ref name="nyt-1963-10-08">Template:Cite news</ref> Moses planned to retain the Hall of Science after the fair,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and he wanted to construct two additional structures for the museum when the fair closed.<ref name="nyt-1964-02-24">Template:Cite news</ref>

Concurrently, the WFC had set aside Template:Convert for an "aerospace island" on the western section of the fairground, next to the Ford Motor Company and General Motors pavilions.<ref name="nyt-1962-08-05">Template:Cite news</ref> In March 1964, U.S. governmental officials announced that they would operate the United States Space Park at the fair, with various spacecraft loaned by NASA.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1964-03-09">Template:Cite news</ref> The federal government planned to spend $650,000 on the land and $1 million on the exhibits.<ref name="nyt-1964-03-09" /> William Whipple Jr., the engineer overseeing the fair's construction, indicated that the Hall of Science would not be completed in time for the fair's planned opening on April 22, 1964.<ref name="nyt-1964-02-27">Template:Cite news</ref> By mid-1964, the Hall of Science's cost had increased to $7,587,432, more than twice the original estimate.<ref name="nyt-1964-08-21">Template:Cite news</ref>

Operation

File:NY HallOfScience 3007.jpg

Interior of original building at night

The Hall of Science's basement exhibits opened on June 16, 1964,<ref name="Samuel p. 165" /><ref name="nyt-1964-06-16">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Sun 1964">Template:Cite news</ref> but the building was not officially dedicated until September 9, 1964.<ref name="nyt-1964-09-10">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Originally, the Hall of Science housed 12 exhibits related to science and health,<ref name="Rhoades 2014" /> most of which were sponsored by private businesses.<ref name="Samuel p. 165" /><ref name="The Sun 1964" /> Abbott Laboratories, American Cancer Society, Ames Company, Hearing Aid Industry Conference, Office of Civil Defense,<ref name="The Sun 1964" /><ref name="nyt-1964-07-12">Template:Cite news</ref> American Chemical Society, Dow Corning, General Aniline & Film, International Telephone & Telegraph, United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and Upjohn Company sponsored exhibits in the pavilion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The biological and chemical exhibits included models of the brain, molecular biology, the human digestive system, and hearing aids. There were also exhibits about cancer detection, ocean life, and nuclear-war survival.<ref name="nyt-1964-07-12" /><ref name="Samuel pp. 165–166">Template:Harvnb</ref> The pavilion also included a screening of Frank Capra's 1964 film Rendezvous in Space,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AM New York 2015">Template:Cite news</ref> three space vehicles,<ref name="nyt-1964-08-30">Template:Cite news</ref> the Atomsville USA children's exhibit,<ref name="Samuel pp. 165–166" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a "color tree",<ref name="Hornaday 1965" /> and a model of a busy airport with an air control tower.<ref name="nyt-1963-12-23">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, there was a cylindrical laboratory measuring Template:Convert across.<ref name="nyt-1964-08-302">Template:Cite news</ref> Many of these exhibits were to be preserved after the fair.<ref name="Samuel p. 165" />

When the Space Park opened, it included three rockets measuring Template:Convert tall, in addition to the Discoverer 14 satellite and several full-scale models of satellites and rockets.<ref name="nyt-1964-06-14">Template:Cite news</ref> Among the other objects displayed there were a lunar excursion module, Thor and Atlas space launch vehicles, a space capsule from Project Mercury, and an Agena target vehicle.<ref name="nyt-1964-03-09" /> Twenty-one young male "hosts" spent 60 hours memorizing space facts, then answered visitors' questions about the Space Park. Because of its secluded location, the Space Park recorded 6,000 to 7,000 daily visitors by mid-1964, making it among the fair's less popular structures.<ref name="nyt-1964-06-14" />

The first season of the World's Fair ended on October 18, 1964.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That December, the city government and Moses appointed 16 trustees to oversee the Hall of Science's operation.<ref name="nyt-1964-12-13">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Miele 1966" /> Wagner directed the trustees to devise ideas for converting the pavilion to a museum.<ref name="Miele 1966">Template:Cite news</ref> The pavilion was to be taken over by a nonprofit museum,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the U.S. government also planned to give the Space Park to the Hall of Science.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Samuel p. 192">Template:Harvnb</ref> The second and final season of the fair ran from April 21<ref name="Samuel pp. 73–74">Template:Harvnb</ref> to October 17, 1965.<ref name="Samuel p. 83; Tirella pp. 320–321">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> During that season, the Hall of Science hosted science demonstrations.<ref name="Hornaday 1965">Template:Cite news</ref> The U.S. government also added exhibits to the Space Park to celebrate notable events in spaceflight;<ref name="Hornaday 1965" /> for instance, the spacecraft from the Gemini 4 mission was displayed during mid-1965.<ref name="nyt-1965-07-18">Template:Cite news</ref> The Hall of Science needed at least $5 million to continue operating after the fair. That funding had not been raised by the end of the fair, prompting the pavilion's temporary closure.<ref name="Samuel p. 192" />

Museum use

Conversion to museum

The Mayor's Committee on the Future of Flushing Meadow recommended in mid-1965 that the Hall of Science be retained after the fair, though most other fairground structures would be demolished.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The City Council voted in December 1965 to allocate $67,000 to the Hall of Science.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By early 1966, the Hall of Science was one of the few remaining structures on the World's Fair site,<ref name="nyt-1966-04-04">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Hornaday 1966">Template:Cite news</ref> and the trustees were working to convert the structure into a permanent museum.<ref name="nyt-1966-04-04" /> The Hall of Science's trustees wanted to convert the nearby Ford Rotunda and United States Pavilion into additional space for the Hall of Science,<ref name="Samuel p. 192" /><ref name="nyt-1965-01-26">Template:Cite news</ref> but Moses instead wanted the Ford Rotunda to be demolished.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, the city government considered illuminating the pavilion's facade nightly after the fair ended.<ref name="nyt-1964-10-07">Template:Cite news</ref> William D. Laurence was hired to create a report on the museum. Laurence proposed the construction of two wings known as the Hall of Inventions and Hall of Discovery, to be staffed by "actors playing the parts of great scientists and inventors".<ref name="Samuel p. 192" />

In the meantime, the city spent $6 million to add exhibits to the existing pavilion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Hall of Science officially opened to the public as a museum on September 21, 1966,<ref name="Samuel p. 193">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="nyt-1966-09-22">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and initially did not charge an admission fee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Amon 1967">Template:Cite news</ref> The museum rented the land from the city for a nominal fee.<ref name="Mehdi 1982">Template:Cite news</ref> Most of the original exhibits were in the base<ref name="nyt-1966-09-22b">Template:Cite news</ref> and included exhibits themed to space and nuclear power.<ref name="Amon 1967" /><ref name="Megaro 1969">Template:Cite news</ref> There were also exhibits about subjects such as mathematics and electricity, in addition to a "little red schoolhouse" exhibit for younger children.<ref name="Megaro 1969" /> Many exhibits were holdovers from the World's Fair; for example, the Atomsville USA exhibit was preserved, and the New York Telephone Company's exhibit was split into several exhibits about technology. Other exhibits were modified, such as the basement auditorium, which became an exhibit about power plants.<ref name="nyt-1966-09-22b" /> Each exhibit also included a telephone handset or a push-button that provided explanations to visitors.<ref name="Megaro 1969" /> The Great Hall on the upper stories hosted a single exhibit: a space film by the Martin Marietta Company.<ref name="nyt-1966-09-22b" /> In total, the original exhibits covered about Template:Convert.<ref name="Megaro 1969" />

Early years

Two thousand children were visiting the museum daily by early 1967,<ref name="Amon 1967" /> and Emanuel R. Piore was appointed as the Hall of Science's president that November.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Francis D. Miller served as the museum's director.<ref name="Megaro 1969" /> The museum accommodated two million visitors within two years of its opening, mainly school classes and families.<ref name="Bowles 1968">Template:Cite news</ref> Exhibits, including a replica of a lunar spacecraft's interior, were added in the late 1960s.<ref name="nyt-1969-07-25">Template:Cite news</ref> A fence and lights were added around the Space Park in 1970 after the Atlas rocket was bombed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Generally, during the late 1960s and 1970s, funding for the museum was diverted to other projects citywide.<ref name="Morales 1991">Template:Cite news</ref>

Unfinished 1960s expansion

File:Hall of Mirrors in the New York Hall of Science.JPG

The museum's Hall of Mirrors

In early 1966, the AEC offered up to $5 million for a nuclear-education center at the museum.<ref name="Hornaday 1966" /><ref name="nyt-1966-04-15">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The city accepted the AEC's offer in April 1966 and allocated $3 million for the project.<ref name="nyt-1966-04-15" /> The city government had to obtain $300,000 for its design.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York City Board of Estimate allocated $75,000 for the design in June 1966, and Mayor John V. Lindsay approved a design contract the next month.<ref name="nyt-1966-07-14" /><ref name="Berger 1966" /> The expansion was tentatively planned to include a nuclear science center and an exhibit building.<ref name="nyt-1966-07-14">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Berger 1966">Template:Cite news</ref> The nuclear science center would have contained a nuclear reactor, playground, television studio, laboratories, and a classroom,<ref name="Berger 1966" /> in addition to three exhibit halls.<ref name="nyt-1966-07-14" /> The education and exhibit building would have included more classrooms, where experiments and demonstrations would be broadcast over televisions.<ref name="Berger 1966" /> Both structures would have surrounded the original Hall of Science,<ref name="nyt-1966-07-14" /> though no funds had been raised for the education building.<ref name="Samuel p. 193" /> In addition, Max O. Urbahn was hired to design more structures around the Hall of Science.<ref name="nyt-1966-07-14" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" />

Final plans for the five-story, Template:Convert nuclear education center were announced in June 1967.<ref name="Mahoney 1967">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1967-06-01">Template:Cite news</ref> Concurrently, Lindsay sought to obtain another $6.5 million from the city and $1.5 million for a nuclear reactor from the AEC.<ref name="Mahoney 1967" /> Later that year, the city allocated $10.8 million for the project,<ref name="Samuel pp. 193–194">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Scarbrough 1969">Template:Cite news</ref> even as the New York City Planning Commission published a report criticizing the museum building as having "limited salvage value" and a poor design.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /><ref name="nyt-1967-11-02">Template:Cite news</ref> The museum also agreed to raise $10 million from private sources.<ref name="nyt-1971-08-08">Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the expansion commenced in June 1968.<ref name="Bowles 1968" /> The AEC announced plans for the Hall of Science's "atomarium", a 150-seat auditorium surrounding a nuclear reactor, in January 1969.<ref name="Scarbrough 1969" /><ref name="Blakeslee 1969">Template:Cite news</ref> The nuclear reactor was to be placed in a pool under the atomarium.<ref name="Megaro 1969" /><ref name="Blakeslee 1969" /> There would have been another auditorium and an amphitheater nearby,<ref name="Blakeslee 1969" /> as well as classrooms, laboratories, a computer center, and more exhibits.<ref name="nyt-1971-08-08" /><ref name="McLoughlin 1970">Template:Cite news</ref> The Cayuga Construction Corporation was hired as the nuclear center's construction contractor in October 1969,<ref name="nyt-1969-10-18">Template:Cite news</ref> and work on the annex's foundation started in February 1970.<ref name="McLoughlin 1970" />

Hall of Science officials announced in 1970 that the building would close the following year so the renovation could be completed.<ref name="New York Daily News 1970" /> The museum developed several portable exhibits in anticipation of the closure.<ref name="nyt-1971-08-08" /><ref name="New York Daily News 1970">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Samuel p. 194">Template:Harvnb</ref> The museum building closed in mid-1971,<ref name="McLoughlin 1971">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Tyler 1972">Template:Cite news</ref> although the Space Park was kept open.<ref name="nyt-1971-08-08" /> The Board of Estimate gave the Hall of Science another $12.5 million for renovations the same year,<ref name="nyt-1971-07-23">Template:Cite news</ref> and the city considered allowing the Hall of Science to charge an admission fee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Once local residents learned that the nuclear reactor would be a live reactor and not a model, they began protesting the plans.<ref name="McLoughlin 1971" /><ref name="nyt-1971-11-24">Template:Cite news</ref> The city had spent $2.5 million on the expansion by December 1971, when the project was indefinitely halted due to a lack of funds. The museum had not been able to raise $7 million privately, and voters had failed to approve a municipal bond issue that would have funded the project.<ref name="nyt-1972-07-09">Template:Cite news</ref> The $25 million earmarked for the museum was instead used for the original Yankee Stadium.<ref name="Mehdi 1982" /><ref name="The Washington Post 1974">Template:Cite news</ref> The nuclear reactor was canceled entirely, since the museum would have been required to pay a penalty for not using the reactor.<ref name="nyt-1972-07-09" />

1970s

Even after the museum's expansion had been halted, the museum was still slated to receive $1 million for basic maintenance,<ref name="Samuel p. 194" /><ref name="nyt-1972-07-09" /> though the museum's director at the time, Robert C. Reiley, later said that the museum never received these funds.<ref name="nyt-1975-10-12">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Volkman 1975">Template:Cite news</ref> Some small exhibits, a weather station, a hatchery, a planetarium, and an amateur radio station.<ref name="nyt-1972-11-02">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="New York Daily News 1972">Template:Cite news</ref> Most of the objects in the Space Park were moved to Montreal due to a lack of operating funds.<ref name="Tyler 1972" /> After the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation donated funds,<ref name="Samuel p. 194" /><ref name="nyt-1972-11-20">Template:Cite news</ref> the museum reopened on November 19, 1972.<ref name="New York Daily News 1972" /><ref name="nyt-1972-11-20" /> Reiley hoped to complete the expansion by 1976,<ref name="New York Daily News 1972" /> and local civic groups asked the city to complete the renovation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Lisker 1973">Template:Cite news</ref> Ahead of the United States Bicentennial, the museum received funding for a large exhibit about scientists in New York state.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, Queens's deputy borough president considered allocating $550,000 for an expansion of the Hall of Science.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A planetarium was added in 1973 after the museum received funds from the Charles Hayden Foundation.<ref name="Samuel p. 194" />

By the mid-1970s, the site of the proposed annex was decaying, and the Space Park had been vandalized extensively and was closed to the public.<ref name="nyt-1975-10-12" /><ref name="Volkman 1975" /> The city government had reduced funding for the museum significantly amid the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, and the museum could not afford even $80,000 for a climate control system. In addition, the Hall of Science reduced its operating hours and fired some staff, and volunteers maintained its exhibits.<ref name="Volkman 1975" /> The exhibits were outdated; one of its attractions was a film from 1963, predicting that people would land on the Moon some day.<ref name="Lisker 1973" /> Because of the lack of investment in the museum, its staff had taken to calling it the "Hole of Science".<ref name="nyt-1975-10-12" /><ref name="Samuel p. 195">Template:Harvnb</ref> Nonetheless, the Hall of Science was the third-most-popular museum of any kind in the city,<ref name="Samuel p. 195" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as one of Flushing Meadows' most popular attractions, in the 1970s.<ref name="The Washington Post 1974" /> It was also one of the most popular science museums in the United States.<ref name="nyt-1975-10-12" /><ref name="Samuel p. 195" />

The museum sought to host additional cultural and scientific events by the late 1970s,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Japanese government repaired the Space Park's Atlas rocket in 1978 and temporarily exhibited it in Tokyo.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Robert A. Matthai took over as the museum's director in May 1979.<ref name="Gross 1980">Template:Cite news</ref> A Template:Convert geodesic dome with a greenhouse was opened at the museum's entrance in June 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By then, the museum hosted scientific demonstrations throughout the day, in addition to its spaceflight exhibits, planetarium, and amateur radio station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The museum still had no climate control system, and its air-conditioning system had been broken for several years. In addition, large parts of the building were rarely used, many of the original exhibits were in storage, and the only public entrance to the museum was through the basement.<ref name="Gross 1980" />

1980s renovation

Initial work and funding issues

In 1980, the city government allocated $2.9 million to completely renovate the museum,<ref name="Gross 1980" /><ref name="Tollerson 1981">Template:Cite news</ref> which was later increased to $3.5 million.<ref name="nyt-1983-11-12" /> The Hall of Science's board agreed to raise another $6 million for exhibits.<ref name="nyt-1983-11-12">Template:Cite news</ref> Because of budgetary constraints, Matthai had to fire half of the museum's 40-person staff before the renovation began.<ref name="Gross 1980" /> The museum closed for renovation on January 5, 1981, for a renovation that was expected to take two years.<ref name="Tollerson 1981" /> The magazine editor Dennis Flanagan, a museum trustee, devised plans for the renovation. The project was supposed to include Template:Convert of additional exhibit space, a media center, multipurpose rooms, a 300-seat auditorium, and a 100-seat planetarium just outside. Flanagan's plan called for exhibits to be organized into five sections (the universe, matter, energy, biology, and communication). Each section would occupy one side of the museum's hexagonal base and would be distinguished through color-coding and two-story models.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Museum staff continued to present programs at local schools, and they mounted exhibits within libraries and stores.<ref name="Mehdi 1982" /> In the three years after the building closed, the museum spent $800,000 on staff salaries.<ref name="nyt-1983-11-12" /> The contract for the renovation was awarded to Thomason Industry in 1982. That May, the New York Daily News wrote that the space park models had peeling paint and graffiti, while the museum's moat was filled with "chipped cement and scattered stones".<ref name="Mehdi 1982" /> Work on the renovation began that June, by which the project's cost had increased to $11 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A group of experts prepared a report for the city government in July 1983, stating that the museum was too small, hard to reach, and unattractive to corporate sponsors.<ref name="Dallas 1983a">Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequently, the city's cultural affairs commissioner Bess Myerson halted almost all funding to the museum and recommended that the museum be moved to Manhattan.<ref name="nyt-1983-11-12" /><ref name="Dallas 1983">Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, the Hall of Science's board of directors had been able to raise only $40,000 for exhibits.<ref name="Morales 1991" /><ref name="nyt-1983-11-12" /><ref name="Dallas 1983a" /> The renovation had been stopped abruptly, leaving the museum with just three staff,<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /> even though the project was nearly complete.<ref name="Dallas 1983" /> Queens borough president Donald Manes appointed additional people to the museum's board,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and public-relations executive Nicholas Ludington recommended doubling the board's size to 40.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Board of Estimate ultimately restored funding to the museum in late 1983, following negotiations with Manes and Myerson.<ref name="nyt-1983-11-18a">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The city also gave the museum $1 million in 1984 for exhibits.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

New director and reopening

File:NY Hall of science7988.JPG

Rocket Park

In September 1984, the New York City government hired physicist Alan J. Friedman as the director of the museum.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, the museum had no exhibits, and the floor was flooded.<ref name="Rhoades 2014" /><ref name="MacGowan 2004">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-2014-05-07">Template:Cite news</ref> Friedman recalled that he "walked through water" to get to his interview with Myerson and Queens deputy borough president Claire Shulman.<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /> Myerson offered to fund half of the museum if Friedman raised the remaining half, and Friedman expanded the museum's staff to 14 within a few months of being hired.<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /> The museum began focusing on interactive exhibits for children<ref name="Biederman 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> and outreach to school groups, including portable planetariums and a library.<ref name="Wingerson 1985">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Friedman announced plans for exhibits on such disparate topics as astronomy, communications, light, robotics, and physics.<ref name="Neugebauer 1986">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Fried 1985">Template:Cite news</ref> Workers added a third story of exhibit space, office space, and classrooms, and they replaced a leaking roof and mechanical systems.<ref name="nyt-1986-07-14">Template:Cite news</ref> The restored Hall of Science had 100 exhibits;<ref name="nyt-1986-07-31">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Neugebauer 1986" /> though most of the exhibits were built by the Exploratorium for IBM, although some of the exhibits were built by the Hall of Science's staff.<ref name="Talan 1986">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Hall of Science temporarily reopened in early 1985 when the Ontario Science Centre presented its Science Circus exhibit there.<ref name="Wingerson 1985" /><ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Friedman also solicited feedback from young visitors prior to the formal reopening,<ref name="Fried 1985" /> and he adjusted some of the museum's exhibits to address visitors' misconceptions about scientific principles.<ref name="nyt-1986-04-20">Template:Cite news</ref> The museum soft-reopened in July 1986,<ref name="nyt-1986-07-31" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with 90 activities and exhibits open to the public.<ref name="Krajicek 1986">Template:Cite news</ref> It was rededicated on October 8, 1986,<ref name="Rabin 1986" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> after $9 million in renovations.<ref name="Browne 1986">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Rabin 1986">Template:Cite news</ref> The museum employed 35 college students who explained and demonstrated the exhibits to visitors,<ref name="Neugebauer 1986" /> and the upper-level Great Hall was to be used for scientific demonstrations and ceremonies.<ref name="Browne 1986" /> Staff members expected that the renovated Hall of Science would attract up to 700,000 visitors a year.<ref name="Neugebauer 1986" /> The city government also cut back its funding of the museum, agreeing to fund half of the museum's budget rather than the entire budget.<ref name="Bertrand 2004">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Hall of Science continued to develop exhibits and programs in the late 1980s, such as an interactive biology exhibit<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and electronic kiosks.<ref name="Newsday 1988">Template:Cite news</ref> Annual attendance increased 25% per year in the four years after the museum reopened,<ref name="nyt-1992-06-07">Template:Cite news</ref> leading the city to pursue a further expansion.<ref name="Fried 1988">Template:Cite news</ref> Friedman estimated in 1988 that the Hall of Science had 5,000 weekly visitors, of which 60 percent were youth groups and school groups.<ref name="Fried 1988" /> An artwork was also installed at the Hall of Science in 1990 as part of the city government's Percent for Art initiative.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the early 1990s, the museum had 150 interactive activities<ref name="nyt-1992-09-13">Template:Cite news</ref> and over 250,000 annual visitors.<ref name="nyt-1992-09-13" /><ref name="Newsday 1992">Template:Cite news</ref> Because the museum did not have a prominent main entrance, many passersby assumed that the museum was not open.<ref name="Charles 1996">Template:Cite news</ref>

Expansions

Early and mid-1990s expansion

In 1991, the museum announced a master plan for its renovation and expansion.<ref name="Bertrand 2004" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first phase of the expansion was to cost $13 million and was slated to include a two-story entrance rotunda with an auditorium, gift shop, and cafeteria.<ref name="Leahy 1992">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Smedile 1993">Template:Cite news</ref> This expansion also added Template:Convert of public space.<ref name="nyt-1996-04-21">Template:Cite news</ref> Hall of Science officials estimated that the expansion would increase the museum's annual attendance from 220,000 to 1.5 million people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Originally scheduled to begin in mid-1992,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> work on the expansion began that December.<ref name="NYC Parks a069" /><ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1992">Template:Cite news</ref> The state government provided $1 million for the project,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the museum remained open during the expansion.<ref name="Smedile 1993" /> The federal government also provided $2.5 million for the installation of a remote-controlled telescope,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the "Singing Shadows" exhibit was added in the mid-1990s.<ref name="Morales 1994">Template:Cite news</ref> The Great Hall was temporarily closed in 1994 after a metal object dropped from the ceiling and killed a visitor.<ref name="nyt-1994-07-03">Template:Cite news</ref>

While the rotunda was still under construction, Friedman announced plans in early 1995 for a Template:Convert science playground at the Hall of Science. The playground was planned to cost $2 million and include dozens of physics-themed exhibits, attractions, and structures.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The new main entrance building was finished in April 1996,<ref name="Kim 1996a">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="New York Daily News 1996">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and two exhibits were added within the entrance building.<ref name="New York Daily News 1996" /><ref name="Kim 1996">Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, the museum had more than 160<ref name="nyt-1996-04-21" /><ref name="Vallo 1996">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="New York Amsterdam News 1996">Template:Cite news</ref> or nearly 170 activities and exhibits.<ref name="Charles 1996" /> The auditorium opened in November 1996,<ref name="nyt-1996-11-10">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the science playground was completed in June 1997.<ref name="Reyes 1997">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Bertrand 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> For his role in expanding the museum's exhibit space and programs, Friedman received the Public Understanding of Science and Technology award in 1997 from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.<ref name="New York Daily News 1997">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Browne 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> The same year, the Queens Chamber of Commerce gave the museum an award for its design of the science playground.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Another permanent exhibit, Marvelous Molecules, was dedicated at the Hall of Science in 1999,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and a "sound station" in the science playground opened that year.<ref name="MacGowan 1999">Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Late 1990s and 2000s

File:NY HallOfScience8008.JPG

Interior of the north wing

The Queens borough president's office allocated $500,000 for the restoration of the Space Park in 1998, on the condition that the museum raise another $300,000.<ref name="Henican 1998">Template:Cite news</ref> By then, the museum was planning to spend $55 million on a second expansion, including $35 million from the city government and $20 million from corporate and individual donors. At the time, the museum building had Template:Convert of exhibits and was often overcrowded.<ref name="Biederman 1999" /> The expansion would include new exhibition space and the restoration of the former Space Park rockets, but Friedman did not want to add an IMAX theater, citing his preference for interactive exhibits.<ref name="Biederman 1999" /><ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2001">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Polshek Partnership was hired to design the expansion.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Dunlap 2001a">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To raise money for the project, the museum sold off some items and considered allowing companies to sponsor some of the exhibits. By early 2001, the Hall of Science had raised all but $12 million toward the expansion.<ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2001" /> The Pfizer Foundation Biochemistry Discovery Lab opened at the museum that January.<ref name="El-Ghobashy 2001a">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Glenn 2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The museum's rockets were removed for restoration in August 2001<ref name="Larco 2001">Template:Cite news</ref> and sent to Akron, Ohio, where the construction firm Thomarios renovated the rockets.<ref name="Banduci 2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="El-Ghobashy 2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reduced revenue and attendance after the September 11 attacks prompted the museum to downscale its budget and fire staffers,<ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2001a" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the museum also had to cut back operating hours<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and cancel some temporary exhibits.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Even so, work on the second expansion began that October,<ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2001a">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although most of the bids exceeded the project's budget.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Rhoades 2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The city government provided three-fifths of the budget,<ref name="nyt-2002-06-26">Template:Cite news</ref> which had increased to an estimated $68 million by late 2001.<ref name="Dunlap 2001a" /><ref name="Larco 2001" /> The renovation included the construction of a wing named Science City, which would double the museum's capacity and exhibit space.<ref name="Krawitz 2002" /><ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2004">Template:Cite magazine</ref> By early 2002, the project was planned to be completed in late 2004.<ref name="Krawitz 2002">Template:Cite news</ref> The museum raised money for the expansion at its annual awards galas,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the New York City Council also provided $5 million in funding.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Meanwhile, revenue continued to decrease, prompting museum officials to express concerns that there would not be enough money to operate the new wing.<ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2004" />

The original museum continued to operate while the expansion was being built.<ref name="Rhoades 2003" /> Museum officials proposed adding a science-education complex at the World Trade Center site in 2003,<ref>Template:Cite magazine; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the museum's rockets were reinstalled that October.<ref name="nyt-2003-10-03">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Bertrand 2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The science playground reopened in April 2004 following a renovation, and Rocket Park was formally dedicated later that year on September 30.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The north wing opened on November 24, 2004.<ref name="Ritter 2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Rothstein 2004" /><ref name="Dominguez 2004">Template:Cite news</ref> The second phase of the expansion cost $89 million in total,<ref name="Dominguez 2004" /><ref name="Saul 2004" /> including $12 million for Rocket Park's renovation.<ref name="Saul 2004">Template:Cite news</ref> Friedman retired in 2006, at which point the museum had 450,000 annual visitors and 100 staff members.<ref name="nyt-2014-05-07" /> Following Friedman's retirement, Marilyn Hoyt served as the museum's CEO and president until 2008,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> when Margaret Honey took over.<ref>Template:Cite magazine; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership designed a miniature golf course for the museum,<ref name="Duke 2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Bardolf 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which opened in June 2009.<ref name="Duke 2009" /><ref name="nyt-2009-06-15">Template:Cite news</ref>

2010s to present

Museum officials began restoring the original structure, the Great Hall, in 2009.<ref name="Rhoades 2015" /><ref name="Colangelo 2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Polshek Partnership was rehired for the Great Hall's renovation, which was originally planned to be completed in 2012;<ref name="Colangelo 2009" /> the mayoral administration of Michael Bloomberg allocated $25 million for the project.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After the Great Hall's facade was renovated, workers restored the interior, upgraded mechanical systems, added communication equipment, and waterproofed the building.<ref name="Rhoades 2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Guerre 2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A permanent exhibit was also added to the Great Hall.<ref name="Rhoades 2014" /><ref name="Agovino 2014">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Interior work started in 2012,<ref name="AM New York 2015" /> but the renovation was delayed after workers found additional structural issues.<ref name="Guerre 2014" /> The Great Hall reopened in June 2015,<ref name="AM New York 2015" /><ref name="Rhoades 2015" /><ref name="Meier 2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and a renovation of the exterior plazas continued through late 2015.<ref name="Rhoades 2015" /> By then, the museum had 450 exhibits and half a million annual visitors.<ref name="Guerre 2014" />

A pre-kindergarten school next to the Hall of Science was announced in 2016, and the museum was involved with developing the school's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation the next year to allow the school to be built on the museum's parking lot,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and construction started in 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same year, the science playground was closed for renovation.<ref name="Clark 2023">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The New York Hall of Science temporarily closed in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> though the museum continued to host activities online.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The museum reopened in July 2021,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Spivack 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but it was forced to close again that September after it was flooded during Hurricane Ida.<ref name="Tyler 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Flood waters submerged the basement and destroyed half of the exhibits, though the newer north wing was not damaged.<ref name="Donlevy 2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Honey estimated that the museum had sustained $25 million in damage.<ref name="Spivack 2022" />

The museum partially reopened in February 2022,<ref name="Tyler 2022" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the rest of the museum reopened that October<ref name="Parry 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> after the museum's staff added three exhibits.<ref name="Kropf 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The mini-golf course was also renovated in 2022 after a sinkhole formed there,<ref name="Bardolf 2022" /> and the science playground reopened in October 2023.<ref name="Clark 2023" /> Lisa Gugenheim became the Hall of Science's president in September 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Exhibits

The New York Hall of Science, also branded as NYSCI,<ref name="New York Daily News 2013">Template:Cite news</ref> contains permanent exhibitions in addition to temporary exhibits and programs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="New York Daily News 2013" /> The original incarnation of the Hall of Science focused on science fiction and futuristic exhibits. After it reopened in 1986, the museum focused on interactive exhibits for children,<ref name="Biederman 1999" /> specifically in the fields of technology and science.<ref name="Agovino 2014" /> Scientific demonstrations are also hosted.<ref name="Vallo 1996" /> The museum is a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers.<ref name="Biederman 1999" />

Permanent

File:Multiplication Machine.jpg

An interactive multiplication machine at the Mathematica exhibit, one of the museum's permanent exhibits

Since the Hall of Science's 1980s renovation, the museum has largely focused on interactive objects, devices, and other items that visitors can touch or operate.<ref name="Talan 1986" /><ref name="Krajicek 1986" /><ref name="Browne 1986" /> Many exhibits are made of commonplace objects,<ref name="nyt-1986-07-14" /> such as a stationary bicycle that powers a propeller.<ref name="Browne 1986" /><ref name="Discover 1999">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Next to each exhibit or activity are small signs describing the scientific principle that is being demonstrated.<ref name="Vallo 1996" /> and an amateur radio station operates out of the Hall of Science as well.<ref name="nyt-1973-06-03" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A genuine Mercury capsule is suspended from the ceiling of the original building's basement; according to Friedman, museum staff had believed the capsule to be a replica for four decades until it was cleaned.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The original building includes various interactive exhibits. For example, there is an atomic model<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and an optical-illusion exhibit with light beams, mirrors, and other objects.<ref name="Neugebauer 1986" /><ref name="Browne 1986" /> The Hall of Science has a microbiology exhibit, Hidden Kingdoms, with microscopes and an aquarium,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Vallo 1996" /> in addition to a biochemistry lab with 12 interactive experiments.<ref name="El-Ghobashy 2001a" /><ref name="Glenn 2001" /> Other exhibits include "Powering the City", about New York City's power grid, and "Small Discoveries", about microorganisms.<ref name="Kropf 2022" /> IBM's traveling Mathematica exhibit was added to the museum in 2004,<ref name="Rothstein 2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Saul 2004" /> and the Great Hall's first permanent exhibit, "Connected Worlds", opened in 2015.<ref name="AM New York 2015" /><ref name="Rhoades 2015" /><ref name="Meier 2015" /> In addition to the exhibits, the museum includes activities such as bubble-making stations.<ref name="Vallo 1996" />

When the north wing was built, it contained exhibits about the scientific aspects of art, technology, sports, and extraterrestrial life.<ref name="Bertrand 2003" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The north wing included interactive replicas of a Mars rover; online arm-wrestling and car-racing simulators; sports-themed challenges, such as a bullpen and a surfing simulator; and a demonstration of power grids.<ref name="Ritter 2004" /><ref name="Reyes 2004">Template:Cite news</ref> That wing's ground story contains "Human Plus", an exhibit about technology for people with physical disabilities,<ref name="Kropf 2022" /> as well as a play area for preschool children.<ref name="Saul 2004" /><ref name="MacGowan 2004a">Template:Cite news</ref> The north wing has hosted an exhibit on happiness since 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, since 2025 the museum has housed CityWorks, an interactive exhibit about the city's infrastructure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Former

The Hall of Science rented a small planetarium for six months in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A permanent planetarium at the Hall of Science opened in 1972; the planetarium could accommodate 55 visitors and had a dome with a Template:Convert diameter.<ref name="nyt-1973-06-03">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the museum hosted a hatchery, amateur radio station, and weather station during the 1970s, and its exhibits included a power-plant model, full-size airplane, submarine, and nine trucks.<ref name="nyt-1975-10-12" /> The other exhibits included a "sound telescope" and showcases of optical illusions, stereoscopy, and xerography.<ref name="nyt-1978-02-10">Template:Cite news</ref> All of the original exhibits were sold off during the 1980s.<ref name="MacGowan 2004" />

In the late 1980s, there were electronic kiosks next to two of the exhibits, which provided information about each exhibit.<ref name="Newsday 1988" /> "Sound Sensations", a collection of 20 objects where visitors could produce music, was added to the museum in the 1990s.<ref name="Vallo 1996" /><ref name="Morales 1994" /> During that decade, there was also a technology gallery, where visitors could access the internet, and an exhibit named "Window on the Universe", where visitors could view computer images from the Galileo spacecraft and Hubble Space Telescope.<ref name="Kim 1996" /><ref name="New York Amsterdam News 1996" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Temporary

File:Light Island (New York Hall of Science).jpg

The Light Island exhibit at the museum

The Hall of Science has hosted numerous temporary exhibits, although many of its exhibits in the 1960s and 1970s had only a tangential connection to science.<ref name="Wingerson 1985" /> In the early and mid-1970s, these included a showcase of multimedia artworks that demonstrated scientific principles,<ref name="nyt-1974-04-07">Template:Cite news</ref> a film about celestial deities,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> prints by Yugoslav artists,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Polish textiles,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and firefighting antiques.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the U.S. bicentennial celebrations, the museum organized multiple exhibits about local and U.S. history, including exhibits about Polish-American culture, urban planning, and chemical technology.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other exhibits during the late 1970s and early 1980s included displays about minerals of New York state,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> wood-burning stoves,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the aviation industry,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a ski simulator,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and tennis matches seen through microscopes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1985, the museum temporarily hosted 60 interactive exhibits, such as optical illusions and ball games, as part of the Science Circus.<ref name="Wingerson 1985" />

After the museum's 1980s renovation, temporary exhibits were presented in its Great Hall.<ref name="Vallo 1996" /> These included The Appointed Cloud, a 1987 sound installation by Yoshi Wada, in which visitors pressed buttons to play various tones.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the museum hosted exhibits on such topics as construction equipment,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> early European and North American scientific discoveries,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> sports training,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and HIV/AIDS.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The museum also sponsored standalone exhibitions across the city, such as diffraction gratings on bus-stop shelters, tidal markings at the South Street Seaport,<ref name="nyt-1992-06-07" /> an exhibit on manhole covers,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and an exhibit about the city's mechanical systems.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The museum building's exhibits in the late 1990s included exhibits based on the TV series The Magic School Bus and Beakman's World, a traveling mathematics exhibition, shows about insects, and an interactive light-based art installation.<ref>Template:Unbulleted list citebundle</ref>

The museum continued to host temporary exhibits in the 2000s, such as displays about reptiles, sports, women's history, robotics, and surgery.<ref>Template:Unbulleted list citebundle</ref> Due to a lack of space, the museum had to constantly switch out its temporary exhibits until additional exhibit spaces in the north wing opened in 2004.<ref name="MacGowan 2004a" /> In the 2010s, its exhibits have included shows about cartoons, dinosaurs, and Angry Birds-themed physics demonstrations.<ref>Template:Unbulleted list citebundle</ref>

Programs

File:Wild Minds exhibit in the New York Hall of Science.JPG

The museum's Wild Minds exhibit

The museum's earliest programs included New York Regents Examinations test-preparation classes for high school students,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as the Space Age Stargazers program.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the 1970s, the Hall of Science hosted summer classes for children in its Little Red Schoolhouse,<ref name="nyt-1973-06-03" /> in addition to amateur-radio operation classes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After it reopened in 1986, the museum provided a training program for students majoring in science, who could receive tuition waivers to study at the nearby Queens College in exchange for teaching science in New York City's public schools.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> During the 1990s, the museum trained local public-school teachers to use video microscopes and other equipment,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and it hosted workshops for students from grades Pre-K through 8.<ref name="nyt-1994-01-30">Template:Cite news</ref> The museum added a JROTC program and an astronomy lab in 1993,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and it operated an after-school science club in the 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The museum has a research incubator called the Sara Lee Schupf Family Center; it is named for the baking magnate Sara Lee Schupf, who donated $1.5 million to the center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Hall of Science also includes the Alan J. Friedman Center, a youth education center.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Among the Friedman Center's programs is the Science Career Ladder, which has operated since the 1980s;<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /> high school and college students in that program work as docents, explaining scientific concepts to students.<ref name="nyt-2014-05-07" /><ref name="New York Daily News 1997" /> The museum's other initiatives have included a teacher-training program,<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /> a Girls in Tech program,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a STEM course for senior citizens,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and after-school programs in local libraries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the 2020s, the museum began hosting interactive events for families as part of its Summertime at NYSCI program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Through a partnership with the neighboring Mosaic Pre-K Center, students at that school receive free museum memberships and attend classes at the museum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

To accommodate the museum's programs and exhibits, staffers invented a portable canvas planetarium dome that was used by local schools,<ref name="Browne 1997" /> as well as a specialized high-resolution microscope<ref name="Morales 1991" /><ref name="Browne 1997" /> that was later used around the world.<ref name="nyt-1996-04-21" /> The Hall of Science also has set up websites related to its exhibits; the first such site was created for an exhibit called What About AIDS? in the late 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The museum also began hosting virtual tours in 1999<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and set up a science website for children called TryScience in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

Events

The Hall of Science organizes various events. Its earliest events included paper airplane contests,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> science fair competitions,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and spacecraft watch parties.<ref name="nyt-1969-07-25" /> After the museum's 1980s renovation, its events included flight demonstrations,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> science-themed circus performances,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the SpringWorks art and technology exhibition,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bug Day events,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Halloween parties.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some of the museum's activities have commemorated specific events. For example, the museum hosted eclipse watch parties during the solar eclipses of February 26, 1979,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and April 8, 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ahead of the STS-34 spacecraft launch in 1989, the museum collected telegrams from visitors, which were placed on Space Shuttle Atlantis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the museum had an indoor skating rink during 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The museum's Great Hall has been rented out for private events as well,<ref name="Biederman 1999" /> and the museum hosted a swearing-in ceremony for Queens borough president Helen Marshall in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

There are also seasonal events. The Queens Night Market takes place every year in the museum's parking lot, operating on Sundays between April and October.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Informal ecua-volley courts for local residents are also set up in the parking lot during the summers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Hall of Science started hosting Maker Faire, a do-it-yourself science and technology convention, in 2010;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the convention was hosted there annually until 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, for several years in the 2010s, the museum hosted the Gingerbread Lane display during the Christmas and holiday season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the pandemic, the museum hosted events to help the community, including food drives, aid distribution, and COVID-19 vaccinations.<ref name="Donlevy 2021" /> Over the years, the museum has hosted sleepover events as well.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Building

Template:Flushing Meadows-Corona Park mapThe New York Hall of Science is located at 47Template:Hyphen01 111th Street within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, near the intersection with 47th Avenue.<ref name="Time Out 2012">Template:Cite book</ref> The museum's parking lot contains 63 concrete security bollards, which show what parts of the Earth get sunlight during the summer solstice.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Next to the Hall of Science's parking lot is the Mosaic Pre-K Center.<ref name="Parry 2022" /> The Terrace on the Park banquet hall and the Queens Zoo are directly to the south.<ref name="NYCityMap">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Original building

The original building is a pavilion that originally covered Template:Convert.<ref name="NYC Parks a069" /><ref name="Mehdi 1982" /> It was designed by Wallace K. Harrison.<ref name="nyt-1963-10-06" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1052">Template:Harvnb</ref> At the base of the original pavilion is a hexagonal structure, which originally had a reflecting pool and fountains above it.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /><ref name="nyt-1967-11-02" /><ref name="PGB p. 271" /> Above the base is the Great Hall, an amoeba-shaped structure<ref name="nyt-1964-08-30" /> with a concrete wall that curves inward.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /><ref name="PGB p. 271">Template:Harvnb</ref> This structure measures Template:Convert high.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /><ref name="nyt-1964-08-30" /><ref name="Stephens p. 225">Template:Harvnb</ref> The facade is made of 22 curved panels, each measuring Template:Convert thick. Each panel is divided into a 9-by-28 grid of rectangles.<ref name="PGB p. 272">Template:Harvnb</ref> The rectangles were built using the dalle de verre method,<ref name="PGB p. 272" /> with blue glass pieces inlaid into the concrete.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /><ref name="PGB p. 272" /> In total, there are 5,400 rectangles.<ref name="Rhoades 2015" /><ref name="Stephens p. 225" /> Henry Lee Willet has been credited with the design of the facade.<ref name="nyt-1964-10-07" />

The main entrance was through a gap in the facade and reflecting pool, where visitors passed through a set of revolving doors.<ref name="PGB p. 271" /> This entrance was accessed by a long ramp.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /> The interior of the Great Hall is supported by massive reinforced concrete beams.<ref name="Hornaday 1966" /><ref name="nyt-1967-11-02" /> The hexagonal base was connected to the Great Hall via a stairway and elevator.<ref name="PGB p. 271" /> The base is known as the Central Pavilion.<ref name="Film Photo Shoots r015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A third mezzanine level, with Template:Convert of exhibit space, was added in the 1980s.<ref name="Neugebauer 1986" />

Main entrance building

The main entrance building was completed in 1996 and designed by Beyer Blinder Belle. The structure faces west toward 111th Street, rather than east toward the park; according to the primary architect Frederick Bland, this was done because he wanted the museum to "face the city".<ref name="Kim 1996a" /> This structure includes a rotunda measuring Template:Convert high.<ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1992" /><ref name="Vallo 1996" /> It includes a 300-seat dining room, gift shop,<ref name="Smedile 1993" /><ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1992" /> cloakroom, 300-seat auditorium, and computer rooms.<ref name="Kim 1996a" /> On the rotunda's second floor is Fred Tomaselli's artwork Ten Kilometer Radius, mounted onto a handrail.<ref name="Vallo 1996" /><ref name="New York Amsterdam News 1996" /> The artwork consists of 72 peepholes, each depicting a building within Template:Convert of the museum that can be seen from that direction.<ref name="New York Amsterdam News 1996" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref>

North wing

Todd H. Schliemann designed the north wing,<ref name="Dunlap 2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hill 2011" /> which is also known as the Hall of Light.<ref name="Stephens p. 225" /> The north wing covers Template:Convert.<ref name="Dunlap 2001a" /><ref name="El-Ghobashy 2001" /> In contrast to the original building, which lacks windows, the north wing is designed so that it is largely illuminated by natural light.<ref name="Krawitz 2002" /> The first story of the north wing is recessed from the second story and has a glass facade.<ref name="MacGowan 2004a" /><ref name="Hill 2011" /> According to Schliemann, the transparent base was intended to promote the exhibits inside to visitors.<ref name="Rabinowitz p. 1">Template:Harvnb</ref> Additionally, the top of the second-story facade is sloped outward and upward.<ref name="Hill 2011" /><ref name="MacGowan 2004a" /> The roof above the second story is composed of two sloped sections divided by a diagonal beam; due to the shape of the roof, the tops of the north and west walls are slanted. Both the roof and the walls are made of Kalwall, a type of synthetic wool placed between sheets of fiberglass.<ref name="Davidson 2004">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Stephens p. 226">Template:Harvnb</ref> Each of the Kalwall panels measures about Template:Convert across and is mounted to a batten.<ref name="Stephens p. 226" /> At night, the north wing is illuminated from inside.<ref name="Stephens p. 225" />

Inside, the north wing's structural and mechanical systems are visible to the public.<ref name="Rabinowitz p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> The superstructure consists of steel beams held in place by cables, as well as steel pillars with grilles that circulate air.<ref name="Davidson 2004" /> Eleven trusses, running diagonally above the second floor, hold up the north wing's ceiling.<ref name="Stephens p. 226" /> A central staircase hall, with a spiral staircase, connects the entrance building with both the original Hall of Science and its newer north wing.<ref name="Stephens p. 226" /><ref name="Rabinowitz p. 3" /> The north wing includes the Light Wall, designed by James Carpenter as part of the city's Percent for Art program;<ref name="Dunlap 2001" /><ref name="Hill 2011">Template:Cite book</ref> it consists of a sloped pane of glass dotted with small holes.<ref name="Dunlap 2001" /> Next to this artwork, a stair connects the first and second stories.<ref name="Stephens p. 226" /> Three spaces for temporary exhibits, and several permanent exhibits, were added during the north wing's construction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Attached to the north wing is the Viscusi Gallery, an elliptical gallery covering Template:Convert.<ref name="Film Photo Shoots r015" /> The elliptical gallery, on the second floor, lacks windows and is used for temporary exhibitions.<ref name="Stephens p. 225" /> Directly below are offices and a library on the first floor;<ref name="Reyes 2004" /><ref name="Rabinowitz p. 3" /> these spaces have a glass facade.<ref name="Stephens p. 225" />

Outdoors attractions

Rocket Park

Next to the New York Hall of Science is Rocket Park,<ref name="Biederman 1999" /><ref name="Henican 1998" /> originally a Template:Convert world's fair exhibit called the Space Park.<ref name="NYC Parks a069" /> During the fair, the Space Park displayed 23 spacecraft or pieces of spacecraft.<ref name="Henican 1998" /> Rocket Park includes an Atlas rocket and a Titan II rocket.<ref name="Banduci 2001" /><ref name="nyt-2003-10-03" /> The Atlas rocket is Template:Convert high and made of stainless steel, while the Titan rocket is Template:Convert high and made of an aluminum alloy.<ref name="Banduci 2001" /><ref name="El-Ghobashy 2001" /> The rockets also included space capsules that weighed about Template:Convert apiece.<ref name="El-Ghobashy 2001" /> Built in 1961 for the United States Air Force, the rockets never saw military use and were instead displayed in the 1964 World's Fair, albeit with the fuel tanks removed.<ref name="nyt-2003-10-03" /> The rockets were rebuilt in 2003 with new foundations, new interior framework, and repainted exteriors.<ref name="nyt-2003-10-03" /><ref name="Bertrand 2003" /> A third rocket, a Saturn model, was demolished by the late 1990s,<ref name="Biederman 1999" /> while two replicas of space capsules were added during the 2000s renovation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Within Rocket Park is a nine-hole miniature golf course, which includes several obstacles that teach children about physics.<ref name="nyt-2009-06-15" /> For example, one hole has a rotating wheel where golfers must hit a ball within a specified launch window, and other holes have obstacles such as vertical loops and tunnels.<ref name="Bardolf 2022" /><ref name="nyt-2009-06-15" /> The mini-golf course requires an additional fee.<ref name="Bardolf 2022" />

Science Playground

Outside the museum is the Template:Convert Science Playground, which was designed by BKSK Architects.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The playground is intended for children who are at least 6 years old,<ref name="Serviss 1997">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Vallo 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> although adults are also allowed to use the play area.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Science Playground charges an additional admission fee,<ref name="Biederman 1999" /><ref name="Vallo 1997" /> and it is open only during March through December.<ref name="Time Out 2012" /> There were originally up to 30 exhibits or play structures in the playground,<ref name="Reyes 1997" /><ref name="Bertrand 1997a" /> each intended to teach physics concepts.<ref name="Discover 1999" /><ref name="Vallo 1997" /> College students explain scientific concepts to children in the playground.<ref name="Vallo 1997" />

The playground was inspired by playgrounds that Alan Friedman saw in India.<ref name="Reyes 1997" /><ref name="Bertrand 1997a">Template:Cite news</ref> Many pieces of equipment are painted in bright colors and are supposed to demonstrate architectural and engineering concepts.<ref name="Giovannini 1999" /> The equipment in the playground includes a wobbly bridge,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Giovannini 1999">Template:Cite magazine</ref> a large spider web made of steel-reinforced rope, a pair of curved and straight slides, a set of speaking tubes, and a massive seesaw.<ref name="Vallo 1997" /><ref name="Bertrand 1997a" /> Other exhibits focus on the properties of water, such as an Archimedes screw, a whirlpool, and a table with a stream.<ref name="Serviss 1997" /> The playground includes a water playground and sandboxes,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and there is also a "sound station" with pipes, bells, and xylophones.<ref name="MacGowan 1999" />

Governance

The New York Hall of Science is operated by a nonprofit organization of the same name, dedicated to hosting exhibits, events, and education programs related to science.<ref name="GuideStar Profile y713">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ProPublica w970">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The museum is part of the Cultural Institutions Group, a consortium of cultural and educational institutions in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The museum was designated as a New York City cultural institution in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Funding

Because the city government owns the Hall of Science building, city government officials have to approve increases in admission prices.<ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2004" /> During the 1960s, the New York City government provided one-third of the museum's budget, while philanthropic, corporate, and individual donors provided the rest.<ref name="Megaro 1969" /> This funding arrangement remained in place through the 1970s, when the museum had a $500,000 annual budget,<ref name="nyt-1975-10-12" /><ref name="Volkman 1975" /> amid a reduction in city funding for the Hall of Science.<ref name="nyt-1972-07-09" /> In the late 1980s, the museum spent $3.5 million annually on operations,<ref name="Fried 1988" /> increasing to $5 million by the early 1990s.<ref name="Morales 1991" /> Two-fifths of the money came from city funds,<ref name="Fried 1988" /><ref name="Morales 1991" /> while the rest of the operating budget came from admissions, state and federal grants, and corporate and private donations.<ref name="Fried 1988" /> Funding to the museum was reduced significantly in the early 1990s<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and again in the late 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During that decade, the Hall of Science partnered with Liberty Science Center in New Jersey to raise funding for both museums.<ref name="nyt-1994-07-18">Template:Cite news</ref> The Hall of Science's operating budget stood at $7.5 million by 1998, of which 35% came from ticket sales and renting out the building for events.<ref name="Biederman 1999" />

During the early 2000s, the museum experienced further funding shortages.<ref>Template:Cite magazine; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The museum's budget stood at $8 million by 2001<ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2001" /> and $11.5 million by the mid-2000s.<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /> By then, the city government's share of the museum's budget had declined to 13%.<ref name="MacGowan 2004" /><ref name="Bertrand 2004" /><ref name="Kreinin Souccar 2004" /> In 2005, the museum received part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which had been made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Carnegie Corporation 2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the 21st century, the museum also continues to receive funding from ticket fees, government agencies, and private donors.<ref name="Bertrand 2004" /> Template:As of, it recorded revenue of $19.2 million, expenses of $21.3 million, assets of $51.8 million, and liabilities of $2.34 million.<ref name="ProPublica w970" />

Admission

In its first two years of operation, the museum had two million total visitors. Most of the museum's early visitors were students on class trips or families.<ref name="Bowles 1968" /> During the 1970s, the museum accommodated 3,000 daily visitors on average,<ref name="Volkman 1975" /> and it often saw 10,000 to 20,000 visitors per weekend.<ref name="Lisker 1973" /> Visitor numbers increased significantly in the late 1990s, and the museum recorded 296,000 visitors in 1998.<ref name="Biederman 1999" /> At the time, the museum often reached its daily visitor capacity of 1,500 during June and July,<ref name="Bertrand 1997" /> and most visitors during the school year were students.<ref name="Browne 1997" /> The museum had 450,000 annual visitors by 2006<ref name="nyt-2014-05-07" /> and half a million visitors by the mid-2010s.<ref name="Guerre 2014" /><ref name="Agovino 2014" />

Critical reception

Museum commentary

Of the museum itself, The New York Times wrote in 1966 that the original pavilion was inadequate for museum use.<ref name="nyt-1966-09-22b" /> The next year, the New York Daily News praised the exhibits as "interesting yet educational" attractions for children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Good Housekeeping magazine ranked the museum in 1991 as one of the United States' 10 best science museums.<ref name="Newsday 1992" /><ref name="Leahy 1992" /> Following the 1990s renovation, a writer for The Record praised the museum's exhibits as "thoroughly modern" and interactive.<ref name="Vallo 1996" /> Another critic, writing for Discover magazine, said the museum has "managed to harness a potent, nearly limitless source of energy: children".<ref name="Discover 1999" />

The exhibits in the science playground have also been the subject of commentary. When the playground opened in 1997, a critic for Newsday described it as "fun with a purpose",<ref name="Serviss 1997" /> and a writer for I.D. The International Design Magazine said the playground's attractions had "escaped the box and become exuberant, freestanding pieces of architecture".<ref name="Giovannini 1999" /> In 2004, Edward Rothstein wrote for The New York Times that the exhibits were too simplistic for scientists while also not being detailed enough to attract children's interest.<ref name="Rothstein 2004" />

Architectural commentary

The original Hall of Science received relatively little critical commentary when it was built.<ref name="Stephens p. 225" /> During the World's Fair, Ada Louise Huxtable described the structure as being highly impactful and attractive.<ref name="nyt-1964-09-102">Template:Cite news</ref> After the hall became a museum, a Christian Science Monitor reporter compared it to "a roll of cardboard stood on end",<ref name="Hornaday 1966" /> and a New York Times writer described it as "a leftover from the recent World's Fair—and a hope for the future".<ref name="nyt-1966-09-22b" /> Another New York Times reporter from 1978 likened the museum building to a futuristic Stonehenge.<ref name="nyt-1978-02-10" /> Robert A. M. Stern wrote in his 1995 book that the original structure fused "a timeless sense of drama with technological modernity",<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1054" /> while another critic from 1999 described the original building as "a glass-and-concrete cathedral to modernity".<ref name="Discover 1999" /> Additionally, in 1999, the Queens Historical Society designated the original Hall of Science as a "Queensmark", or Queens landmark, for its significance as a former World's Fair pavilion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The architectural critic Justin Davidson wrote in 2004 that the original building had "one of the most breathtaking interiors in New York", despite its imposing windowless exterior.<ref name="Davidson 2004" />

When the north wing opened, Newsday likened the structure to "an airplane hangar built by Pablo Picasso".<ref name="MacGowan 2004a" /> Davidson, writing for that newspaper, said the north wing was "about the play between the obvious and the illusory" and that the building's perspective was distorted by its slanted walls and translucent surfaces.<ref name="Davidson 2004" /> Another writer, for the Architect's Newspaper, said the design represented the fact that the museum was "emerging from its thick concrete walls into the clear light of day".<ref name="Rabinowitz p. 1" /> Suzanne Stephens wrote for the Architectural Record that the north wing was more human in scale compared to the original structure, which was "abstract and scaleless".<ref name="Stephens p. 225" /> Stephens wrote that, though the designs of the north wing and the original hall complemented each other because of how different they looked, the entrance rotunda's design seemed out of place.<ref name="Stephens p. 228">Template:Harvnb</ref>

See also

• 1964 New York World's Fair pavilions
• List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City

References

Sources

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite New York 1960
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Official website