Editing Queens Zoo (section)

=== Planning ===
Moses announced plans for the Queens Zoo in February 1964, when he indicated that it would be built as part of an expansion of the [[Queens Botanical Garden]], on the eastern side of Flushing Meadows. In contrast to existing zoos where animals were kept in cages, the zoo was to have an open-air layout where animals could roam.<ref name="Greene 1964" /> The zoo would have covered either {{convert|11|acre}}<ref name="nyt-1964-04-12" /> or {{Convert|35.5|acre}}.<ref name="Daily News 1964">{{Cite news |date=March 11, 1964 |title=Mayor Wants State to Okay Flushing Zoo |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-mayor-wants-state-to-okay-flu/153868766/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=533 }}</ref> That March, Mayor [[Robert F. Wagner Jr.]] requested that the [[New York City Council]] revise the [[New York City Administrative Code|City Administrative Code]] to permit the zoo's construction,<ref name="Daily News 1964" /> and New York state legislators introduced bills to allow the Queens Botanical Garden Society to operate the zoo.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 12, 1964 |title=Queens C of C Pushes Zoo Bill |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-queens-c-of-c-pushes-zoo-bill/153868930/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=668 }}</ref> The City Council signaled its support for the state legislation,<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 20, 1964 |title=Council Puts Off Fair's Park Plan; Attempts to Divert Funds From Schools Blocked |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/20/archives/council-puts-off-fairs-park-plan-attempts-to-divert-funds-from.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 20, 1964 |title=City Asks Hike of Wage Floor to $1.50 Hour |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-city-asks-hike-of-wage-floor/153869414/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=283 }}</ref> but plans for the zoo were stymied because of opposition to Moses's plans for Flushing Meadows.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1964 |title=Moses' Proposals for Queens Park Still Opposed |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/17/archives/moses-proposals-for-queens-park-still-opposed.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> The zoo was supposed to have been funded using profits from the 1964 fair, but the exposition proved highly unprofitable.<ref name="nyt-1967-04-11" />

Before the fair closed, there was talk of converting the fair's [[geodesic dome]] into an [[aviary]] for the proposed zoo.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 11, 1965 |title=Moses Plans Super-Park |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle/31407668/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |pages=36 }}</ref> Moses's successor, [[Newbold Morris]], announced plans in October 1965 to spend $1.5 million on the Queens Zoo.<ref name="nyt-1965-10-26">{{Cite news |date=October 26, 1965 |title=$50 Million Plan Urged for Parks; Morris Outlines Program to Begin Early in 1967 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/26/archives/50-million-plan-urged-for-parks-morris-outlines-program-to-begin.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> Morris recommended that the [[Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority]] (TBTA) fund the restoration of the nearby [[New York City Pavilion]], allowing the city government to divert funds for the City Pavilion's restoration to the zoo's construction.<ref name="nyt-1965-10-26" /> Ultimately, the TBTA agreed to provide $1.2 million for the zoo in February 1966,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blumenthal |first=Ralph |date=February 6, 1966 |title=Mayor Envisions Pools on Rivers; $25.6-Million Parks Budget Also Asks Night Tennis |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/02/06/archives/mayor-envisions-pools-on-rivers-256million-parks-budget-also-asks.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> which was later increased to $1.92 million.<ref name="Daily News 1966a">{{Cite news |date=August 21, 1966 |title=Moses Shows Who's Zoo on L. I. |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-moses-shows-whos-zoo-on-l-i/153872202/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=281 }}</ref><ref name="nyt-1966-08-21">{{Cite news |last=Schumach |first=Murray |date=August 21, 1966 |title=Moses Gets Down to Earth in Opening World's Fair Site for Zoo |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/08/21/archives/moses-gets-down-to-earth-in-opening-worlds-fair-site-for-zoo.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> This funding was made possible by a provision that allowed the TBTA to spend money on parks along certain highways.<ref name="nyt-1966-08-21" />{{Efn|Specifically, the TBTA could upgrade parks and recreational facilities next to highways that led to its bridges and tunnels. Flushing Meadows Park is along the [[Grand Central Parkway]], which leads to the [[Triborough Bridge]].<ref name="nyt-1966-08-21" />}} The zoo was planned to cover {{Convert|18|acre}},<ref name="nyt-1966-08-21" /><ref name="Newsday 1966">{{Cite news |date=August 22, 1966 |title=Fun City First: Park for Computer Lovers |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-fun-city-first/153872222/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=7 }}</ref> and [[the Heckscher Foundation for Children]] agreed to donate $120,000 for a {{Convert|3.6|acre|adj=on}} children's zoo within the Queens Zoo.<ref name="Daily News 1966a" /><ref name="Newsday 1966" /> Preliminary plans were being drawn up by early 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 4, 1966 |title=Park on Fair Site Due in December; Last 23 Doomed Buildings to Be Torn Down by July |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/04/04/archives/park-on-fair-site-due-in-december-last-23-doomed-buildings-to-be-to.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 4, 1966 |title=Moses Shapes Promise Out of World's Fair Past |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-moses-shapes-p/148976740/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=25 }}</ref> By that July, the city government was planning to construct the zoo on the site of the fair's former transportation area, west of the [[Grand Central Parkway]], rather than next to the Queens Botanical Garden.<ref name="nyt-1966-07-22">{{Cite news |last=Carroll |first=Maurice |date=July 22, 1966 |title=Moses Plans 26 Roadside Parks And a New Zoo at Site of the Fair |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/07/22/archives/moses-plans-26-roadside-parks-and-a-new-zoo-at-site-of-the-fair.html |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref>

Moses attended the zoo's [[groundbreaking]] ceremony on August 20, 1966,<ref name="Daily News 1966a" /><ref name="Newsday 1966" /> and the children's zoo partially opened that September.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 9, 1966 |title=Par 3 Course on Fair Site to Bow in '67 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-par-3-course-on-fair-site-to/153875392/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=614 }}</ref> Later that year, the TBTA announced more detailed plans for the zoo, which included a concession building and an aviary within the fair's geodesic dome. The agency also planned to award a $2 million contract for the zoo's operation.<ref name="Daily News 1966b">{{Cite news |date=December 18, 1966 |title=Family Hails 10th Year of Freedom Here |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-family-hails-10th-year-of-fre/153874565/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=569 }}</ref> The TBTA awarded $2.82 million in construction contracts for the final sections of the zoo in June 1967,<ref name="Daily News 1967" /> and the [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]] (NYC Parks) took over the land the same month.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schumach |first=Murray |date=June 4, 1967 |title=Moses Gives City Fair Site as Park; Flushing Meadows in Queens Becomes the 2D Biggest Recreation Area Here |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/06/04/archives/moses-gives-city-fair-site-as-park-flushing-meadows-in-queens.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407072907/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/06/04/archives/moses-gives-city-fair-site-as-park-flushing-meadows-in-queens.html |archive-date=April 7, 2021 |access-date=May 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Rice |first=William |date=June 4, 1967 |title=World's Fair Park Is a Dream Come True for Moses |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-worlds-fair-park-is-a-dream/153799161/ |access-date=August 22, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=91 }}</ref> At that point, the children's zoo was planned to be completed in late 1967, followed by the rest of the zoo early the next year.<ref name="Daily News 1967" /> Ultimately, the zoo cost $3.5 million to construct.<ref name="Cohn 1968">{{Cite news |last=Cohn |first=Al |date=October 28, 1968 |title=Talk to the Animals? First Find 'Em |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-talk-to-the-ani/153878899/ |access-date=August 24, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=72 }}</ref><ref name="nyt-1968-10-27">{{Cite news |last=Asbury |first=Edith Evans |date=October 27, 1968 |title=Moses Helps to Open First Queens Zoo |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/10/27/archives/moses-helps-to-open-first-queens-zoo.html |access-date=August 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref>