Inside the Tent of Tomorrow!

The Tent of Tomorrow in Flushing Meadows is New York City’s most infamous ruin, a decaying modernist carnival of a building ripped from a science fiction novel. While I’d viewed it from close range, it’s been locked to visitors for years–until it opened to the public for just three hours to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 World’s Fair.

We queued up for the opening along with folks who had last been inside during the World’s Fair in 1964, which hosted some 50 million people. Dressed in our obligatory hard hats, we passed through the 100 foot towers, under the skeleton of the world’s largest suspension roof, and toured what was left of a giant terrazzo map of New York State, with city markers the size of fists. For a few hours, the crowds, speeches, food trucks and music lent a festive air to a place usually inhabited by feral cats, racoons and memories of a more optimistic time.

It’s unclear what will become of the structure. The city seems content for it to fall into ruin, but given the popularity of the open house, the Tent of Tomorrow may have a future yet.