3. The Queens Museum Once Had an Ice Skating Rink

Included among the various attractions of the 1939 World’s Fair, the New York Building housed a roller rink on its north side as well as an ice skating rink on its south side, where extravagant ice shows took place. Once the World’s Fair ended, the building was transformed into a recreational center for the then newly created Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It operated from 1941 to 1946.

However, when the United Nations General Assembly took over the building, substantial interior renovation was required. Both rinks were covered and an annex facility was erected on the north side of the building, which was used for the delegates’ dining room, an exhibition hall and a public cafeteria. The rest of the building housed offices, meeting rooms, and radio and television services. The stay, however, was short lived. When the United Nations moved to its permanent home along the East River in 1950, the New York Building once again became an ice and roller skating rink in 1952; it was also used for shows during the 1964 World’s Fair, in which Olympic figure skating champion Dick Button organized “Ice–Travaganza” performances within the facility.

Once the fair ended, the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park rink became the first year-round skating facility in the park system, while the Queens Museum (then known as the Queens Center for Art and Culture) was established in the northern half of the building in 1972. The ice skating rink was fixture of the building for 60 years until it was relocated to a new state-of-the-art recreational center in 2009.