Panorama gets multi-media update

On any given day of the week, there are people at the Queens Museum of Art looking at the New York City panorama, marveling at the view of the city or possibly trying to locate their own house. The experience will now be enhanced by new lighting and a multi-media presentation.
The panorama was originally built in 1964 by Robert Moses to be displayed at the World’s Fair. It took 100 people to complete and was done by hand. The panorama is the view that would be seen if one was 6,000 feet above the city.
The model, which has been at the Queens Museum of Art since its 1972 opening, shows the city as it appeared in 1992, the last time it was updated.
After having been closed for about three months, the panorama recently reopened on Sunday, February 4. This upgrade marked the first time that the lighting had been improved since the panorama was first made.
A video and audio presentation has also been installed. It is about 13 minutes in length and talks about the history of the panorama, Moses’ contributions to New York City and highlights some major points of all five boroughs.
Tom Finkelpearl, the executive director of the Queens Museum of Art, said that the panorama, which was on USA Weekend’s list of “Ten Out-of-the-Way Places You Should Go Out of Your Way to See” in May of 2006, has always been the most popular feature at the museum.
“Having a direct connection to something in the museum is really cool,” Finkelpearl said. “You go in there, you find your house. The place you go home to at night is there.” Along with reopening the panorama on February 4, the museum also opened the exhibition “Robert Moses and the Modern City.”
The Queens Museum of Art is located in the New York City Building in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. For more information, call 718-592-9700 or visit www.queensmuseum.org.