Last week, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani gave a speech announcing his transition team in Flushing Meadows Corona Park directly in front of the Unisphere: the iconic symbol of Queens. Yet the backdrop wasn’t nearly as dynamic as it might have been for the occasion.
The centerpiece of the 1964-65 World’s Fair has suffered from a lack of modernized infrastructure and frequent flooding within the park. The Unisphere’s water features and the Fountain of the Fairs, a misting fountain for residents to cool off in during the summer, are both currently out of operation.
Nonetheless, Mamdani chose to stand in front of the Unisphere a day after his election as the city’s 111th mayor — and the first ever to hail from Queens.
“We chose this location as a representation of the borough I serve and the fact that we are proud to be known as the ‘World’s Borough,’” Mamdani said in front of the fountain.
Whether the new mayor will be able to restore the Unisphere to its former glory, however, is a different story.
While Mamdani has not announced any plans on the park itself, a spokesperson has confirmed his administration will work with the City Council to nearly double the NYC Parks budget in the coming years.
However, his office did not respond for comment with any current plans dedicated to restoring the fountains or Flushing Meadows Corona Park in particular.
Symbols of budget shortfalls
The Unisphere and Fountain of the Fairs went offline in the spring when the underground electrical system flooded due to a leak in the water line, and a NYC Parks spokesperson said the department is still trying to secure the funding to fix it.
After Hurricane Sandy hit Queens and Flushing Meadows hard in 2012, around $7 million was allocated to restore the fountain’s plumbing, add more jets and repave the area similar to the art-deco style of the 1930s when the park was first built.
“Flushing Meadows Corona Park stands as one of the crown jewels of New York City’s park system, a magnificent green space that serves as a cultural and recreational beacon for our diverse communities,” said an NYC Parks spokesperson.
During his 2021 campaign, Mayor Eric Adams pledged to dedicate 1% of the city’s budget to DPR, but fell short of this goal every year throughout his term. In fact, Adams lowered the department’s budget every year he was in office, where DPR receives .55% of the annual budget.
Although 2026 will raise DPR’s funding closer to its pre-Adams administration level, his original promise of nearly doubling the budget for our parks never came to fruition.
Mamdani’s platform focused largely on the city’s affordability, but when asked about NYC Parks and the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) during a press conference announcing Dean Fuleihan as First Deputy Mayor and Elle Bisgaard-Church as Chief of Staff, he affirmed his incoming administration will strive to make the city more “livable” in ways beyond costs.
“There is no concern too small to be of importance to those of us within City Hall,” Mamdani said. “Whether public goods are functioning well across the city; be it a clean park that is fully staffed and has people looking to it as a place to find joy and rest or be it sanitation, where we are not spending an entire budget process debating whether to remove trash cans from street corners, as opposed to increasing trash collection.”
Flushing Meadows in need of TLC, and city investment
The Alliance of Flushing Meadows Corona Park (AFMCP) is a non-profit organization that works with DPR to maintain the park for residents as a part of the stewardship program. Every major park in the city has its own organization, but compared to the others of similarly sized parks, such as Central Park or Prospect Park, the AFMCP is far newer and receives much less funding.
AFMCP formed in 2015 and became a dedicated non-profit in 2023. The Central Park Conservancy receives 277 times the amount of private funding as AFMCP as of 2024.
“NYC Parks remains steadfastly dedicated to preserving and enhancing this treasured landscape, recognizing it as one of our most beloved and heavily utilized parks that deserves our unwavering commitment to excellence in stewardship and care,” said the NYC Parks spokesperson.
Flushing Meadows currently only receives 35% of the $15 million required for proper park maintenance, according to AFMCP Executive Director Anthony Sama. Program Director Rob Carson says many often use the term “chronic neglect” when referring to the park, which he finds particularly disconcerting.
However, Carson emphasized that NYC Parks does its best with its current budget and that the park itself is uniquely challenging to maintain compared to others.
The monuments were built without longevity in mind, as they are often either dismantled or sold to private owners once the event ends. But the Unisphere, the Fountain of the Fairs and other landmarks are what give Flushing Meadows its unique look among New York City’s parks and are worth maintaining for the park’s stewards.
Especially since attendance of the US Open tennis tournament grows every year and the construction of the Etihad Park soccer stadium will be completed in 2027, drawing even more visitors from across the world.
“When you fly into either of the two airports in Queens, JFK or LaGuardia, usually the first thing you see is a big picture of the Unisphere when you’re getting off your plane,” Carson said. “It’s a symbol of Queens. It’s a symbol of the city.”
Carson says the nearly 900 acres are maintained by a team of only 14 people, and the AFMCP hopes Mamdani’s administration follows through with the NYC Parks budget increase so it can focus less on maintenance and begin to add more features to serve the community.
However, it is still unknown how much of the funding will go to Flushing Meadows $10 million maintenance budget deficit. In the future, Carson hopes the pavilion hall can be restored to its former glory to be a usable space for events or community meetings, and that the incoming mayor recognizes the status of the park enough to invest in the admittedly large tab that will make its infrastructure on-par with the other boroughs’ symbolic green spaces.
“Flushing Meadows Corona Park is one of the city’s most dynamic and vibrant green spaces. Not only is it steeped in a rich history that is so integral to the story of New York City, but it still serves as a melting pot of new culture, ideas, and opportunity to this day,” said Sama. “It’s time the city fully invests in these vital public spaces so we can ensure they are here to serve future generations of New Yorkers.”
