The New York Hall of Science, commonly referred to as NYSCI, is a museum for science located in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park of Corona Park, which is located in Queens, New York City, in a part of the park situated in Corona. It is one of those few buildings left of the 1964 New York World’s Fair and is the only interactive science and technology center. More than 400 interactive exhibits focus on biology, chemistry, and physics.
The museum was created in 1964 in conjunction with the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. At that time, it was among only a handful of science museums operating. In contrast to other museums, which were closed right away or within a short time following the Fair, the Hall continued to be open and was used as a student source. The exhibits were not as extensive, but they did include plans for the first aquarium that was open and accessible to all.
The Hall was open for 15 years; however, in 1979, it was shut down for significant work but was not open again until 1983. In May 1982, as per an article in the New York Daily News article at the time, the state of the museum had declined to the point where “paint peels from the Saturn V and Apollo hulls, and graffiti adorn the walls around the space park; chipped cement and scattered stones fill the moat beneath the hall.” Despite renovations being completed in 1983, funding from the city of the facility was cut since only $40,000 of the promised $8 million funds was collected.
The year 1984 was when Queens, NYC, hired physicist Alan J. Friedman to assist in the museum’s transformation from the focus of science fiction exhibits that predicted the future to relevance to the life of everyday citizens. When Friedman was hired as the museum’s director, it was empty, awash with “an inch of water on the floor. All the exhibits had been given away. Even the light fixtures had been yanked out of the wall” Renovations were continuing.
Exhibits
The Hall concentrates on teaching children from ages 1-17. The audiences are mostly city youngsters for whom science experience is different in Queens. The museum has a vast collection that is permanent and also a selection of touring exhibitions. While it was not as expected, it was one of the first to let its youngsters evaluate the exhibits and were pleased to receive their comments to help prepare for its reopening in 1986.
Exhibits
- Connections: The Nature of Networks
- Feedback
- Gingerbread Lane
- Hidden Kingdoms: The World of Microbes
- Mathematica: A World of Numbers… and Beyond
- Marvelous Molecules- The Secret of Life Queens Electrician
- Preschool Place
- Realm of the Atom
- Rocket Park Science Playground
- Science Technology Library
- The Search for Life Beyond the Earth
- Seeing the Light
- Sound Sensations: The Inside Story of Audio
- The Sports Challenge
- Technology Gallery
- Amateur Radio Station.
Look into other neighborhoods, such as Noguchi Museum
