Terrace on the Park
Terrace on the Park is a banquet hall at 5211 111th Street, within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Corona neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. The building was constructed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as the Port Authority Pavilion, an exhibition building and heliport for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The building was designed by chief architect Allan Gordon Lorimer, engineers John Kyle and Ray Monti, and planning chief E. Donald Mills. It is south of the New York Hall of Science.
Robert Moses, the president of the World's Fair Corporation, had wanted to develop a heliport with a restaurant as part of the 1964 World's Fair. The Port of New York Authority, which developed the fair's transportation zone, announced in September 1961 that it would erect a restaurant and heliport in that zone. The Port Authority Building opened on October 16, 1963, several months before the fair opened. During the fair's 1964 and 1965 seasons, the building included a rooftop heliport, the Top of the Fair restaurant, and an exhibit space at ground level. Afterward, the building was converted into an event venue owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The structure was renovated in the 2010s.
The bulk of the building is placed atop four stilts, each measuring high, which are connected by a circular truss near the top of the building. Because of the stilt placements, each side of the building is shaped like the letter "T". On ground level, there was formerly an exhibit area with a circular theater. The restaurant is near the top of the stilts and is spread across two levels. The building's roof originally functioned as a heliport, but has since been converted to an outdoor terrace.
World's Fair use
, a former ash dump in the New York City borough of Queens, was used for the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair. At the conclusion of the fair, it was used as a park. The Flushing Meadows site was selected in 1959 for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Gilmore David Clarke and Michael Rapuano, designers of the original World's Fair layout, were retained to tailor the original 1939 park layout for the new fair. New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses was president of the World's Fair Corporation, which leased the park from the city until 1967, after the fair's completion. The WFC appointed Guy F. Tozzoli of the Port of New York Authority in 1960 to develop the fair's transportation zone.Development and opening
Early on in the fair's development, Moses was planning a heliport with a restaurant. In September 1961, the Port of New York Authority announced that it would erect an exhibition building and heliport on a land lot in the fair's transportation section. The plans called for a structure with a 1,000-seat restaurant, which was to cost about $2.4 million. Additionally, New York Airways proposed operating a fleet of seven 25-seat helicopters between the heliport and Manhattan; the helicopters were Boeing 107s that could operate at up to. At the time, the building was projected to be completed in January 1964. Moses wanted the building's restaurant to be operated by either Restaurant Associates, who operated the Four Seasons Restaurant in Manhattan, or the 21 Club's operators. Both operators would only agree to operate the restaurant if someone else developed the structure, which Moses was unwilling to do.The WFC created a scale model of the fairground, including the heliport, in early 1962. In the middle of that year, Knott Hotel Corporation agreed to operate the pavilion's restaurant, which was to be called Top of the Fair and occupy two stories. The Port Authority awarded a general construction contract for the heliport to the W. J. Barney Corporation in November 1962 for $3.7 million, having rejected seven other bids as too expensive. U.S. Steel's American Bridge Company fabricated the structure. Niles Communications Centers Inc. created a 360-degree film of New York City for the pavilion, using a rig with 10 cameras to collect footage from trucks, boats, and helicopters. United Aircraft was also hired to operate the building's heliport; it would pay the Port Authority $750,000, plus a portion of any revenue exceeding $2.6 million. The building's opening date was pushed forward to October 1963 to allow exhibitors to begin hosting events there.
The Port Authority Building opened on October 16, 1963, with a ceremony attended by hundreds of people; it was the first completed structure on the World's Fair site. The first event to take place at the building, a party for the Travelers Aid Society of New York, had taken place the day before. Media sources estimated that the building had cost $2.6 million or $2.7 million. The restaurant originally did not have an in-house band, even though there were plans to add one. The restaurant started receiving guests while the rest of the fairground was being developed, but the exhibit at the building's ground level remained closed until the beginning of the fair. During late 1963, helicopters began making test flights between the Port Authority Pavilion and heliports in Manhattan. United Aircraft and New York Airways signed an agreement in early 1964, allowing New York Airways to operate helicopters from the building. New York Airways also received the exclusive right to use the heliport. The WFC anticipated that the vast majority of fairground visitors would arrive by car, bus, taxi, or train, with a negligible number using the heliport or the World's Fair Marina. Because of a lack of competition from other restaurants on the fairground, Top of the Fair initially was successful.
1964 season
The World's Fair formally opened on April 22, 1964, but New York Airways' flights from the building did not begin for another five days because of bad weather. The structure was an icon of the fairground's transportation zone, since it could be seen from almost any other part of the fairground. During the fair, the Port Authority referred to the building as the fair's "aerial gateway" or the "air gateway to the fair". There was an exhibition space at ground level, the Top of the Fair restaurant just under the roof, and the heliport atop the roof. New York Airways operated flights to JFK Airport, Newark Airport, and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, as well as sightseeing flights across the fairground. There had been plans to operate flights to and from the Pan Am Building, but that heliport was not operating because of complaints from tenants in Midtown Manhattan. The heliport could accommodate 20 flights an hour, and visitors paid up to for a six-minute helicopter ride.Top of the Fair originally served international cuisine and was open daily. Excluding beverage costs, the restaurant's typical dinners cost $5 to $7.50, and patrons also had to pay the fair's admission fee just to access the restaurant. Visitors had to pay another $1 to get a menu, and photographers roamed around taking pictures of guests. New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne wrote that the restaurant's original cuisine consisted mostly of French dishes with some Greek fare, while Clementine Paddleford characterized the food as continental cuisine. The dishes served at the restaurant initially included oysters, liver, crab ravigote, and assorted hors d'oeuvres. The restaurant served only one type of coffee: an instant coffee brand made by Chase and Sanborn. The 250-member private club, the Terrace Club, charged a $1,200 membership fee; the club's board of directors included the diplomat Ralph Bunche. The WFC initially anticipated that the Port Authority pavilion's restaurant would accommodate up to 30,000 visitors a day, and Moses often held receptions for guests there. The building's exhibition space had a 360-degree film about New York City, which was known as From Every Horizon. The exhibit also had a scale model of the original World Trade Center.
Initially, the helicopters carried 800 to 900 guests a day, but most fairground visitors walked past the building without going inside. That June, as part of an agreement between New York Airways and Trans World Airlines, helicopters began operating between the Port Authority Pavilion and the TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport. By mid-1964, diners had complained about Top of the Fair's poor service and high prices, and the restaurant faced competition from more than a hundred other eateries on the fairground. Restaurant Associates was negotiating to take over the restaurant's operation. Top of the Fair filed for bankruptcy protection that August, though Knott Hotels continued to operate the restaurant. The next month, the building began exhibiting images taken by the Port Authority's photographers.
1965 season
After the fair's first season ended on October 18, 1964, the restaurant atop the Port Authority Pavilion was supposed to have continued operating during the off-season. However, Top of the Fair quietly closed after Knott and the restaurant's creditors could not come to an agreement. A court-appointed trustee took over the restaurant on November 17; he sold off Top of the Fair's food and wine collections. Restaurant Associates took over Top of the Fair in March 1965, and Frederick Rufe became the restaurant's manager. Restaurant Associates hired Monte Streitfeld to design uniforms for Top of the Fair's waitstaff. George Lois of the advertising firm Papert Koenig Lois promoted the restaurant on television, radio, and magazines, using images of the Port Authority Building to attract guests. A bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, copied one of Top of the Fair's advertisements, a cartoon, for its own use. Carpenters also renovated the restaurant.The building's exhibits reopened when the fair's second season began on April 21, 1965. Restaurant Associates reduced food prices at Top of the Fair; patrons could eat luncheons for less than $3 and dinners for as little as $4.95. The restaurant also hosted dances twice a week. The WFC agreed to waive the fair's admission fee for the restaurant's diners; fairground visitors who dined at the restaurant received an invisible ink stamp on their hand, entitling them to re-enter the fairground for free. Top of the Fair's revamped menu included hors d'oeuvres such as salad, shrimp, and beans; a course of soup; and a variety of entrees such as stuffed flounder, lamb, ribs, and steaks. The restaurant also served 19 types of dessert, including tarts, cakes, pies, and sherbets. In addition, attendants pushed around carts full of delicacies, and there was more food near the walls.
By that July, Top of the Fair had stopped serving luncheon meals due to a lack of patronage, and it began operating only during suppertime. By contrast, the restaurant was popular at night, in part because people no longer had to pay to enter. The heliport's patrons included Princess Benedikte of Denmark, as well as rock band The Beatles, whose helicopter landed there prior to their August 1965 concert at Shea Stadium. The exhibits closed when the second season ended on October 17, 1965. Top of the Fair had been among the fair's most successful high-priced restaurants. Though Moses had recommended that most pavilions be demolished after the fair ended, the Port Authority heliport was among the few structures that were to be preserved. The Port Authority put aside some funds to pay for the structure's demolition, but Moses had rejected the Port Authority's offer.