"After watching Pretend It's a City, the new Martin Scorsese documentary about Fran Lebowitz, I was enthralled by the enormous panorama of New York City that features in a few episodes. I learned it was built by controversial city planner Robert Moses for the 1964-1965 World's Fair, and it's on display to the public at the Queens Museum. I snagged timed tickets for my boyfriend and me (the museum is free, but timed tickets are required while they're operating at limited capacity), and we visited on Sunday. There's much to see in the museum, but the panorama is pretty incredible—it covers 9,335 square feet, has a lighting cycle that goes from dusk to dawn (there's even a plane that lands at LaGuardia!), and it really drives home the expansiveness of the city and its five boroughs. Afterward, we walked around Flushing Meadows Corona Park to see the other remainders of the fair, then scooted over to Flushing's Chinatown nearby for noodles and a stroll. A pretty perfect day for diving into the city's history."
