The Queens Zoo (formerly the Flushing Meadows Zoo and Queens Wildlife Center) is an zoo at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, between Grand Central Parkway and 111th Street. The zoo is managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Built along with the Queens Zoo is a children's zoo, which was originally called the Heckscher Children's Farm.
New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses had wanted to add a zoo to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park after the 1964 New York World's Fair. Plans for the zoo were first announced in 1964 as part of the Queens Botanical Garden, but construction for the zoo did not begin until August 20, 1966. The Heckscher Children's Farm, the first part of the new zoo, opened on February 28, 1968, and the rest of the Flushing Meadows Zoo opened on October 26, 1968. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation contracted Wildlife Conservation Society to operate the zoo in 1988. The zoo was closed for renovations for four years, reopening in 1992; it added numerous animals and exhibits after it reopened. The Queens Zoo was nearly shuttered in 2003 due to budget cuts.
The zoo is home to more than 75 species that are native to the Americas. Unlike contemporary zoos, the Queens Zoo did not put animals in cages except when necessary; since the zoo's habitats are open-air, it focuses mostly on animals native to the Americas. The main zoo (now the zoo's wild side), on the eastern portion of the site, contains landscape features such as a marsh and artificially warmed rocks. The domestic side of the zoo, originally the Heckscher Children's Farm, includes domesticated animals. The zoo's aviary is a geodesic dome designed by Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc. and used during the 1964 fair.
History
The zoo is part of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. The park's site was part of the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair grounds, and the land saw little development during the next quarter-century. The site of the zoo was part of the Transportation Zone during the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, By the 1960s, Queens was the only New York City borough without a zoo. Even before the 1964 World's Fair opened, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses had wanted to add a zoo to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The zoo was part of Moses's plans for a system of parks in Queens. That March, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. requested that the New York City Council revise the City Administrative Code to permit the zoo's construction, The City Council signaled its support for the state legislation, but plans for the zoo were stymied because of opposition to Moses's plans for Flushing Meadows. The zoo was supposed to have been funded using profits from the 1964 fair, but the exposition proved highly unprofitable. Moses's successor, Newbold Morris, announced plans in October 1965 to spend $1.5 million on the Queens Zoo. Morris recommended that the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) fund the restoration of the nearby New York City Pavilion, allowing the city government to divert funds for the City Pavilion's restoration to the zoo's construction. which was later increased to $1.92 million. This funding was made possible by a provision that allowed the TBTA to spend money on parks along certain highways. and the Heckscher Foundation for Children agreed to donate $120,000 for a children's zoo within the Queens Zoo. By that July, the city government was planning to construct the zoo on the site of the fair's former transportation area, west of the Grand Central Parkway, rather than next to the Queens Botanical Garden.
Moses attended the zoo's groundbreaking ceremony on August 20, 1966, Later that year, the TBTA announced more detailed plans for the zoo, which included a concession building and an aviary within the fair's geodesic dome. The agency also planned to award a $2 million contract for the zoo's operation. The TBTA awarded $2.82 million in construction contracts for the final sections of the zoo in June 1967, At that point, the children's zoo was planned to be completed in late 1967, followed by the rest of the zoo early the next year.
City operation
Opening and early years
thumb|right|Inside the aviary
The first animals began moving into the Heckscher Children's Farm in February 1968, and Moses dedicated the children's farm on February 28 of that year. Moses opened the rest of the Flushing Meadows Zoo on October 26, 1968. as was the rest of the zoo. Soon after the zoo opened, there were reports of people cutting fences, abusing the zoo's birds, and stealing animals from the children's farm for joyrides. In addition, the zoo frequently experienced blackouts, The zoo recorded 100 blackouts in its first three years, She temporarily closed the aviary in October 1970 due to staffing shortages, and she closed the entire zoo the following June for similar reasons. and NYC Parks added a secondary power supply to the zoo in 1970. Due to a lack of city funding, City Council member Thomas Manton warned in 1971 that the zoo might have to scale back its activities or even close altogether. The city government began regularly checking up on the zoo's animals in 1972, and Gillette-Infante wanted the city to add an animal clinic and a quarantine facility for newly arrived animals. As part of a planned United States Bicentennial celebration at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, there were proposals to renovate the zoo.
Mid- and late 1970s
The Flushing Meadows Zoo continued to experience maintenance, funding, and staffing issues during the mid-1970s, and electricity was still inconsistent. The lack of money and staff forced the zoo to postpone a planned renovation of the aviary in early 1973. The zoo's insect house was also shuttered. Shirley Weinstein of the Mid-Queens Community Council alleged that the zoo was being neglected; at the time, the zoo had over 100 animals. Gillette-Infante recalled that local residents often left unwanted pets there in the 1970s.
NYC Parks commissioned the naturalist Roger A. Caras in 1974 to study conditions in the city's three municipal zoos at Flushing Meadows, Central Park, and Prospect Park. Though Caras found fewer problems at the Flushing Meadows Zoo than the two other zoos, City parks commissioner Edwin L. Weisl also supported the takeover, and he preferred that the zoos be closed if the Zoological Society could not take over operations. By the beginning of 1975, the city was negotiating to transfer operation of the zoos to the Zoological Society. Protestors wanted the zoos to be closed entirely, and the Society for Animal Rights sued in April 1975 to compel the city to close the three municipal zoos. The city government also sold off some of the zoos' animals, citing overcrowding. A state-government report questioned whether the city government, which was in the midst of a major fiscal crisis, should be using its limited funds to maintain the Flushing Meadows Zoo and the city's other small zoos. The aviary remained closed during the late 1970s, and the zoo's last seals died in 1976.
The zoo's opponents continued to advocate for its closure. Tony Carding of the World Federation for the Protection of Animals wrote that, while the zoo was "a more humane and potentially educational attempt at exposing captive wild animals to public view", the site had high amounts of noise pollution. A groundhog pen was added to the zoo in 1978. The same year, U.S. Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal proposed adding the surrounding park to the Gateway National Recreation Area, allowing the National Park Service to take over the zoo's operation, but this legislation was not successful. By the following year, the zoo had only five exhibits, and it suffered from a lack of funds and staff. The seal pool was completely empty, and the zoo as a whole did not have many North American animals. The society had wanted to take over only the Central Park Zoo, but the city government insisted that the group also take control of the two other zoos. Mayor Ed Koch and the New York Zoological Society signed a fifty-year agreement in April 1980, wherein the Central Park, Prospect Park, and Flushing Meadows zoos would be administered by the Society. As part of the takeover, the Society planned to implement an admission fee, and it would spend $4.5 million renovating the zoo and adding animals. Negotiations continued for another year and a half, and the New York City Council and Board of Estimate had to approve the admission fees as well. The zoo received four sea lions in 1981, and it also received a lion cub despite having no lion enclosure.
The Zoological Society signed an agreement in October 1981 to manage and renovate the zoos. Although the Board of Estimate approved the agreement that month, the society was not scheduled to take over the zoo immediately. As part of the agreement, the three municipal zoos were to be renovated. though designs for the renovation were incomplete at the end of 1981. The zoo launched a program the next year, in which it showed exotic animals to children across Queens. NYC Parks began promoting the zoo in 1985 after finding that many Queens residents did not know about its existence. The same year, NYC Parks formed the Friends of the Queens Zoo group to oversee improvements at the zoo. By then, the zoo had 200 animals. Following a mauling at the Prospect Park Zoo, signs and fences were installed around the bear enclosure, and security at the zoo was increased. In addition, the zoo still experienced power shortages, and a U.S. federal inspector raised concerns that the zoo's clinic lacked consistent electricity. The aviary also reopened .
Renovation and 1990s
The Zoological Society began drawing up plans for the zoo in 1986; the renovation was part of a larger project to refurbish Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The Flushing Meadows Zoo was in better condition compared with the Central Park and Prospect Park zoos, so it needed fewer renovations. The Board of Estimate gave NYC Parks permission to hire a construction contractor for the zoo in April 1987, and Lehrer, McGovern & Bovis were hired to rebuild the zoo. The city government announced in July 1987 that the zoo would close for renovations, and it began moving animals out of the zoo. The Zoological Society sought to continue hosting North American species there. The Flushing Meadows Zoo was supposed to have closed in late 1987, but its closure was delayed while the animals were relocated. The zoo's 30 employees were reassigned to other parks in New York City.
The Flushing Meadows Zoo was temporarily closed for renovations on August 8, 1988, and workers began razing the existing structures. At the end of 1989, city officials allocated $550,000 for new equipment at the zoo. The renovation ultimately was finished in 1991, but the zoo remained closed because of a lack of funding from the city government. Weeds started to grow in the zoo due to a lack of maintenance, and the Zoological Society hired security guards to patrol the site. Additionally, because all of the animals had been sold off, the Zoological Society had to get new animals. Mayor David Dinkins ultimately agreed to provide funding for the zoo after Queens borough president Claire Shulman threatened to prevent the nearby USTA National Tennis Center from being expanded. The zoo's annual operating costs at the time were about $1–2 million. or $17 million. and it began charging an admission fee. The city planned to expand a parking area near the zoo as well, Even after the renovation and renaming, the Queens Zoo struggled to attract guests. The Zoological Society was renamed the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in 1993, and the zoo was rebranded as the Queens Wildlife Center, though it continued to be known as the Queens Zoo. People frequently dumped unwanted animals at the zoo after it reopened, particularly during Easter, prompting objections from WCS officials. The zoo had 400 animals by the mid-1990s, A Chinese alligator exhibit was added in 1997. Even after the renovation, few people knew about the Queens Zoo, especially because visitors tended to frequent the better-known Bronx and Central Park zoos.
2000s to present
thumb|The zoo's petting farm
The WCS requested $950,000 from the city government for a parrot habitat in 2000, and it requested $4.2 million from Queens borough president Claire Shulman the next year for a jaguar exhibit. Shulman ultimately provided $4.3 million from both projects. By then, the WCS had added several species to the zoo and was adding more birds to the aviary. The zoo saw 200,000 annual visitors, and the WCS was hiring multilingual volunteers and printing brochures in multiple languages to attract more visitors. The same year, the barn on the domestic side was expanded. When the zoo celebrated the tenth anniversary of its reopening in 2002, the WCS was about to begin constructing the parrot and jaguar habitats.
In 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed eliminating funding for the Prospect Park and Queens zoos to fill a citywide budget gap, effectively forcing the WCS to close the zoos. The changes would have resulted in a total savings of around $5.6 million or $5.8 million. At the time, the Queens Zoo received $3.5 million per year, and closing the zoo would have cost $4 million; only about 10% of the zoo's operating costs were funded by the WCS itself. The WCS would have needed to relocate 400 animals from the zoo if it were closed. one such petition garnered more than 100,000 signatures. There were discussions about restoring the funds in exchange for raising admission fees and introducing private sponsorships at the zoos, and the WCS also contemplated renting out the zoos for private events. That June, the city government ultimately agreed to restore $4.8 million for the Prospect Park and Queens zoos, though the WCS had to fire staff, discontinue programs, and double admission fees. Funding for the zoo was accidentally removed from the city's budget in 2004, though it was quickly restored.
A parrot exhibit opened at the zoo in July 2004, and the prairie dog habitat was replaced two years later with a habitat for southern pudu. The WCS also renovated the zoo's aviary in 2006 with $640,000 from the office of borough president Helen M. Marshall. Though the Queens Zoo had initially focused on keeping North American animals, the zoo also included many South American animals as well by the late 2000s. This helped attract more visitors, particularly South American immigrants who lived nearby. Robin Dalton, who had served as the zoo's director since it reopened, retired in 2006. The zoo's logtime curator, Scott Silver, became its director following a two-year search. After Silver was promoted, he sought to increase visitation by completing the jaguar habitat and adding a children's playground.
The zoo had still not constructed the jaguar habitat in 2010 due to a lack of funds. A Wi-Fi network was added to the zoo in 2012 as part of a program to improve Wi-Fi access across New York City parks. In addition, borough president Melinda Katz provided $480,000 for renovations to the aviary and the overpass over the zoo's marsh. In March 2020, the Queens Zoo and the WCS's other facilities were shuttered indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The zoo reopened that July; visitors were initially required to reserve timed tickets, and the zoo's paths were temporarily converted to one-way paths to allow social distancing.
Description
The Queens Zoo is located at 5351 111th Street within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, near 53rd Avenue and west of Grand Central Parkway. It operates year-round.
The zoo is divided into a wild side, where animals roam around in landscaped exhibits, and a domestic side, where visitors could interact with domesticated animals. One of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park's paths separates the two sides. To the north of the zoo is the New York Hall of Science museum, while to the west is the Terrace on the Park banquet hall. The Flushing Meadows Carousel is next to the domestic side of the zoo (originally the children's farm).
Wild side
The main zoo (now the zoo's wild side) is located on the eastern portion of the site. There were originally pools and ponds throughout the zoo, High chain-link fences were used for the former wolf enclosure, which also had a moat surrounding it. The wolves were removed, The habitats include hidden landscape features, such as artificially warmed rocks in the mountain-lion exhibit, as well as tree stumps with sprinklers in the bison range. In addition, there is a "graveyard" with information about extinct species.
Aviary
The zoo's aviary is at the northeast corner of the wild side. The dome is wide and was one of the largest single-layer structures of its time. For the fair's 1964 season, it was used as a multipurpose event facility with 2,100 seats. The memorial was sponsored by the nonprofit organization People to People. The dome was dismantled and stored after the fair; it was later reassembled in the zoo with a mesh netting instead of a solid tent. at the time of its completion, the insect house was the only one in the New York City area. The zoo has also presented children's activities during events such as the Fall Fun festival, International Migratory Bird Day, Winter Breakout, Natural History Happening, and the International Harvest Festival. There have been other events such as annual sheep-shearing weekends and winter camps for children. During the 1990s, the Queens Zoo also hosted Groundhog Day ceremonies, in which people looked at the shadows of the zoo's prairie dogs to forecast an early spring; the practice ended in 2006 when the prairie dogs were relocated. These programs are provided in several languages. The zoo's menagerie still focused on North American species after its 1990s renovation, but it has since expanded to include other species such as South American spectacled bears and American alligators. There is a small clinic for injured and sick animals; the clinic at the Bronx Zoo handles more serious injuries or illnesses.
Originally, the zoo's animals included bears, wolves, bison, raccoons, otters, and waterfowl. and species such as cougars, Roosevelt elk, and prairie dogs were added for the first time. The zoo is home to Andean bears, pumas, California sea lions, coyotes, burrowing owls, Canadian lynxes, Southern pudus, thick-billed parrots, American alligators, American bison, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, barred owls, great horned owls, snowy owls, and Chacoan peccaries. and eight Andean bears have been born there . The zoo has had breeding programs for Southern pudu since 2005, pronghorn antelopes since 2008, and New England cottontail rabbits since 2015. There is also a breeding program for Puerto Rican crested toads. Several animals have been rescued and resettled at the zoo, including a coyote caught in Central Park, two lion cubs rescued from Montana,
Reception
When the zoo opened, a reviewer for the New York Daily News said that "the city's latest animal farm is small...and beautiful". Newsday wrote in 1977 that "the Queens Zoo may strike visitors as a sylvan paradise", especially as compared with the cages in the Central Park Zoo, because animals at the Queens Zoo were allowed to roam around. By the late 1970s, the zoo's decline led one local politician to describe the Flushing Meadows Zoo as a "poor man's zoo", Just before the zoo's renovation in 1987, Newsday wrote that the zoo was "a quiet, well-kept and surprisingly natural haven", despite the presence of the nearby Grand Central Parkway. and one writer for The Wall Street Journal described the zoo in 2013 as "a romantic paradise of tall trees, flowering shrubs and rocky outcroppings disturbed only by the roar of the Grand Central Parkway."
See also
- List of zoos in the United States
- List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City