Queens Zoo

Queens Zoo
Queens Zoo
	Logo of Queens Zoo, part of the Wildlife Conservation Society
	Andean bear female at the zoo.
	40°44′37″N 73°50′55″W / 40.74374°N 73.848592°W
Date opened	October 26, 1968; (as Flushing Meadow Zoo); June 25, 1992; (as Queens Zoo)
Location	Queens, New York, United States
Land area	18 acres (7.3 ha)
No. of species	75+
Memberships	AZA
Management	Wildlife Conservation Society
Public transit access	Subway: at 111th Street or Mets–Willets Point ; Bus: Q23, Q48 ; LIRR: Port Washington Branch at Mets–Willets Point
Website	www.queenszoo.com

The Queens Zoo is an 18-acre (7.3 ha) zoo located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. The zoo is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

History

Attractions and geographical features of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park

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Attractions and geographical features of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park:

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Citi Field

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Flushing Meadows Carousel and Queens Zoo

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Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatics Center

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Flushing River and Creek

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Meadow Lake

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Mets–Willets Point (LIRR and subway stations)

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National Tennis Center

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New York Hall of Science

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New York State Pavilion and Queens Theatre

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Queens Botanical Garden

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Queens Museum

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Unisphere

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Willow Lake

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World's Fair station (demolished)

The facility first opened in 1968, on the former site of the 1964 New York World's Fair. Initially known as the Flushing Meadow Zoo, it was the first zoo to be designed as 'cageless' from the start. Robert Moses turned the first shovel full of earth for the new construction on August 20, 1966, and cut the ceremonial ribbon to the new 18-acre (7.3 ha) "Flushing Meadows Zoo" a bit more than two years later on October 26, 1968.^[5]^[1]

The zoo's aviary is a geodesic dome designed by Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc. and used during the 1964 Fair.^[2] The dome was originally designed as the fair's major indoor assembly hall, with no indoor supports blocking anyone's view, and repurposed for the 1965 season as a tribute to Winston Churchill after he died in 1965.^[6] The 175-foot (53 m) diameter dome was one of the largest single-layer structures of its time. It was dismantled and stored after the fair, and was later reassembled in its current location with a mesh netting covering instead of the solid tent of the original dome.^[7]

In 1988 the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation entered a partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society to operate the zoo. It was temporarily closed for four years to undergo a $16 million renovation, redesign, and reconceptualization. The facility reopened to visitors on June 25, 1992 as the Queens Zoo.^[8]