Flushing Meadow Corona Park has become the keystone park of Queens and a recreation and cultural hub for the region; yet, it was once just a dusty wasteland, "a valley of ashes" as F. Scott Fitzgerald dubbed it in the Great Gatsby. Its poetic, phoenix-like transformation from ash dump to oasis was driven by Queens' residents, the City and 1939 and 1965 World's Fair held in this park. These fairs put this park on the world's stage, and it has stayed there, hosting the United Nations General Assembly for five years, three baseball World Series at Shea Stadium, and the U.S. Open.

Today, Flushing Meadows Corona Park is 1,255 acres of athletic fields, landscaped meadows, lakes, fountains, playgrounds, stadia, museums and a zoo. People come to play soccer on the new turf fields, to stroll along the Flushing Bay promenade, to enjoy the sounds of a summer concert, to visit one of the park's outstanding cultural institutions, or simply to relax in a beautiful garden.