The group expected to see a divide in the park and thought the people in the park would be well aware of the division among the races. We also thought that once finding out that the Pavilion was an important piece of the park, people would change their feelings about the structure. We felt that the division would create tension between the different majorities and minorities in the park, which would be visible in the behavior of the different groups when they came into contact with each other, or, when they crossed the invisible divide between the different sections of the park.
We found that the park is indeed divided by race, but this does not create any tension between the groups within the park. Those who were interviewed, each of whom came from a different background, said the same thing about their idea of the racial divide though. They all seemed to feel that the park was diverse, and therefore, they were interacting with a diverse group of people. What’s more, they did not seem to notice that they only interacted with people of their own race, because they saw the park as one larger undivided unit, which creates this false sense of unity among the people within the park. Because the park is set up as one large circle with the mid point as the Unisphere, people believe that “interactions” are the passing of the different divided sections of the park, when in reality, they never actually make any conversation with those who are not of a similar denomination as them.
Nearly every person who was interviewed sees the Unisphere, the most prominent structure in the park, as the most important structure in the park. They suggested minor changes to the structure, such as a cleaning, and there was one complaint about the inaccuracy of the continents, but aside from that, the people who frequent the park would never remove the structure or replace it, which is a stark contrast to their feelings about the Pavilion. They all recognize the history of the structure as important to the background of the park and see the structure as a symbol of unity, which is actually the purpose of the Pavilion, not the sphere. From this we gain the notion that the people of Flushing Meadow Park are disengaged on multiple planes. It is easy to look around at a variety of faces and claim diversity as it is easy to look a beautiful shining globe and see its worth and meaning. People fail to delve deeper into the park’s cultural and historical richness , because it is not convenient or they are not readily equipped to experience other cultures or see beauty and meaning in something that requires investigation.
The Pavilion actually was a lot less important to people in the park than we had originally thought, and the history was deemed unimportant to many of the younger generations who were not alive for the World Fair. Those who were interviewed all came from different backgrounds and had different experiences with the park, and said that they would either tear it down and create a new structure, or would try to fix it and create a more useful structure out of the pre-existing one. One man who was interviewed went so far as to say that the structure was even more sad and worthless after hearing the history and purpose of the structure.
As the World’s Fair had many years ago, the upcoming Queens Open Night Market offers an opportunity to experience foreign foods, music, and meet new and diverse people from all over Queens. When presented with the prospect of attending this weekly event, a majority of the people declined. This displays an overall unwillingness to cross cultural barriers.
The highest population within the confines of the park was located around the soccer fields, where people of Hispanic background gather to play pickup games and league games, and also to watch the ongoing games. The primary language spoken in that area is Spanish. This area in particular is also incredibly divided as there are several denominations among people of Hispanic background that play these games and that take their families to this park.
The park has become a safety zone for those who don’t want to truly integrate into the community as the community around the park is said to be a bad area. As the surrounding population of the park is considered low income or under the poverty line, those that frequent the park, as well as those who are visiting for the first time, see the park as the only place that they can safely experience Flushing, without worrying about their surroundings. Overall, we found that Flushing Meadow Park acts as a microcosm of Queens, because the segregation of people on the basis of ethnicity and nationality that is evident amongst the towns of Queens is somewhat evident throughout the park.
