New York - An Invitation
- Details
- Category: NY World's Fair 1964-65
- Published on Friday, 29 March 2013 17:59
- Written by Klaus
- Hits: 15356
New York City and the world's fair - An Invitation
By ROBERT WAGNER, Mayor of the City of New York
Welcome to our city and the New York World's Fair of 1964. We are delighted to play host to this exciting international event and to have you as our guests. I'm told that mayors of New York City are traditionally inclined to be boastful. In thinking about this I've come to the conclusion they aren't, really. They only seem to be, because any statement of facts about our city ends up sounding like gross exaggeration.
Here's a case in point. Visitors will find that our metropolitan area extends fifty miles in almost every direction. It occupies portions of three states, contains 15 million citizens, and has about 1,400 local units of government. There is a market for every sort of commercial or cultural enterprise, for every conceivable product or service, and a friendly climate for every art, every form of entertainment, every branch of education.
The international flavor of New York, evident from its founding as a port in 1664, has been enhanced since the last World's Fair by the establishment here of the world capital of peace, the United Nations headquarters. Today on our streets you can see members of virtually every nation on earth, many of them in their national dress. You can sample their foods in our restaurants, their arts in our shops and on our stages, their cultures in our museums.
So in welcoming you to the New York World's Fair, may I also welcome you and your family to the good life of New York City. We have built new roads, bridges and other facilities of convenience for you; our citizens have built additional accommodations and prepared an array of fine entertainment to make your stay with us as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
I also invite you to stop in at any of our Visitors' Bureaus where you see the slogan, "New York Is a Summer Festival," in the hope that we can turn that slogan into an act of hospitality by being of some service to you.
Come to see the Fair, and come to New York, and please come again.