By Philip Newman
Fewer than half of New Yorkers know that the Queens Museum of Art shares a history with the 1939 World’s Fair, although 80 percent know Santa Claus worked at Macy’s, according to a new poll conducted in December.
The poll also revealed that only a quarter of New Yorkers know the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History face one another across Central Park.
Only 45 percent of New Yorkers know the Queens Museum of Art is the only surviving building from the 1939 World’s Fair.
An astonishing 100 percent of the 300 respondents to the poll, aged 55 to 64, and 80 percent of all ages know Santa Claus in the 1947 movie “Miracle on 34th Street” worked at Macy’s.
Forty-one percent of New Yorkers surveyed think the Top of the Rock is on top of the Empire State Building. It is actually atop the General Electric — formerly the RCA — building.
Only 18 percent of those surveyed knew the seven points on the Statue of Liberty’s crown represent the Seven Seas and the seven continents.
A mere 17 percent of New Yorkers know the Bronx is home to the last remaining section of original forest in New York. It is in the New York Botanical Gardens.
Nearly 90 percent did not know the Origami Holiday Tree kicks off the holiday season and has for more than 30 years at the American Museum of Natural History.
You may ask the purpose of what is known as the “New York Pass or Fail Survey.” You may have guessed they want to sell you the New York Pass.
“New Yorkers can tell you 10 ways to get to the Guggenheim, but truth be told, many of us have never actually been there,” said New York Pass Vice President Ken Barrows. “In many cases, our tourists seem to know more about our city than we do. The New York Pass or Fail Survey is meant to remind New Yorkers about the wonders we pass hurriedly by every day without ever exploring.”
The $75 New York Pass, $55 for children, gets holders into the city’s top attractions for a single price, many with exclusive fast track entry privileges, allowing them to whiz past long lines.
They include Top of the Rock, the Met, the Guggenheim, the Whitney, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Sex, the Museum of Television and Radio, the Museum of Modern Art and the Empire State Building.
Also included are behind the scenes tours of Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, NBC studios and Carnegie Hall; free entry to zoos, aquariums, parks and gardens, the Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island ferry; shopping discounts at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s; and helicopter rides.
In Queens, the Pass gets you into the Queens Museum of Art, the New York Hall of Science and the Museum of the Moving Image.
For more information, visit newyorkpass.com.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
