Roosevelt Avenue between Peartree & Morris Avenues, 1923. The landscape between what is now 114th Street and 120th Street was desolate in 1923, just before construction of the Willets Point Station. The area is named for Robert Willets, whose Elm Wood farm was nearby. The Willets Point Station, opened May 7, 1927, started life as a small local stop located at the convergence of Roosevelt Avenue, Willets Point Boulevard, and 126th Street. This area is now the entrance to the Corona Yard, “Home of the 7 Train.” When it was announced that the 1939 World’s Fair was going to be in Flushing Meadows, plans were made to expand the station in anticipation of Fair crowds, and move it to its current location.

Shea Stadium, ca. 1964. Once a three-team city, New York’s sole baseball representative between 1958-1962 was the Yankees. In 1962, the expansion New York Mets joined the National League, playing their first two seasons at the Polo Grounds, the Giants’ former stadium in upper Manhattan. Erected during the building boom preceding the 1964 New York World's Fair, Shea Stadium was constructed, at a cost of $28.5 million, with motorized stands to allow it to be converted from a baseball diamond in the spring to a football gridiron in the fall. It was the home to the New York Jets (1964-84) and the New York Giants (1973-75) until each left New York City for Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On April 17, 1964, the Mets played their first game at their new permanent home, Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens.

Willets Point Boulevard Station, 1963. From the Eastbound platform of the Willets Point station the Unisphere, in the process of construction, can be seen to the left. Six months after this photograph was taken the World’s Fair opened. After then fair was over the grounds were converted into Flushing Meadow Park.