If you want to grasp an image of the world and learn about its people in one place, come to Queens.

As the most diverse place on the planet Earth, where the tensions and joys of the globe come home

to build a community, Queens is in many ways at the center of our universe. And in the center of our borough is The Unisphere, the world’s largest  representation of the planet Earth built as the centerpiece of the 1964-65 World’s Fair.

The theme of that fair was “Peace Through Understanding.” Now immigrants flying into America recognize the Unisphere as a symbol of their new land just as their predecessors on boats dreamed of the Statue of Liberty. Nowhere else on Earth is the hope of a peaceful international community dawning so brightly, and nowhere else is understanding so at home.  

May we continue to lead the globe in tolerance, love of freedom, and cooperation.