1964 New York World's Fair

==Alleged financial mismanagement==
The fair ended in controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement. Controversy had plagued it during much of its two-year run. The Fair Corporation sold ''advanced'' tickets ahead of opening for each season, thus reflecting distorted profits compared to actual sales ''during'' the seasons. The receipts of advanced sales were booked entirely against the first season of the fair.<ref name=Caro/> This made it appear that the fair had plenty of operating cash when, in fact, it was borrowing from the second season's gate to pay the bills. Before and during the 1964 season, the fair spent much money despite underwhelming attendance, below expectations. By the end of the 1964 season, Moses and the press began to realize that there would not be enough money to pay the bills, and accordingly the fair teetered on bankruptcy.<ref name=Caro/> In March 1965, a group of bankers and politicians asked showman [[Billy Rose]] to take over the fair, which he declined, stating: "I'd rather be hit by a baseball bat", adding that "cancer in its last stages never attracted me very much".<ref name="End of the Innocence">{{cite book |author=Samuel, Lawrence R. |title=The End of the Innocence: The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |date=August 1, 2010 |pages=27, 34, 48, 74, 130, 164 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PF05Yq5aibgC&pg=PA48 |access-date=June 9, 2012 |isbn=978-0-8156-0956-8}}
</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Alden, Robert |title=Ford Fair Exhibit to Add Entrance; Will Let Visitors in Product Area but Not on Ride |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 16, 1965 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00916FA3B54177A93C4A81788D85F418685F9 |access-date=June 9, 2012}}</ref>

While the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair returned a generous 40 cents on the dollar to bond investors, bondholders for the 1964–1965 fair received nearly a 20% profit on their investment (19.2 cents on the dollar).<ref name=Caro/>