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The Fountain of the Planet of the Apes

This is an actual name of a fountain in Flushing Meadows, New York. Why?  –Joey Vento

Hands Off My Fountain, You Damn Dirty Apes!

It turns out that this strangely named Fountain of the Planet of the Apes is merely a tribute from one free thinking man to one of his favorite movies. The fountain was built next to a Queens Wildlife Center for the 1964-65 World’s Fair and named the “Fountain of the Planets.” When Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern came along a few years later, he ordered that the plaque adorning the

fountain be altered to contain the words “of the Apes.” After a year of going unnoticed, someone finally complained to the city about the strange alteration, but Stern refused to change his decision. “It’s a great movie,” he offered up as justification for his action, “which is also a treatise on the dangers of war.”

An adjacent fountain in the same park is named “The Fountain of the Grapes of Wrath.” Stern figured that if there was a fountain named after an animal related pop culture reference, it was only fair to have another containing a plant related one as well. –Chris Maget and Robyn Miller

You can read about all of New York’s other Roadside Oddities and curious attractions in our book Weird New York.

Weird New York

 

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