People from Long Island have a great deal of pride in where they’re from, and for good reason. There is a ton of history and culture here. The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City is just one example, which celebrates Long Island’s history as innovators in aviation. Housed on land which was formerly part of Mitchel Air Force Base, this site is steeped in history and was the sight of several historic flights. This is why the museum is referred to as the Cradle of Aviation, as the area received this title in the mid-1920s because of how many important flights have taken off here.
Our Long Island workers compensation lawyers love historical museums, and the Cradle of Aviation is one of our favorites. Some reasons why we keep returning here include:
Air and Space Craft Galleries
The main attraction here is the display of over 75 air and space craft, 12 cockpits,30 hands-on exhibits, and educational short films in the Donald Everett Axinn Air & Space Museum Hall. There’s so much to see here that you’ll likely need multiple trips to see everything. This hall spans 150,000 square feet and features a wide array of crafts in eight different galleries, which are organized in chronological order.
Planetarium
The Cradle of Aviation Museum boasts one of the most impressive planetariums in the world, with a full-dome theater and an immersive virtual reality experience thrilling countless guests every year. It features high-resolution projection and a state-of-the-art sound system, which offers unparalleled looks into our galaxy. The planetarium also uses 70mm film format, which is 10 times bigger than a conventional film frame and the highest quality available.
Retro Video Game Exhibit
If you’re a nerd for classic video games, you absolutely must make a trip to the “From the Arcade to the Living Room: A Video Game Retrospective 1972-1999” exhibit before it ends on March 11, 2018. This covers the history of video games from the early days of black-and-white pong to the revolutionary developments of 3D gaming in the late 1990s. And of course, the exhibit is interactive, with hundreds of games available to play on more than 60 consoles on classic TV tubes, along with 30 arcade games classics like Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, and more.
Pan Am Exhibit
Pan American World Airways were pioneers in aviation, but closed up their operations in 1991. Fortunately, their legendary flight is immortalized at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. Former employees banded together and raised over $150,000 for the first of four Pan Am exhibits in just one year. In the current exhibit, the famous B-314 Flying Boat seaplanes are on display here. Known as Clippers, these iconic aircrafts took flight from Manhasset Bay in Port Washington, Long Island and flew to Bermuda, England, Portugal, and France. Future exhibits will include the Stratocruiser, B-707, and B-747 aircrafts.
Nunley’s Carousel
Once you’ve finished immersing yourself in the history of aviation and video games, we highly recommend making a stop at Nunley’s Carousel, which is adjacent to the museum. This historic carousel was built all the way back in 1912 by Stein and Goldstein Artistic Carousell Co. out of Brooklyn, NY. It was originally called Murphy’s Carousel and installed in Golden City Park in Canarsie, where it remained until 1940. That year, it was renamed Nunley’s Carousel and relocated to Baldwin NY. In 1995, Nunley’s was closed and the carousel was purchased by Nassau County. Since 2009, it’s been part of Museum Row and has been carefully restored to its original majesty.
