Mitch Silverstein

Mitch was born in Brooklyn NY and moved out to North Massapequa on Long Island in 1963 in time for first grade and a year early for the NY World's Fair. He remembers going to the fair in '64 and being amazed at all the different buildings and the size of the fair, it was huge to a little one. Although the main attractions were the latest technological advances and the grand scale of things, while on-line for the IBM pavilion with his family, he was very concerned that the catwalks they were on over water were sturdy enough for all the people! The fair helped Mitch choose science for a career path. As a child, he had that inherent filter that sought knowledge. There was no internet and the fair was better than a library. That quest for knowledge still influences him today in his career and hobbies. Feeling a bit nostalgic for the fair and having an interest in learning about the remaining legacies led him to an online forum, worldsfaircommunity.org. There was much talk about the decaying New York State Pavilion (NYSP) and when the opportunity came to help John Piro he was the one that jumped on it. They wanted to make a difference for something that had little attention in many years, improve Flushing Meadows Park that they loved, restore dignity to the pavilion and advocate for its survival. After the fair closed in 1965, Mitch returned to Shea Stadium to see the Beatles. The visit also gave him a chance to see the demolition of the fair in process. Although he realized it would happen it was still a bit shocking; knowing it would all be gone. His geek void was then filled with Star Trek, the original TV series, in 1967. That solidified his future with a professional career in the sciences and laboratory operations which is what he currently does. He is also a collector of many collections with a main focus on the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. He is a well known collector of souvenirs and artifacts from the fair. He also enjoys research, preservation and restoration work and maintains websites that share some of this research and collections.