text: 1963 and 1964 The World's Fair Housing Bureau was formed in early 1963 to coordinate the development of hotel rooms for the fair. Despite commitments from various state and national governments, only some of these governments were actively constructing pavilions. The WFC also wanted to hire 40 concessionaires and sell 70 intellectual property licenses, which the corporation hoped would raise $130 million. On April 22, 1963, exactly a year before the fair's opening, U.S. President John F. Kennedy activated a countdown clock  to the fair's opening. At the time, only 48 of the 200 proposed buildings had even started construction, even though all major structures had to be under construction by the following month. The press building opened that May, and an insurance syndicate was formed that June to protect the exhibits. By mid-1963, civil-rights groups were protesting the lack of racial diversity in the fair's development and filed a lawsuit to halt construction. That July, Moses denied rumors that construction had fallen behind schedule.
  Materials from overseas began arriving in August 1963, though work on 50 structures still had not started by the next month. Moses became increasingly hostile toward journalists who doubted that the fair would be completed on time. There were also disagreements over whether students should receive discounted tickets; Moses opposed the plan, though the city government ultimately forced him to sell discounted tickets. The first pavilion, the Port Authority Heliport, opened in October 1963. The same month, Hunt resigned as the amusement area's operator, following disagreements over ticket prices and rides. Work on many pavilions was behind schedule due to funding issues, labor shortages, and bad weather. There were other issues, such as labor strikes, exhibitor withdrawals, and continuing racial tensions. Despite these difficulties, many pavilions were nearly completed by late 1963, and the WFC had sold 3.8 million advance tickets by year's end. To draw attention to the fair, the WFC displayed models of exhibits at the Time-Life Building in Manhattan. Exhibits were installed through late 1963 and early 1964, and the WFC also borrowed $3 million to fund the fair's completion.