Beame's interim report, which was published at the end of August, found the WFC had squandered money by not awarding contracts through competitive bidding and by spending nearly everything it had on expenses it incurred before and during 1964.; Despite Moses's denials of wrongdoing,; Queens district attorney Frank D. O'Connor opened a criminal inquiry into the WFC shortly afterward.; Moses installed highway signs promoting the fair and refused to remove them, even after city traffic commissioner Henry A. Barnes called the signs a safety hazard.; By mid-September, estimates of the fair's total attendance had been reduced from 70 to 50 million. By the end of September, the fair had recorded 17 million visitors during the 1965 season, less than half the number of visitors needed to break even. At this point, the WFC had barely enough money to pay its weekly expenses.
Beame's interim report, which was published at the end of August, found the WFC had squandered money by not awarding contracts through competitive bidding and by spending nearly everything it had on expenses it incurred before and during 1964.; Despite Moses's denials of wrongdoing,; Queens district attorney Frank D. O'Connor opened a criminal inquiry into the WFC shortly afterward.; Moses installed highway signs promoting the fair and refused to remove them, even after city traffic commissioner Henry A. Barnes called the signs a safety hazard.; By mid-September estimates of the fair's total attendance had been reduced from 70 to 50 million By the end of September, the fair had recorded 17 million visitors during the 1965 season, less than half the number of visitors needed to break even At this point, the WFC had barely enough money to pay its weekly expenses.