New York has always been a key hub in the US space program.
Huntsville wanted one, too, but we already had Pathfinder at the Space and Rocket Center, which hurt our chances a lot, and our chances were not particularly good in any case.
Oh, well. We still have lots of Saturn program stuff. The last time I was at JSC, (late 90s) you guys had a Saturn (V, I think) disassembled just laying on the ground. Did that ever get restored and put in a museum?