Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times  Joshua Tan, 5, checked out a robot that can solve the Rubik's cube puzzle in less than two minutes. It was one of the booths on Wednesday at a science and technology fair sponsored by Google and the city.  From a distance, it could have been just another New York City street fair. But instead of the usual socks, scarves and sausages, the booths in a park on 14th Street in Manhattan flaunted wares of a far more technological nature.  There were Lego robots, virtual games and speed Rubikâs âcubersâ who could solve one of the worldâs most popular puzzles in very short order.  The daylong event, called âGeek Street Fair,â was sponsored by Google, and organized in partnership with the cityâs Department of Youth and Community Development as part of a larger effort to promote the study of hard sciences and technology among young New Yorkers, especially those of modest means and timid dreams.  âFor some of our young people, the opportunity to work in a place like Google or Facebook or Microsoft may not be readily available,â said Mark Zustovich, a Youth and Community Development spokesman. âThis is a way to bring this world to them and let them realize that these areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics can be in their future.â  Mr. Zustovich echoed a goal that the Obama administration has put forth to prioritize and encourage education in the sciences. According to the Department of Education, only 16 percent of American high school seniors are both proficient in mathematics and interested in a career in the sciences and technology.  The federal and state governments have been steering more money toward education in these areas, and tech-based organizations are continuing to grow beyond Silicon Valley. Geek, many say, is now the new cool.  More than 600 children, taking part in city-financed after-school and summer programs, flooded the 14th Street park as soon as the fair opened its gates at noon on Wednesday. They were handed a âpassportâ that would earn them a pair of red shades, a yo-yo or a Frisbee, once they collected five stamps for completing a set of exercises at the different booths.  The Museum of Mathematics put out a large maze on the ground and challenged participants to walk from start to finish without making any left turns.  The New York Hall of Science presented âstick pics.â Children were asked to cut out pictures of their favorite fictional characters, stick them on the end of a long stick, hold them out at varying distances and take pictures. If Willy Wonka can grow to be their size and shrink back to fit on their shoulder, then they have introduced themselves to the concept of ratio.  At a booth for Maker Camp, which is a free online hangout on Google Plus, children learned how to light up a small LED lamp by attaching it to a battery.  âStart really simple and with simple you get kids really excited,â said Lorraine Yurshansky, 30, an executive producer at Google. By learning to make something, no matter how basic, Ms. Yurshansky said, âyou can spark the light of interest.â  At the Liberty Science Center booth, Thomas Sullivan, the exhibition leader, took apart a Rubikâs Cube, uncovering a mechanical structure of pivots and screws, which, he explained, produced trillions of possibilities. Three young men held Rubikâs Cubes. They started to twist and turn the parts, their fingers a blur. In less than 15 seconds, each face was one color.  Some children made robots using Lego pieces. Some tinkered with metal objects and wires. And others kicked inflatable beach balls (a typically Google-ish touch of fun) that had been spread out in the middle of the park.  âGeek was a bad thing to be when you were in school growing up,â said Craig Nevill-Manning, the founding engineer in the New York Google office who strolled through the fair wearing a white lab coat and Google Glass. âBut people understand now that geeks are responsible for making their lives more interesting.â
Google teamed up with the New York City government as part of an effort to try to entice more children to pursue careers in science.