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{{short description|Railway terminal in Manhattan, New York}}{{Redirect|Grand Central Station||Grand Central Station (disambiguation)}}{{good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}

factoids

Exterior of the terminal building| photo1b = Grand Central Terminal, New York 2017 45.jpg{{!}}Train shed platform and tracks| photo2a = USA-NYC-Grand Central Terminal Clock.jpg{{!}}Central Main Concourse clock| photo2b = GCT in Blizzard of 2015.jpg{{!}}Main Concourse, facing east position = center color = white | size = 300}}| image_caption = Clockwise from top left: 42nd Street facade; underground train shed and tracks; Main Concourse; iconic clock atop the information booth| alt = The Main Concourse, a large open room of marble and stone with a central information booth and ticket windows to the sides42nd Street (Manhattan)>East 42nd StreetManhattan, New York City| owned = {{unbulleted listNew York Central & Hudson River Railroad>NYC & Hudson River (1913–1914)| New York Central (1914–1968)| Penn Central (1968–1994)| American Premier Underwriters (1994–2006)| Midtown Trackage Ventures (2006–2020)| Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2020–present)}}| operator = {{unbulleted list| NYC & Hudson River (1913–1914)| New York Central (1914–1968)| New York, New Haven and Hartford (1913–1968)| Penn Central (1968–1976)| Amtrak (1971–1991)| Conrail (1976–1983)| Metro-North (1983–present)}}| manager = George Monasterio (director)| line = Park Avenue main line| platform = 44: 43 island platforms, 1 side platform(6 tracks with Spanish solution)| tracks = 67: 56 passenger tracks (30 on upper level, 26 on lower level)43 in use for passenger service11 sidings12pxLong Island Rail Roadat Grand Central Madison station>Grand Central Madison{{rintsubway}} New York City Subway:{{NYCS Grand CentralGrand Central–42nd Street}}{{bus icon}} NYCT Bus: {{NYC bus linkM2M4M101M103MTA Bus, Academy Bus: #Connecting services>express services| depth = | levels = 2| parking = | bicycle = Grand Central Terminal meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. However, not all features are fully ADA-accessible.|group=N}}| years = ConstructionOpened }}system=Metro-Northpass_year=FY 2018|pass_percent=0.6}}| passengers = | pass_year = | pass_percent = | website = {{official website}}| services = {{Adjacent stations| system=Metro-North Railroadright1=Harlem–125th Street|to-right1=North White Plains or Southeastright2=Harlem–125th Streetright3=Harlem–125th Street|to-right3=Stamford or New Havenright4=Harlem–125th Street|note-mid4=peak serviceright5=Harlem–125th Street|note-mid5=peak service}}| other_services_header = Former services| other_services_collapsible = yessystem1=New York Central Railroadleft1=125th Streetleft2=125th Streetleft3=125th Street|to-left3=Chatham| system4=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroadright4=Harlem–125th Street| system5=Amtrakleft5=Croton-Harmonleft6=Croton-Harmonleft7=Yonkersleft8=Yonkersleft9=Yonkers}}History of Grand Central Terminal#Grand Central Station>pre-1913)| other_services2_collapsible = yessystem=New York Central and Hudson River Railroadleft1=110th Street|note-left1=Until 1906left2=86th Streetnote-left2=Until 1901left3=72nd Streetnote-left3=Limited}}| embedded =

factoids

| architect = Reed and Stem;Warren and WetmoreBeaux-Arts architecture>Beaux-Arts| visitors_num = 21.6 million| visitors_year = 2018| visitors_ref = | website = | designation1 = NHL| designation1_date = December 8, 1976| designation1_number = 75001206| designation2 = NRHP| designation2_date = January 17, 1975August 11, 1983 (increase)| designation2_number = 75001206, 83001726| designation3 = NYSRHPNEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION > DATE=NOVEMBER 7, 2014 ACCESS-DATE=JULY 20, 2023 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTP://WEBARCHIVE.LOC.GOV/ALL/20190404141934/HTTPS://CRIS.PARKS.NY.GOV/, live, | designation3_number = 06101.000365| designation4 = New York City Landmark| designation4_date = August 2, 1967 (facade)September 23, 1980 (interior)| designation4_number = 0266 (facade)1099 (interior)frame=yesframe-align=centerframe-height=180type=pointtitle=Grand Central Terminalalt=Grand Central's facade at night|145px)}}| image_map_caption = }}}}Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also contains a connection to the Long Island Rail Road through the Grand Central Madison station, a {{convert|16|acre|m2|adj=on}} rail terminal underneath the Metro-North station, built from 2007 to 2023. The terminal also connects to the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station. The terminal is the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station.The distinctive architecture and interior design of Grand Central Terminal's station house have earned it several landmark designations, including as a National Historic Landmark. Its Beaux-Arts design incorporates numerous works of art. Grand Central Terminal is one of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions,WEB,weblink The World's 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions – No. 3: Times Square, New York City – Annual Visitors: 50,000,000, Shields, Ann, November 10, 2014, Travel+Leisure, November 14, 2018, No. 3 Times Square,...No. 4 (tie) Central Park,...No. 10 Grand Central Terminal, New York City,weblink April 17, 2019, with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, excluding train and subway passengers. The terminal's Main Concourse is often used as a meeting place, and is especially featured in films and television. Grand Central Terminal contains a variety of stores and food vendors, including upscale restaurants and bars, a food hall, and a grocery marketplace. The building is also noted for its library, event hall, tennis club, control center and offices for the railroad, and sub-basement power station.Grand Central Terminal was built by and named for the New York Central Railroad; it also served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and, later, successors to the New York Central. Opened in 1913, the terminal was built on the site of two similarly named predecessor stations, the first of which dated to 1871. Grand Central Terminal served intercity trains until 1991, when Amtrak began routing its trains through nearby Penn Station.Grand Central covers {{convert|48|acre|0}} and has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world. Its platforms, all below ground, serve 30 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. In total, there are 67 tracks, including a rail yard and sidings; of these, 43 tracks are in use for passenger service, while the remaining two dozen are used to store trains.{{refn|group=N|The 24 non-passenger tracks include 11 sidings that are not adjacent to any platform, and 13 tracks that are adjacent to platforms but not used in passenger service.}}{{TOC limit|2}}

Name

Grand Central Terminal was named by and for the New York Central Railroad, which built the station and its two predecessors on the site. It has "always been more colloquially and affectionately known as Grand Central Station", the name of its immediate predecessorBOOK, Grand Central: The World's Greatest Railway Terminal, Middleton, William D., William D. Middleton, 1977, Golden West Books, 7, NEWS,weblink A Point of View: Grand Central, the world's loveliest station, Cannadine, David, February 8, 2013, BBC, May 8, 2014, May 12, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140512220544weblink">weblink live, that operated from 1900 to 1910. The name "Grand Central Station" is also shared with the nearby U.S. Post Office station at 450 Lexington Avenue and, colloquially, with the Grand Central–42nd Street subway station next to the terminal.The station has been named "Grand Central Terminal" since before its completion in 1913; the full title is inscribed on its 42nd Street facade.BOOK, Holland, Kevin J., Classic American Railroad Terminals, MBI Publishing, 20, 2001, 9780760308325, June 18, 2023,weblink January 24, 2024,weblink live, According to 21st-century sources, it is designated a "terminal" because trains originate and terminate there.WEB, Touring Grand Central Terminal: So Much More Than Trains, Forbes, January 6, 2023, June 17, 2023,weblink June 17, 2023,weblink live, The CSX Corporation Railroad Dictionary also considers "terminals" as facilities "for the breaking up, making up, forwarding, and servicing of trains" or "where one or more rail yards exist".WEB, Railroad Dictionary, CSX Corporation, June 17, 2023,weblink June 17, 2023,weblink live,

Services

Commuter rail

Grand Central Terminal serves some 67 million passengers a year, more than any other Metro-North station.WEB, State-of-Art Renewal Project Begins at White Plains Station, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, March 30, 2018,weblink February 4, 2019, February 1, 2023,weblink dead, During morning rush hour, a train arrives at the terminal every 58 seconds.NEWS, Lunden, Jeff, Grand Central, A Cathedral For Commuters, Celebrates 100, NPR,weblink February 1, 2013, February 3, 2019, December 28, 2021,weblink live, Three of Metro-North's five main lines terminate at Grand Central:

• Harlem Line to Wassaic, New York
• Hudson Line to Poughkeepsie, New York (Amtrak connection to Albany)
• New Haven Line to New Haven, Connecticut (Amtrak connection to Hartford, Springfield, Boston; Shore Line East to New London)
  • New Canaan Branch to New Canaan, Connecticut
  • Danbury Branch to Danbury, Connecticut
  • Waterbury Branch to Waterbury, Connecticut

Through these lines, the terminal serves Metro-North commuters traveling to and from the Bronx in New York City; Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York; and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut.

Connecting services

Long Island Rail Road

The MTA's Long Island Rail Road operates commuter trains to the Grand Central Madison station beneath Grand Central, completed in 2023 in the East Side Access project.WEB, In "Caves" Below Grand Central, East Side Access Project on Track, The Villager, November 5, 2015,weblink January 25, 2019, January 25, 2019,weblink live, The project connects the terminal to all of the railroad's branches via its Main Line,WEB,weblink East Side Access, MTA.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, en, February 13, 2023, January 26, 2023,weblink live, linking Grand Central Madison to almost every LIRR station.WEB, Long Island Rail Road, MTA.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink February 13, 2023, February 14, 2023,weblink live, Partial service to Jamaica began on January 25, 2023.NEWS, Ley, Ana, 2023-01-25, L.I.R.R. Service to Grand Central Begins Today at Long Last, en-US, The New York Times,weblink 2023-01-25, 0362-4331, January 26, 2023,weblink live,

Local services

The New York City Subway's adjacent Grand Central–42nd Street station serves the following routes:

• {{NYCS trains|Lexington}} (IRT Lexington Avenue Line), situated diagonally under the Pershing Square Building/110 East 42nd Street, 42nd Street, and Grand Hyatt New York
• {{NYCS trains|Flushing}} (IRT Flushing Line), under 42nd Street between Park Avenue and west of Third Avenue
• 42nd Street Shuttle (S), under 42nd Street between Madison Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue

These MTA Regional Bus Operations buses stop near Grand Central:NYC BUS MAP, M, NYC BUS MAP, B2, NYC BUS MAP, Bx2, NYC BUS MAP, Q2, NYC BUS MAP, S,

• NYCT Bus:
  • {{NYC bus link|M1|M2|M3|M4|Q32|prose=y}} local buses at Madison Avenue (northbound) and Fifth Avenue (southbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|X27|X28|X37|X38|SIM4C|SIM6|SIM8|SIM8X|SIM11|SIM22|SIM25|SIM26|SIM30|SIM31|SIM33C|prose=y}} express buses at Madison Avenue (northbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|X27|X28|X37|X38|SIM4C|SIM8|SIM8X|SIM25|SIM31|SIM33C|prose=y}} express buses at Fifth Avenue (southbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|M42}} local bus at 42nd Street
  • {{NYC bus link|M101|M102|M103|prose=y}} local buses at Third Avenue (northbound) and Lexington Avenue (southbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|X27|X28|X63|X64|X68|prose=y}} express buses at Third Avenue (northbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|SIM6|SIM11|SIM22|SIM26|prose=y}} express buses at Lexington Avenue (southbound)
  • SIM23 and SIM24 express buses at Madison Avenue (northbound) and Fifth Avenue (southbound)
• MTA Bus:
  • {{NYC bus link|BxM3|BxM4|BxM6|BxM7|BxM8|BxM9|BxM10|BxM11|BxM18|BM1|BM2|BM3|BM4|BM5|prose=y}} express buses at Madison Avenue (northbound) and Fifth Avenue (southbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|BxM1}} express bus at Lexington Avenue (southbound)
  • {{NYC bus link|BxM1|QM21|QM31|QM32|QM34|QM35|QM36|QM40|QM42|QM44|prose=y}} express buses at Third Avenue (northbound)

Former services

{{see also|List of Amtrak routes#Empire Corridor|label1=Amtrak services to Grand Central Terminal}}File:20th CL 50th anniversary at Grand Central Terminal.png|thumb|left|upright=0.9|alt=Passengers boarding the streamline 20th Century train|The 1952}}The terminal and its predecessors were designed for intercity service, which operated from the first station building's completion in 1871 until Amtrak ceased operations in the terminal in 1991. Through transfers, passengers could connect to all major lines in the United States, including the Canadian, the Empire Builder, the San Francisco Zephyr, the Southwest Limited, the Crescent, and the Sunset Limited under Amtrak. Destinations included San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, New Orleans, Chicago, and Montreal.NEWS, Albright, John Brannon, How to Go Coast to Coast By Train, The New York Times (Print), 0362-4331,weblink December 27, 1981, February 2, 2019, February 3, 2019,weblink live, Another notable former train was New York Central's 20th Century Limited, a luxury service that operated to Chicago's LaSalle Street Station between 1902 and 1967 and was among the most famous trains of its time.NEWS, Browne, Malcolm W., The 20th Century Makes Final Run; Economics Force Central to End Luxury Service Curtain Is Stolen 'Everything Changes' Service Was Luxurious, The New York Times, 0362-4331, December 3, 1967,weblink February 3, 2019, February 4, 2019,weblink live, NEWS, Cameron, Jim, Getting There: Historic 20th Century Limited train service remains unmatched, Connecticut Post, December 3, 2018,weblink February 3, 2019, February 4, 2019,weblink live, From 1971 to 1991, all Amtrak trains using the intrastate Empire Corridor to Niagara Falls terminated at Grand Central; interstate Northeast Corridor trains used Penn Station.WEB,weblink Amtrak may return to Grand Central temporarily this summer, Trains Magazine, May 16, 2017, June 12, 2019, April 22, 2020,weblink dead, Notable Amtrak services at Grand Central included the Lake Shore, Empire Service, Adirondack, Niagara Rainbow, Maple Leaf, and Empire State Express.NEWS,weblink Repairs will shift Amtrak's Rensselaer trains to Grand Central Terminal, Rulison, Larry, Eric, April 10, 2018, Times Union, June 12, 2019, erson, September 7, 2018,weblink live, WEB,weblink Amtrak Timetable, The Museum of Railway Timetables, www.timetables.org, November 14, 1971, June 12, 2019, October 25, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20201025191338weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Amtrak Timetable, The Museum of Railway Timetables, www.timetables.org, 1975, June 12, 2019, October 25, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20201025193528weblink">weblink live,

Interior

(File:Historical Photos of Grand Central Terminal (52663238267).jpg|thumb|alt=Wide view of the station's Main Concourse in bright daylight|Morning pedestrian traffic in the Main Concourse)Grand Central Terminal was designed and built with two main levels for passengers: an upper for intercity trains and a lower for commuter trains. This configuration, devised by New York Central vice president William J. Wilgus, separated intercity and commuter-rail passengers, smoothing the flow of people in and through the station.The original plan for Grand Central's interior was designed by Reed and Stem, with some work by Whitney Warren of Warren and Wetmore.

Main Concourse

The Main Concourse is located on the upper platform level of Grand Central, in the geographical center of the station building. The {{convert|35000|sqft|adj=on}} concourse leads directly to most of the terminal's upper-level tracks, although some are accessed from passageways near the concourse. The Main Concourse is usually filled with bustling crowds and is often used as a meeting place. At the center of the concourse is an information booth topped with a four-sided brass clock, one of Grand Central's most recognizable icons. The terminal's main departure boards are located at the south end of the space. The boards have been replaced numerous times since their initial installation in 1967.WEB, Alexa, Alexandra, Grand Central Terminal's departure boards are going digital, 6sqft, April 30, 2019,weblink April 30, 2019, April 30, 2019,weblink live, WEB, Eye on the Future, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink February 2, 2017, September 26, 2019, September 26, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190926150954weblink">weblink live, {{clear}}(File:Grand Central map.png|center|thumb|upright=2.75|alt=A diagram of the terminal's main level rooms|Floor plan of the main level of the terminal)

Passageways and ramps

(File:Graybar Passage.jpg|thumb|left|The Graybar Passage|alt=Wide interior corridor with a vaulted ceiling)In their design for the station's interior, Reed & Stem created a circulation system that allowed passengers alighting from trains to enter the Main Concourse, then leave through various passages that branch from it. Among these are the north–south 42nd Street Passage and Shuttle Passage, which run south to 42nd Street; and three east–west passageways—the Grand Central Market, the Graybar Passage, and the Lexington Passage—that run about {{Convert|240|feet|meters|abbr=}} east to Lexington Avenue by 43rd Street. Several passages run north of the terminal, including the north–south 45th Street Passage, which leads to 45th Street and Madison Avenue,WEB, Goldberg, Betsy,weblink Grand Central Terminal tour, Timeout.com, January 14, 2010, February 14, 2019, February 7, 2019,weblink live, and the network of tunnels in Grand Central North, which lead to exits at every street from 45th to 48th Street.Each of the east–west passageways runs through a different building. The northernmost is the Graybar Passage, built on the first floor of the Graybar Building in 1926.NEWS,weblink New Passageway into Terminal is Part of Building, September 19, 1926, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 18, 2018, 31, Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com, December 24, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181224121934weblink">weblink live, Its walls and seven large transverse arches are made of coursed ashlar travertine, and the floor is terrazzo. The ceiling is composed of seven groin vaults, each of which has an ornamental bronze chandelier. The first two vaults, as viewed from leaving Grand Central, are painted with cumulus clouds, while the third contains a 1927 mural by Edward Trumbull depicting American transportation.WEB,weblink The Story of Grand Central's Other Ceiling Mural, Thurber, Dan, April 23, 2017, Bookworm History, December 15, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live, {{multiple image|footer=Grand Central Market's interior and its Lexington Avenue facade between the Grand Hyatt New York and Graybar Building|total_width=400alt1=A long hall with food vendors on either sidealt2=Exterior of the market building from the street}}The middle passageway houses Grand Central Market, a cluster of food shops.WEB,weblink Grand Central Market, Grand Central Terminal, December 11, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live, The site was originally a segment of 43rd Street which became the terminal's first service dock in 1913.{{harvnb|ps=.|Belle|Leighton|2000|p=155}} In 1975, a Greenwich Savings Bank branch was built in the space,WEB, 152 A.D.2d 216 – Greenwich Assocs. v. MTA., Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Department.,weblink February 1, 2019, February 2, 2019,weblink live, BOOK, Changes Among Operating Banks and Branches, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,weblink 1973, December 12, 2020, January 24, 2024,weblink live, which was converted into the marketplace in 1998, and involved installing a new limestone façade on the building. The building's second story, whose balcony overlooks the market and 43rd Street, was to house a restaurant, but is instead used for storage.NEWS,weblink The dish on Grand Central, May 20, 2012, Crain's New York Business, December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, The southernmost of the three, the Lexington Passage, was originally known as the Commodore Passage after the Commodore Hotel, which it ran through. When the hotel was renamed the Grand Hyatt, the passage was likewise renamed. The passage acquired its current name during the terminal's renovation in the 1990s.The Shuttle Passage, on the west side of the terminal, connects the Main Concourse to Grand Central's subway station. The terminal was originally configured with two parallel passages, later simplified into one wide passageway.(File:Incline from subway to suburban concourse, Grand Central Terminal.jpg|thumb|alt=Wide ramps in the terminal, seen empty c. 1913|The Oyster Bar ramps shown {{circa|1913}}. They were completely restored in 1998 with one change {{ndash}} lower walls on the pedestrian overpass.)Ramps include the Vanderbilt Avenue ramp and the Oyster Bar ramps. The Vanderbilt Avenue or Kitty Kelly ramp leads from the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and 42nd Street down into the Shuttle Passage. Most of the space above the ramp was built upon in the 20th century, becoming the Kitty Kelly women's shoe store, and later operating as Federal Express. The ramp was returned to its original two-story volume during the terminal's 1998 restoration.{{harvnb|ps=.|Belle|Leighton|2000|pp=150–154}}The Oyster Bar ramps lead down from the Main Concourse to the Oyster Bar and Dining Concourse. They span a total of {{cvt|302|ft|m}} from east to west under an {{cvt|84|ft|m||adj=mid}} ceiling. A pedestrian bridge passes over the ramps, connecting Vanderbilt Hall and the Main Concourse. In 1927, the ramps were partially covered over by expanded main-floor ticket offices; these were removed in the 1998 renovation, which restored the ramps' original appearance with one minor change: the bridge now has a low balustrade, replacing an eight-foot-high solid wall that blocked views between the two levels. The underside of the bridge is covered with Guastavino tiling. The bridge's arches create a whispering gallery in the landing beneath it: a person standing in one corner can hear another speaking softly in the diagonally opposite corner.

Grand Central North

{{mapframe#f00}} Northwest Passage{{colorbull#0c0}} 45th Street Cross-Passage{{colorbull#454545}} Headhouse and train shedframe=y|zoom=15|frame-align=rightframe-height=230frame-long=-73.9754|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Grand Central Terminal}}}}Grand Central North is a network of four tunnels that allow people to walk between the station building (which sits between 42nd and 44th Street) and exits at 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th Street.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Passageway Easing Exit Is Opened At Terminal, Finkelstein, Katherine E., August 19, 1999, The New York Times, July 2, 2011, May 1, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130501033206weblink">weblink live, The {{convert|1000|ft|adj=on}} Northwest Passage and {{convert|1200|ft|adj=on}} Northeast Passage run parallel to the tracks on the upper level, while two shorter cross-passages run perpendicular to the tracks. The 47th Street cross-passage runs between the upper and lower tracks, {{convert|30|ft|m}} below street level; it provides access to upper-level tracks. The 45th Street cross-passage runs under the lower tracks, {{convert|50|ft|m}} below street level. Converted from a corridor built to transport luggage and mail, it provides access to lower-level tracks. The cross-passages are connected to the platforms via 37 stairs, six elevators, and five escalators.(File:Grand Central 45th St.jpg|thumb|45th Street cross-passage)The tunnels' street-level entrances, each enclosed by a freestanding glass structure, sit at the northeast corner of East 47th Street and Madison Avenue (Northwest Passage), the northeast corner of East 48th Street and Park Avenue (Northeast Passage), in the two pedestrian walkways underneath the Helmsley Building between 45th and 46th streets, and (since 2012) on the south side of 47th Street between Park and Lexington avenues.PRESS RELEASE, New Entrance to the Grand Central North Being Built On 47th Street Between Park and Lexington Avenues, January 11, 2010, Metro-North Railroad,weblink June 29, 2010, October 20, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141020202938weblink">weblink live, Pedestrians can also take an elevator to the 47th Street passage from the north side of East 47th Street, between Madison and Vanderbilt avenues; this entrance adjoined the former 270 Park Avenue.SIGN,weblink Map of Grand Central North, December 6, 2018, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, December 6, 2018, brochure (scan), Brian Weinberg, from Flickr, August 2, 2020,weblink live, Proposals for these tunnels had been discussed since at least the 1970s. The MTA approved preliminary plans in 1983,NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink More Exits at Grand Central Planned to Ease Bottleneck, Joyce, Fay S., April 30, 1983, The New York Times, December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, gave final approval in 1991, and began construction in 1994. Dubbed the North End Access Project, the work was to be completed in 1997 at a cost of $64.5 million, but it was slowed by the incomplete nature of the building's original blueprints and by previously undiscovered groundwater beneath East 45th Street. During construction, MTA Arts & Design mosaics were installed; each work was part of As Above, So Below, by Brooklyn artist Ellen Driscoll. The passageways opened on August 18, 1999, at a final cost of $75 million.In spring 2000, construction began on a project to enclose the Northeast and Northwest passages with ceilings and walls. Work on each passage was expected to take 7.5 months, with the entire project wrapping up by summer 2001. As part of the project, the walls of the passages were covered with glazed terrazzo; the Northeast Passage's walls have blue-green accents while the Northwest Passage's walls have red ones. The ceilings are {{convert|8|to|10|ft}} high; the cross-passages' ceilings are blue-green, the same color as the Main Concourse, and have recessed lights arranged to resemble the Main Concourse's constellations. The passages were to be heated in winter and ventilated.WEB, MTA Metro-North Railroad Service Updates, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20000510224520weblink">weblink May 10, 2000, dead, July 5, 2021, Originally, Grand Central North had no restrooms or air-conditioning.The entrances to Grand Central North were originally open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. During weekends and holidays, the 47th and 48th Street entrances were open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., while the two entrances to the Helmsley Building were closed.NEWS, August 19, 1999, Grand Central tunnels ease commuting, 4A, Poughkeepsie Journal,weblink July 5, 2021, July 9, 2021,weblink live, Five years after they opened, the passageways were used by about 30,000 people on a typical weekday. But they served only about 6,000 people on a typical weekend, so the MTA proposed to close them on weekends to save money as part of the 2005–2008 Financial Plan.WEB,weblink MTA 2005 Preliminary Budget (7–29–04) – Volume 2 – MNR, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, February 3, 2014, 43, September 26, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140926003905weblink">weblink live, NEWS, December 17, 2004, Drivers, riders to pay more in '05, 1A, 2A, The Journal News,weblink July 5, 2021, July 9, 2021,weblink live, Since summer 2006, Grand Central North has been closed on weekends.WEB,weblink MTA Metro-North Railroad, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, February 3, 2014, February 12, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140212210257weblink">weblink live, As a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grand Central North closed on March 26, 2020.WEB, March 25, 2020, Grand Central Terminal - North End Access to Close Beginning Thursday, March 26 until Further Notice, for COVID-19 precautions.,weblink 2023-01-24, Twitter, ar, January 24, 2023,weblink live, It reopened in September of that year with hours from 6:30 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.WEB, 2020, Grand Central Terminal North End Access: Adjusted Hours, Effective Monday, Sept. 28,weblink January 24, 2022, mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, January 30, 2022,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20220130033009weblink">weblink live, In 2021, its original hours were restored.WEB, June 2021, Mileposts,weblink January 24, 2022, mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, October 14, 2021,weblink live, On November 1, 2021, the entrance to the northeastern corner of Madison Avenue and 47th Street was "closed long-term to accommodate the construction of 270 Park Avenue".WEB, 2021-10-28, Grand Central Terminal Entrance Closing Nov. 1,weblink 2023-01-24, mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, en, January 24, 2023,weblink live, After Grand Central Madison begins full service, Grand Central North will be open from 5:30 a.m. until 2 a.m., seven days a week.WEB, January 24, 2023, Everything you need to know about Grand Central Madison,weblink January 24, 2023, mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, en, January 26, 2023,weblink live,

Other spaces on the main floor

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Foyer

The main entrance into the terminal, underneath the Park Avenue Viaduct, opens into the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Foyer.WEB, Associated Press, Grand Central entrance named for ex-first lady, The Journal News, June 30, 2014,weblink July 25, 2022, July 25, 2022,weblink live, WEB, Johnson, Victoria, Jackie Kennedy Onassis Foyer opens in Grand Central Terminal, New York Daily News, July 1, 2014,weblink July 25, 2022, July 25, 2022,weblink live, The room is a short passage with a sloped floor and arched shop windows along its side walls. It is adorned with glass and bronze chandeliers, a classical cornice, and a decorative tympanum above the doors leading to Vanderbilt Hall. The tympanum has sculpted bronze garlands and a caduceus below an inscripted panel that reads: "To all those with head, heart, and hand{{•}}Toiled in the construction of this monument to the public service{{•}}This is inscribed." Above the panel is a clock framed by a pair of carved cornucopias. In 2014, the foyer was named for Onassis, former First Lady of the United States, who in the 1970s helped ward off the demolition of the Main Concourse and the construction of Grand Central Tower.NEWS, Grand Central Entrance Named For Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, CBS New York,weblink June 30, 2014, February 15, 2023, February 15, 2023,weblink live, WEB, 40 Years Rescued, 20 Years Renewed,weblink 2023-02-15, Grand Central Terminal, en-US, February 15, 2023,weblink live, NEWS, Cassidy, Tina, 2013-02-05, The Surprising Role Jackie Kennedy Onassis Played in Saving Grand Central, en, Bloomberg.com,weblink 2023-02-15, February 15, 2023,weblink live,

Vanderbilt Hall

{{multiple image|align=left|direction=verticalalt1=Old image of the ornate Vanderbilt Hall}} 1913alt2=Glassed-in squash court in the Beaux-Arts-style hallTournament of Champions (squash)>Tournament of Champions squash championship in 2012}}Vanderbilt Hall is an event space on the south side of the terminal, between the main entrance and the Main Concourse to its north. The rectangular room measures {{convert|65|x|205|ft}}. The north and south walls are divided into five bays, each with large rectangular windows, screened with heavy bronze grills.{{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|page=10}} The room is lit by Beaux-Arts chandeliers, each with 132 bulbs on four tiers. Vanderbilt Hall was formerly the main waiting room for the terminal, used particularly by intercity travelers. The space featured double-sided oak benches and could seat 700 people.WEB, Attention Railroad Buffs and Architecture Aficionados: Artifacts Sought for Grand Central Terminal Centennial Exhibition, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink August 2, 2010, March 25, 2019, March 25, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190325190912weblink">weblink dead, As long-distance passenger service waned, the space became favored by the homeless, who began regularly living there in the 1980s. In 1989, the room was boarded up in preparation for its restoration in 1991. During the process, a temporary waiting room was established on an upper level of the terminal.NEWS, Restoration of Grand Central Waiting Room to Begin Next Year, The Reporter Dispatch, 20,weblink August 17, 1990, February 12, 2023, February 12, 2023,weblink live, {{refn|Several of the hall's benches were moved to a smaller waiting room in the Station Master's Office. In 2018, two of the benches were sent on a long-term loan to Springfield, Massachusetts's Union Station.NEWS, Goonan, Peter, 'A work of art': Springfield unveils restored Grand Central benches at Union Station, Mass Live,weblink July 16, 2018, December 14, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live, |group=N}}Around 1998, the renovated hall was renamed in honor of the Vanderbilt family, which built and owned the station. It is used for the annual Christmas Market,WEB, Grand Central Holiday Fair, The official website of the City of New York, December 20, 2017,weblink January 1, 2019, February 2, 2019,weblink live, as well as for special exhibitions and private events.WEB, Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal, NYC & Company, January 26, 2018,weblink January 1, 2019, February 2, 2019,weblink dead, From 2016 to 2020, the west half of the hall held the Great Northern Food Hall, an upscale Nordic-themed food court with five pavilions. The food hall was the first long-term tenant of the space; the terminal's landmark status prevents permanent installations.NEWS, Passy, Charles, Grand Central Oyster Bar Closes After Briefly Opening at Limited Capacity, The Wall Street Journal,weblink October 12, 2020, October 4, 2021, October 4, 2021,weblink live, Since 1999, Vanderbilt Hall has hosted the annual Tournament of Champions squash championship.WEB,weblink ToC History, Tournament of Champions, December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181225030706weblink">weblink live, Each January, tournament officials construct a free-standing glass-enclosed {{convert|21|by|32|ft|adj=on}} squash court. Like a theatre in the round, spectators sit on three sides of the court.NEWS,weblink Grand Central Station's Glass Box Amazes Again, Douglass, Lynn, January 23, 2013, Forbes, December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, A men's smoking room and women's waiting room were formerly located on the west and east sides of Vanderbilt Hall, respectively. In 2016, the men's room was renovated into Agern, an 85-seat Nordic-themed fine dining and Michelin-starred restaurant operated by Noma co-founder Claus Meyer,WEB,weblink Agern – New York : a Michelin Guide restaurant, ViaMichelin, December 15, 2018, August 8, 2017,weblink dead, who also ran the food hall. Both venues permanently closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. City Winery signed a lease for both the food hall and the Agern space in 2022.WEB, Orlow, Emma, City Winery Is Taking Over the Former Great Northern Food Hall in Grand Central, Eater NY, April 27, 2022,weblink April 28, 2022, April 28, 2022,weblink live, WEB, Yakas, Ben, City Winery opening new venue inside Grand Central Terminal, Gothamist, April 26, 2022,weblink April 28, 2022, April 28, 2022,weblink live, The firm opened a wine bar, a quick-service restaurant named City Jams, and a farm-to-table restaurant named Cornelius in these spaces that November.WEB, Grand Central Station Is Getting a Cool New Wine Bar, Food & Wine, November 9, 2022,weblink November 16, 2022, November 16, 2022,weblink live, WEB, Sutherland-Namako, Amber, Get $5 off wine with City Winery's reusable bottle program, Time Out New York, September 28, 2022,weblink November 16, 2022, November 16, 2022,weblink live,

Biltmore Room

(File:Biltmore Room at Grand Central Terminal.jpg|thumb|alt=The square marble-clad Biltmore Room|The Biltmore Room at its reopening in 2023)The Biltmore Room, originally known simply as the incoming train room, is a {{convert|64|by|80|ft|m|adj=on}} marble hall that serves as an entrance to tracks 39 through 42, and connects to Grand Central Madison. The hall is northwest of the Main Concourse and directly beneath 22 Vanderbilt, the former Biltmore Hotel building. The room was completed in 1915 as a waiting room for intercity trains, which led to its colloquial name of the "Kissing Room", in reference to the greetings that would take place there.As the station's passenger traffic declined in mid-century, the room fell into neglect. In 1982 and 1983, the room was damaged during the construction that converted the Biltmore Hotel into the Bank of America Plaza. In 1985, Giorgio Cavaglieri was hired to restore the room, which at the time had cracked marble and makeshift lighting. During that era, a series of lockers was still located within the Biltmore Room.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Waiting Room at Grand Central Regains Sense of Grandeur, Tomasson, Robert E., April 21, 1985, The New York Times, December 14, 2018, November 9, 2022,weblink live, Later, the room held a newsstand, flower stand, and shoe shine booths. In 2015, the MTA awarded a contract to refurbish the Biltmore Room into an arrival area for Long Island Rail Road passengers as part of the East Side Access project.WEB,weblink news – MTA Awards Contract to Build Long Island Rail Road's Future Terminal Under Grand Central Terminal, February 5, 2015, MTA, December 15, 2018, December 16, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181216031708weblink">weblink dead, As part of the project, the room's booths and stands were replaced by a pair of escalators and an elevator to Grand Central Madison's deep-level concourse, which opened in May 2023.WEB, MTA Announces Opening of Grand Central Madison Escalators and Elevator at 43rd Street into Historic Biltmore Room, City Life Org, May 8, 2023,weblink July 17, 2023, July 17, 2023,weblink live, The room's blackboard displayed the arrival and departure times of New York Central trains until 1967, when a mechanical board was installed in the Main Concourse.

Station Master's Office

{{multiple images|total_width=450px|float=rightalt1=Glass door entrance into the office|caption1=Doorway and front deskalt2=Wood benches in the small square waiting room|caption2=Ticketed waiting area}}The Station Master's Office, located near Track 36, has Grand Central's only dedicated waiting room. The space has benches, restrooms, and a floral mixed-media mural on three of its walls. The room's benches were previously located in the former waiting room, now known as Vanderbilt Hall. Since 2008, the area has offered free Wi-Fi.NEWS,weblink Grand Central Terminal's Station Master's Offices Goes Wireless, May 27, 2008, December 15, 2018, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, December 15, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181215222514weblink">weblink dead,

Former theatre

(File:GCT Central Cellars 3.jpg|thumb|alt=Crowded room of a wine and liquor store|Central Cellars interior; the theater projection window is at the top left)One of the retail areas of the Graybar Passage, currently occupied by wine-and-liquor store Central Cellars, was formerly the Grand Central Theatre or Terminal Newsreel Theatre.WEB,weblink The Lost Movie Theater of Grand Central Terminal, Young, Michelle, April 24, 2015, Untapped Cities, December 20, 2018, December 20, 2018,weblink live, Opened in 1937 with 25-cent admission, the theater showed short films, cartoons, and newsreels from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Designed by Tony Sarg, it had 242 stadium-style seats and a standing-room section with armchairs. A small bar sat near the entrance.WEB,weblink Did You Know There Used To Be A Movie Theater In Grand Central Terminal?, Carlson, Jen, April 22, 2015, Gothamist, December 20, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150428195629weblink">weblink April 28, 2015, dead, The theater's interior had simple pine walls spaced out to eliminate echos, along with an inglenook, a fireplace, and an illuminated clock for the convenience of travelers. The walls of the lobby, dubbed the "appointment lounge", were covered with world maps; the ceiling had an astronomical mural painted by Sarg. The New York Times reported a cost of $125,000 for the theater's construction, which was attributed to construction of an elevator between the theater and the suburban concourse as well as air conditioning and apparatuses for people hard of hearing.The theater stopped showing newsreels by 1968{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|pp=179–180}} but continued operating until around 1979, when it was gutted for retail space. A renovation in the early 2000s removed a false ceiling, revealing the theater's projection window and its astronomical mural, which proved similar in colors and style to the Main Concourse ceiling.

Dining Concourse

{{multiple image|align=left|total_width=420alt1=A long hallway with track entrances and food vendors|caption1=Dining Concourse food stalls and track entrancesalt2=Train car-like public dining area|caption2=One of several public seating areas}}Access to the lower-level tracks is provided by the Dining Concourse, located below the Main Concourse and connected to it by numerous stairs, ramps, and escalators. For decades, it was called the Suburban Concourse because it handled commuter rail trains. Today, it has central seating and lounge areas, surrounded by restaurants and food vendors. The shared public seating in the concourse was designed resembling Pullman traincars. These areas are frequented by the homeless, and as a result, in the mid-2010s the MTA created two areas with private seating for dining customers.NEWS, Deffenbaugh, Ryan, MTA says homeless, stale décor are cutting into Grand Central food sales,weblink subscription, January 24, 2024, Crain Communications, Crain's New York, July 24, 2019,weblink July 25, 2019, NEWS,weblink MTA Blames Décor, Homeless for Dip in Grand Central Terminal Dining, Berger, Paul, St. John, Alexa, July 24, 2019, The Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2019, July 24, 2019,weblink live, The terminal's late-1990s renovation added stands and restaurants to the concourse, and installed escalators to link it to the main concourse level. The MTA also spent $2.2 million to install two circular terrazzo designs by David Rockwell and Beyer Blinder Belle, each 45 feet in diameter, over the concourse's original terrazzo floor.NEWS, Rohde, David S., David S. Rohde, A Grand Design Takes Shape On the Floor of Grand Central, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink subscription, December 28, 1997, February 2, 2019, May 27, 2015,weblink {{cbignore}} Since 2015, part of the Dining Concourse has been closed for the construction of stairways and escalators to the new LIRR terminal being built as part of East Side Access.WEB,weblink Milestone for East Side Access: Workers to Break Through Lower Level Floor To Build Housing for Escalators and Stairways to Future LIRR Concourse, www.mta.info, February 17, 2016, February 24, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160224155456weblink">weblink dead, A small square-framed clock is installed in the ceiling near Tracks 108 and 109. It was manufactured at an unknown time by the Self Winding Clock Company, which made several others in the terminal. The clock hung inside the gate at Track 19 until 2011, when it was moved so it would not be blocked by lights added during upper-level platform improvements.

Lost-and-found bureau

(File:GCT Police-LaF.jpg|thumb|alt=Doorways into the offices in the terminal|MTA Police and lost-and-found offices)Metro-North's lost-and-found bureau sits near Track 100 at the far east end of the Dining Concourse. Incoming items are sorted according to function and date: for instance, there are separate bins for hats, gloves, belts, and ties.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Parcel Room Lost & Found; Grand Central 'Finds Treasure And Trash Left By Commuters; 'What Was In the Bag?'; False Teeth and Crutches; Systematized Cartons; Commuter Goes Hungry, Wald, Matthew L., April 4, 1978, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 6, 2019,weblink live, The sorting system was computerized in the 1990s. Lost items are kept for up to 90 days before being donated or auctioned off.As early as 1920, the bureau received between 15,000 and 18,000 items a year.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Strange Finds on Trains – More Than 15,000 Articles Turned in Annually at Grand Central, September 19, 1920, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 6, 2019,weblink live, By 2002, the bureau was collecting "3,000 coats and jackets; 2,500 cellphones; 2,000 sets of keys; 1,500 wallets, purses and ID's {{sic|expected=IDs}}; and 1,100 umbrellas" a year. By 2007, it was collecting 20,000 items a year, 60% of which were eventually claimed. In 2013, the bureau reported an 80% return rate, among the highest in the world for a transit agency.Some of the more unusual items collected by the bureau include fake teeth, prosthetic body parts, legal documents, diamond pouches, live animals, and a $100,000 violin. One story has it that a woman purposely left her unfaithful husband's ashes on a Metro-North train before collecting them three weeks later. In 1996, some of the lost-and-found items were displayed at an art exhibition.(File:Grand Central dining map.png|center|thumb|upright=2.75|alt=A diagram of the terminal's dining level rooms|Floor plan of the Dining Level)

Other food service and retail spaces

{{multiple image|align=left|direction=horizontal|total_width=450alt1=Restaurant entrance with a vaulted tile ceilingGrand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant>Oyster Baralt2=Interior of the Campbell Bar|caption2=The Campbell Bar}}Grand Central Terminal contains restaurants such as the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant and various fast food outlets surrounding the Dining Concourse. There are also delis, bakeries, a gourmet and fresh food market, and an annex of the New York Transit Museum.NEWS,weblink More Crowded Crowds: Grand Central to Welcome Apple and Shake Shack, Haughney, Christine, July 25, 2011, The New York Times, July 30, 2011, January 21, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120121195539weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink 7 Things You Should Know About Shake Shack Grand Central, Opening Saturday, Hugh Merwin, October 2, 2013, GrubStreet, October 3, 2014, October 6, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141006174736weblink">weblink live, The 40-plus retail stores include newsstands and chain stores, including a Starbucks coffee shop, a Rite Aid pharmacy, and an Apple Store.PRESS RELEASE, Apple Store Grand Central Opens Friday, December 9, December 7, 2011, Apple,weblink December 19, 2018, November 16, 2018,weblink live, The Oyster Bar, the oldest business in the terminal, sits next to the Dining Concourse and below Vanderbilt Hall.An elegantly restored cocktail lounge, the Campbell, sits just south of the 43rd Street/Vanderbilt Avenue entrance. A mix of commuters and tourists access it from the street or the balcony level. The space was once the office of 1920s tycoon John W. Campbell, who decorated it to resemble the galleried hall of a 13th-century Florentine palace.WEB,weblink Campbell Apartment Bar in New York,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070203134225weblink">weblink February 3, 2007, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central Terminal; In a Forgotten Corner, a Curious Office of the 20's, Gray, Christopher, January 9, 1994, The New York Times, July 4, 2011, Christopher Gray (architectural historian), March 2, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130302161410weblink">weblink live, In 1999, it opened as a bar, the Campbell Apartment; a new owner renovated and renamed it the Campbell in 2017.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Return of the Campbell, an Ornate Grand Central Bar, Simonson, Robert, May 15, 2017, The New York Times, December 7, 2018, December 9, 2018,weblink live,

Vanderbilt Tennis Club and former studios

(File:GCT Tennis.jpg|thumb|alt=Tennis players using the terminal's court|The Vanderbilt Tennis Club's court)From 1939 to 1964, CBS Television occupied a large portion of the terminal building, particularly in a third-floor space above Vanderbilt Hall. The CBS offices, called "The Annex", contained two "program control" facilities (43 and 44); network master control; facilities for local station WCBS-TV; and, after World War II, two {{convert|700,000|ft2|m2|adj=on}} production studios (41 and 42). The total space measured {{cvt|225 x 60 x 40|ft}}.NEWS, Seldes Picked As Television Director, The Knoxville Journal, 20,weblink August 29, 1937, October 18, 2020, October 22, 2020,weblink live, Broadcasts were transmitted from an antenna atop the nearby Chrysler Building installed by order of CBS chief executive William S. Paley, and were also shown on a large screen in the Main Concourse. In 1958, CBS opened the world's first major videotape operations facility in Grand Central. Located in a former rehearsal room on the seventh floor, the facility used 14 Ampex VR-1000 videotape recorders.Douglas Edwards with the News broadcast from Grand Central for several years, covering John Glenn's 1962 Mercury-Atlas 6 space flight and other events. Edward R. Murrow's See It Now originated there, including his famous broadcasts on Senator Joseph McCarthy, which were recreated in George Clooney's movie Good Night, and Good Luck, although the film incorrectly implies that CBS News and corporate offices were in the same building. The long-running panel show What's My Line? was first broadcast from Grand Central, as were The Goldbergs and Mama. CBS eventually moved its operations to the CBS Broadcast Center on 57th Street.In 1966, the vacated studio space was converted into the Vanderbilt Athletic Club, a sports club named for the hall just below.NEWS,weblink A Look at the Hidden Tennis Courts of Grand Central Terminal, Once Leased by Trump, February 9, 2017, Untapped Cities, February 10, 2018, en-US, February 11, 2018,weblink live, Founded by Geza A. Gazdag, an athlete and Olympic coach who fled Hungary amid its 1956 revolution,NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Most Expensive Tennis Club Sheds Status Symbol, Friedman, Charles, January 26, 1978, The New York Times, April 25, 2019, July 2, 2018,weblink live, its two tennis courts were once deemed the most expensive place to play the game—$58 an hour—until financial recessions forced the club to lower the hourly fee to $40. Club amenities included a {{convert|65 x 30|ft|adj=on}} nylon ski slope, a health club facility and sauna, and spaces for golf, fencing, gymnastics, and ballet practice.NEWS, Hungarian Creates Ski Slope in Heart Of New York City, The Post-Crescent,weblink November 8, 2020, October 7, 2020, May 14, 2021,weblink live, NEWS, Now Skiers Train at Grand Central, New York Daily News,weblink January 16, 1967, October 7, 2020, May 14, 2021,weblink live, Gazdag's business was evicted from Grand Central in 1976, amid a lease dispute.WEB,weblink 14 May 1976, 7 - Daily News at Newspapers.com, Newspapers.com, November 6, 2021, November 6, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20211106190419weblink">weblink live, In 1984, the club was purchased by real estate magnate Donald Trump, who discovered it while renovating the terminal's exterior.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Game, Set, Match Above the Roar of the City, Schmidt, Michael S., August 31, 2006, The New York Times, February 12, 2018, February 13, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180213022229weblink">weblink live, In 2009, the MTA planned a new conductor lounge in the space, and terminated Trump's lease that year. It divided the space into three floors, with the lounge on the original third floor. A single tennis court was added on the new fourth floor in 2010, along with two practice alleys on the new fifth floor. Trump found the new space too small to release, and so the current Vanderbilt Tennis Club operates independent of Trump.

Basement spaces

Grand Central Terminal's {{convert|48|acre|ha|adj=on}} basements are among the largest in the city. Basement spaces include M42, which has AC-to-DC converters to power the track's third rails, as well as Carey's Hole, a former retail storage space and present-day employee lounge and dormitory.

Power and heating plants

File:GCT M42 Basement-Rotary-Untapped New York-Michelle Young.jpg|thumb|alt=A large piece of electrical equipment in the terminal basement|Rotary converter relics in the M42 basement ]]Grand Central Terminal contains an underground sub-basement known as M42. Its electrical substation is divided into substation 1T, which provides {{Convert|16,500|kW|}} for third-rail power, and substation 1L, which provides {{Convert|8000|kW|}} for other lighting and power. The substation—the world's largest at the time—was built about {{Convert|100|ft|m}} under the Graybar Building at a cost of $3 million, and opened February 16, 1930.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Huge Power Plant 100 Feet Under City – Biggest Substation in World Moved Into Bedrock Under Grand Central Terminal – Service Never Cut Off – $3,000,000 System Ran Trains While Being Moved to Make Way for New Waldorf, February 16, 1930, The New York Times, December 26, 2018, December 27, 2018,weblink live, It occupies a four-story space with an area of {{Convert|250|by|50|ft|m}}.

Carey's Hole

(File:Carey's Hole.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Diagram showing rooms and track in the terminal|1913 map showing the space beneath Carey's barbershop)Another part of the basement is known as Carey's Hole. The two-story section is directly beneath the Shuttle Passage and adjacent spaces. In 1913, when the terminal opened, J. P. Carey opened a barbershop adjacent to and one level below the terminal's waiting room (now Vanderbilt Hall). Carey's business expanded to include a laundry service, shoe store, and haberdashery. In 1921, Carey also ran a limousine service using Packard cars, and in the 1930s, he added regular car and bus service to the city's airports as they opened. Carey would store his merchandise in an unfinished, underground area of the terminal, which railroad employees and maintenance staff began calling "Carey's Hole". The name has remained even as the space has been used for different purposes, including currently as a lounge and dormitory for railroad employees.WEB, General Engineering Consulting Feasibility Study for Redevelopment of Carey's Hole: Section 1: History of Carey's Hole, Beyer Blinder Belle,weblink November 29, 2010, January 20, 2018, April 22, 2020,weblink live,

Platforms and tracks

{{multiple image| align = left| total_width = 320| direction = vertical}} 1909 layout of the upper-level mainline tracks (top) and lower-level suburban tracks (bottom), showing balloon loops alt1 = A diagram of the upper-level tracks and streets above alt2 = A diagram of the lower-level tracks and streets above}}The terminal holds the Guinness World Record for having the most platforms of any railroad station:WEB,weblink Largest railway station (no. of platforms), Guinness World Records, December 11, 2018, March 4, 2021,weblink live, 28, which support 44 platform numbers. All are island platforms except one side platform.WEB,weblink Grand Central Terminal, nyctourist.com, March 3, 2015, February 25, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150225180856weblink">weblink dead, Odd-numbered tracks are usually on the east side of the platform; even-numbered tracks on the west side. {{As of|2016}}, there are 67 tracks, of which 43 are in regular passenger use, serving Metro-North.WEB,weblink Unknown Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York, Interesting America, March 3, 2015, August 1, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200801063327weblink">weblink dead, At its opening, the train shed contained 123 tracks, including duplicate track numbers and storage tracks, with a combined length of {{Convert|19.5|mi|km|abbr=}}.The tracks slope down as they exit the station to the north, to help departing trains accelerate and arriving ones slow down. Because of the size of the rail yards, Park Avenue and its side streets from 43rd to 59th Streets are raised on viaducts, and the surrounding blocks were covered over by various buildings.{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=63}}At its busiest, the terminal is served by an arriving train every 58 seconds.{{clear left}}

Track distribution

{{GCT track map}}The upper Metro-North level has 42 numbered tracks. Twenty-nine serve passenger platforms; these are numbered 11 to 42, east to west. Tracks 12, 22, and 31 do not exist, and appear to have been removed.WEB, Metro-North Railroad Track Charts, Maintenance Program, Interlocking Diagrams, & Yard Diagrams, Metro-North Railroad, 84,weblink 2015, May 12, 2019, November 8, 2020,weblink live, To the east of the upper platforms sits the East Yard: ten storage tracks numbered 1 through 10 from east to west. A balloon loop runs from Tracks 38–42 on the far west side of the station, around the other tracks, and back to storage Tracks 1–3 at the far east side of the station; this allows trains to turn around more easily.AV MEDIA,weblink Grand Central Terminal, Upper Level, 2004, Peter R., Samson, March 3, 2015, April 17, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210417084350weblink">weblink live, North of the East Yard is the Lex Yard, a secondary storage yard under the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The yard formerly served the power plant for Grand Central Terminal. Its twelve tracks are numbered 51 through 65 from east to west (track numbers 57, 58, and 62 do not exist). Two private loading platforms, which cannot be used for passenger service, sit between tracks 53 and 54 and between tracks 61 and 63. Track 61 is known for being a private track for United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt; part of the original design of the Waldorf Astoria,{{harvnb|ps=.|Belle|Leighton|2000|p=67}} it was mentioned in The New York Times in 1929 and first used in 1938 by John J. Pershing, a top U.S. general during World War I.WEB,weblink Grand Central Terminal, Waldorf-Astoria platform, November 18, 2009, November 6, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20201106232528weblink">weblink live, Roosevelt would travel into the city using his personal train, pull into Track 61, and take a specially designed elevator to the surface.NEWS,weblink The secret below Grand Central Station, January 16, 2009, January 17, 2009, BBC News, August 13, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210813054154weblink">weblink live, It has been used occasionally since Roosevelt's death.WEB,weblink Grand Central Terminal, Waldorf-Astoria platform, Joseph Brennan, 2002, May 2, 2014, November 6, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20201106232528weblink">weblink live, MAGAZINE,weblink Is the Secret Subway in the New Spider-Man Real? Explained., Forrest Wickman, May 1, 2014, Slate, May 7, 2015, February 16, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200216121850weblink">weblink live, The upper level also contains 22 more storage sidings.File:GCT FDR Train Car-Untapped New York-Michelle Young.jpg|thumb|alt=An old windowless baggage car with rusting blue paint|Baggage car mistakenly identified as Franklin D. Roosevelt's personal car, on display at the Danbury Railway MuseumDanbury Railway MuseumTrack 63 held MNCW #002, a baggage car, for about 20 to 30 years. The railcar's location near Roosevelt's Track 61 led former tour guide Dan Brucker and others to falsely claim that this was the president's personal train car used for transporting his limousine. The baggage car was moved to the Danbury Railway Museum in 2019.WEB, December 12, 2019, Secret "FDR Train Car" No Longer Beneath Grand Central (And Was Never His!),weblink September 19, 2020, Untapped New York, en-US, October 30, 2020,weblink live, WEB, The "FDR Car" Track 61 Myth,weblink October 1, 2020, NYC URBANISM, September 27, 2019, en-US, May 14, 2021,weblink live, The lower Metro-North level has 27 tracks numbered 100 to 126, east to west.AV MEDIA,weblink Grand Central Terminal, Lower Level, 2004, Peter R., Samson, March 3, 2015, December 7, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161207004341weblink">weblink live, Two were originally intended for mail trains and two were for baggage handling. Today, only Tracks 102–112 and 114–115 are used for passenger service. The lower-level balloon loop, whose curve was much sharper than that of the upper-level loop and could only handle electric multiple units used on commuter lines was removed at an unknown date. Tracks 116–125 were demolished to make room for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) concourse constructed underneath the Metro-North station as part of the East Side Access project.BOOK,weblink Chapter 1: Purpose and Need, Environmental Impact Statement, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2006, December 12, 2019, PDF p. 3, March 4, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160304001445weblink">weblink live, The upper and lower levels have different track layouts and, as such, are supported by different sets of columns. The upper level is supported by ultra-strong columns, some of which can carry over {{Convert|7|e6ftlbf|J|lk=on}}.{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=77–78}}The LIRR terminal constructed as part of East Side Access has four platforms and eight tracks numbered 201–204 and 301–304 in two {{Convert|100|ft|m|-deep|adj=mid}} double-decked caverns below the Metro-North station.WEB,weblink MTA OK's contract for East Side Access, TimesLedger, February 10, 2016, February 17, 2016, February 14, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160214030830weblink">weblink live, It has four tracks and two platforms in each of the two caverns, with each cavern containing two tracks and an island platform on each level. A mezzanine is located on a center level between the LIRR's two track levels.NEWS,weblink Massive East Side Access Project Rolling On Under Grand Central, Dobnik, Verena, November 4, 2015, January 19, 2016, WNBC, NBC New York, December 1, 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink East Side Access transforming the LIRR, August 21, 2018, Herald Community Newspapers, September 23, 2018, August 13, 2021,weblink live,

Office spaces and control center

Upper floors of the terminal primarily hold MTA offices. These spaces and most others in the terminal are not open to the public, requiring key cards to access.NEWS, Ekstein, Nikki, The Untold Secrets of Grand Central Terminal, Bloomberg,weblink February 23, 2017, February 14, 2023, March 6, 2021,weblink live, The fifth floor holds the office of the terminal's director, overlooking the Main Concourse.NEWS,weblink Take a Look Inside Grand Central Terminal Where Most People Never Get to Go, Tkaczyk, Christopher, December 20, 2016, Travel and Leisure, December 21, 2018, December 20, 2018,weblink live, The seventh floor contains Metro-North's situation room (a board room for police and terminal directors to handle emergencies), as well as the offices of the Fleet Department.Grand Central Terminal has an Operations Control Center on its sixth floor, where controllers monitor the track interlockings with computers. Completed in 1993,{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=147}} the center is operated by a crew of about 24 people.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink The Zoo That Is Grand Central, at Full Gallop, Grynbaum, Michael M., November 25, 2009, The New York Times, January 6, 2019, January 7, 2019,weblink live, The terminal was originally built with five signal control centers, labeled A, B, C, F, and U, that collectively controlled all of the track interlockings around the terminal. The interlockings used to be of electro-mechanical type, supplied by General Railway Signal (GRS). Each switch was electrically controlled by a lever in one of the signal towers, where lights illuminated on track maps to show which switches were in use. As trains passed a given tower, the signal controllers reported the train's engine and timetable numbers, direction, track number, and the exact time.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Taming of the Iron Horse, September 10, 1939, The New York Times, January 6, 2019, January 7, 2019,weblink live, In 1993, the original interlockings machines were replaced with 17 GRS VPI microprocessors.WEB, A Centennial History of Signaling Inc. Formerly General Railway Signal Company),weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111002122301weblink">weblink 2011-10-02, dead,weblink 2024-04-09, Alstom, 19, Tower U controlled the interlocking between 48th and 58th streets; Tower C, the storage spurs; and Tower F, the turning loops. A four-story underground tower at 49th Street housed the largest of the signal towers: Tower A, which handled the upper-level interlockings via 400 levers, and Tower B, which handled the lower-level interlockings with 362 levers.{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|pp=140, 143}} The towers housed offices for the stationmaster, yardmaster, car-maintenance crew, electrical crew, and track-maintenance crew. There were also break rooms for conductors, train engineers, and engine men. After Tower B was destroyed in a fire in 1986, the signal towers were consolidated into the modern control center.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central Blaze Damage to Mean Delays Till Weekend, Boorstin, Robert O., September 23, 1986, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 6, 2019,weblink live,

Hospital

(File:Grand Central hospital.jpg|thumb|alt=Old photograph of a hospital room with medical equipment|Hospital room in the terminal, 1915)During the terminal's construction, an "accident room" was set up to treat worker injuries in a wrecking car in the terminal's rail yard. Later on, a small hospital was established in the temporary station building on Lexington Avenue to care for injured workers. The arrangement was satisfactory, leading to the creation of a permanent hospital, the Grand Central Emergency Hospital, in Grand Central Terminal in 1911. The hospital was used for every employee injury as well as for passengers. In 1915, it had two physicians who treated a monthly average of 125 new cases per month and 450 dressings.MAGAZINE, Developments at the Grand Central Terminal in New York, Railway Review, 57, 8, 231,weblink August 21, 1915, February 9, 2019, January 24, 2024,weblink live, The space had four rooms: Room A (the waiting room), Room B (the operating room), Room C (a private office), and Room D (for resting patients).MAGAZINE, Grand Central Emergency Hospital, Railroad Men, 25, 9, 268–9,weblink June 1912, February 9, 2019, January 24, 2024,weblink live, The hospital was open at least until 1963; a Journal News article that year noted that the hospital treated minor to moderate ailments and was open every day between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.NEWS, The Journal News,weblink Grand Central Terminal Builds Legend During its 50 Years, November 13, 1963, February 9, 2019, 21, newspapers.com, January 24, 2024,weblink live,

Libraries

Located on an upper floor above the Apple Store, the Williamson Library is a meeting space and research center for the New York Railroad Enthusiasts. Upon its founding in 1937, the association was granted use of the space in perpetuity by Frederick Ely Williamson, once president of the New York Central Railroad as well as a rail enthusiast and member of the association. Today, it contains about 3,000 books, newspapers, films, photographs, and other documents about railroads, along with artifacts, including part of a 20th Century Limited red carpet. The library is only accessible through secure areas, making it little known to the public and not included in tours of the terminal's hidden attributes. The association holds monthly meetings in the space, open to new visitors for free, and allows research visits by appointment.WEB, Meeting Information, The New York Railroad Enthusiasts,weblink January 29, 2020, January 30, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200130004829weblink">weblink live, Another library, the Frank Julian Sprague Memorial Library of the Electric Railroaders Association, existed on the terminal's fourth floor from 1979 to 2014. The library had about 500,000 publications and slides, focusing on electric rail and trolley lines. A large amount of these works were donated to the New York Transit Museum in 2013,WEB, Friends of the New York Transit Museum 2013 Annual Report, New York Transit Museum,weblink 2013, January 29, 2020, January 24, 2024,weblink live, or placed in storage. The now-8,000-volume library was relocated to the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Connecticut in 2014, where it could operate with more staff attention and public access.WEB, Meeting Notice, Electric Railroaders' Association,weblink January 17, 2014, February 24, 2023, May 11, 2023,weblink live,

Architecture

{{see also|Grand Central Terminal art}}File:Glory of Commerce Highsmith.jpg|thumb|alt=A large clock and stone sculptural group adorning the building's facade|Glory of Commerce, a sculptural group by Jules-Félix CoutanJules-Félix Coutan(File:GCT Aerial-Untapped New York-Michelle Young.jpg|thumb|alt=View down from above the terminal|View of the station house looking northwest; the Main Concourse roof is visible in the building's center)Grand Central Terminal was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Reed and Stem, which handled the overall design of the terminal, and Warren and Wetmore, which mainly made cosmetic alterations to the exterior and interior.{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=118–120}} Various elements inside the terminal were designed by French architects and artists Jules-Félix Coutan, Sylvain Salières, and Paul César Helleu. Grand Central has monumental spaces as well as meticulously crafted detail, especially on its facade,NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink At Trade Center Transit Hub, Vision Gives Way to Reality, Dunlap, David W., March 5, 2014, The New York Times, December 21, 2018, November 7, 2018,weblink live, which is based on an overall exterior design by Whitney Warren.The terminal is widely recognized and favorably viewed by the American public. In America's Favorite Architecture, a 2006-07 public survey by the American Institute of Architects, respondents ranked it their 13th-favorite work of architecture in the country, and their fourth-favorite in the city and state after the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.MAGAZINE, Agnese, Braulio, The People's Architecture, Architect Magazine, Architect,weblink March 12, 2007, June 27, 2019, June 27, 2019,weblink live, In 2012, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated it a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark;WEB, Grand Central Terminal, American Society of Civil Engineers,weblink July 1, 2023, March 14, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200314081609weblink">weblink live, one year later, historian David Cannadine described it as one of the most majestic buildings of the twentieth century.NEWS,weblink A Point of View: Grand Central, the world's loveliest station, Cannadine, David, February 8, 2013, February 8, 2013, BBC News, February 10, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130210121224weblink">weblink live, As proposed in 1904, Grand Central Terminal was bounded by Vanderbilt Avenue to the west, Lexington Avenue to the east, 42nd Street to the south, and 45th Street to the north. It included a post office on its east side. The east side of the station house proper is an alley called Depew Place, which was built along with the Grand Central Depot annex in the 1880s and mostly decommissioned in the 1900s when the new terminal was built.BOOK,weblink The New York Supplement, National Reporter System, New York (State). Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, New York (State). Supreme Court, West Publishing Company, 1907, 2 years transportation progress, 747, December 6, 2018, January 24, 2024,weblink live, {{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=98}}As first built, the station house measured about {{Convert|722|ft|m}} along Vanderbilt Avenue (120 feet longer than originally planned) and {{Convert|300|ft|m}} on 42nd Street. Floors above the first story are set back about 50 feet, making the rest of the station house originally measure 290 by 670 feet. The station is about {{Convert|125|ft|m}} tall.JOURNAL, Grand Central Terminal-New York: A Modern Type of Electrical Railway, The Construction News, 36, 6,weblink August 9, 1913, November 7, 2022, {{rp|10}}

Structure and materials

The station and its rail yard have steel frames. The building also uses large steel columns designed to hold the weight of a 20-story office building, which was to be built when additional room was required.{{harvnb|ps=.|New York Central|1912|p=8}}The facade and structure of the terminal building primarily use granite. Because granite emits radiation,WEB,weblink Nuclear Radiation and Health Effects, December 2013, World Nuclear Association, September 10, 2017, September 6, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170906102948weblink">weblink live, people who work full-time in the station receive an average dose of 525 mrem/year, more than permitted in nuclear power facilities.WEB,weblink Radiation in the Environment, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, August 1998, US Army Corps of Engineers, September 10, 2017, May 9, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160509194124weblink">weblink live, BOOK,weblink Radiation: What It Is, What You Need to Know, Gale, Robert Peter, Lax, Eric, 2013, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 190, September 10, 2017, 9780307959706, The base of the exterior is Stony Creek granite, while the upper portion is of Indiana limestone, from Bedford, Indiana.The interiors use several varieties of stone, including imitation Caen stone for the Main Concourse; cream-colored Botticino marble for the interior decorations; and pink Tennessee marble for the floors of the Main Concourse, Biltmore Room, and Vanderbilt Hall, as well as the two staircases in the Main Concourse. Real Caen stone was judged too expensive, so the builders mixed plaster, sand, lime, and Portland cement. Most of the remaining masonry is made from concrete. Guastavino tiling, a fireproof tile-and-cement vault pattern patented by Rafael Guastavino, is used in various spaces.

Facade

{{for|further information about art on the facade|Grand Central Terminal art#Facade}}(File:GCT exterior.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|alt=The south facade of Grand Central Terminal, as seen from 42nd Street|The south facade features a set of three arched windows, with the Glory of Commerce sculpture at the top-center and the Vanderbilt statue at the bottom-center.)The terminal's main facade is situated on the building's southern side, facing 42nd Street. It includes a low first story supporting the main portion of the facade,BOOK, Reed, Henry Hope, The Golden City: An Argument for Classical Architecture, W. W. Norton, 18,weblink 1971, June 25, 2023, 9780393005479, which was key to the architects' vision of the building as a gateway to the city. Its trio of 60-by-30-foot arched windows are interspersed with ten fluted Doric columnsBOOK, The architectural guidebook to New York City, Morrone, Francis, 152, Gibbs Smith, registration, 2002, 9781586852115,weblink November 8, 2022, {{rp|11}} that are partially attached to the granite walls behind them, though they are detached from one another. Each window bay is separated by a double pair of these columns, which are in turn separated by a smaller bay with narrow windows. The set of windows resembles an ancient Roman triumphal arch,{{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|page=6}} while the column placement is reminiscent of the Louvre Colonnade.BOOK, Gromort, Georges, The Elements of Classical Architecture, W. W. Norton & Company, 220,weblink 2001, 9780393730517, June 26, 2023, The facade was also designed to complement that of the New York Public Library Main Branch, another Beaux-Arts edifice on nearby Fifth Avenue.The facade includes several large works of art. At the top of the south facade is an elaborate entablature featuring a {{convert|13|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} clockNEWS,weblink Secrets of NYC's Grand Central Terminal: Outdoor Tiffany Clock Up Close, Swidler, Kim Stuart, August 29, 2012, December 3, 2018, Times Union, October 26, 2018,weblink dead, set in the middle of a round broken pediment, flanked by overflowing cornucopias.WEB, Transportation, (sculpture)., Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum,weblink June 25, 2023, June 25, 2023,weblink live, Above the clock is the Glory of Commerce sculptural group, a {{convert|48|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} work by Jules-Félix Coutan, which includes representations of Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury. At its unveiling in 1914, the work was considered the largest sculptural group in the world. Below these works, facing the Park Avenue Viaduct, is an 1869 statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, longtime owner of New York Central. Sculpted by Ernst Plassmann,BOOK,weblink Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, Durante, Dianne L., 2007, NYU Press, December 19, 2018, 9780814719862, February 17, 2023,weblink live, the {{convert|8.5|ft||abbr=|adj=on}} bronze is the last remnantNEWS, 0362-4331,weblink The Curious Travels of the Commodore, Gray, Christopher, March 19, 2006, The New York Times, January 22, 2019, April 22, 2020,weblink live, of a 150-foot bronze relief installed at the Hudson River Railroad depot at St. John's Park; it was moved to Grand Central Terminal in 1929.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central Terminal to Have Vanderbilt Statue, February 24, 1929, The New York Times, December 15, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live,

Interior

Main Concourse

The Main Concourse, on the terminal's upper platform level, is located in the geographical center of the station building. The cavernous concourse measures {{convert|275|ft|m|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|120|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide by {{convert|125|ft|m|abbr=on}} high;{{Solomon-New York Central}}{{rp|74}} a total of about {{convert|35000|sqft}}. Its vastness was meant to evoke the terminal's "grand" status.

Iconography

(File:GCT Main Concourse 3.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Decorative sculptured panel in the terminal's Main Concourse wall|Frieze displaying the terminal's original logo)Many parts of the terminal are adorned with sculpted oak leaves and acorns, nuts of the oak tree. Cornelius Vanderbilt chose the acorn as the symbol of the Vanderbilt family, and adopted the saying "Great oaks from little acorns grow" as the family motto. Among these decorations is a brass acorn finial atop the four-sided clock in the center of the Main Concourse. Other acorn or oak leaf decorations include carved wreaths under the Main Concourse's west stairs; sculptures above the lunettes in the Main Concourse; metalwork above the elevators; reliefs above the train gates; and the electric chandeliers in the Main Waiting Room and Main Concourse. These decorations were designed by Salières.The overlapping letters "G", "C", and "T" are sculpted into multiple places in the terminal, including in friezes atop several windows above the terminal's ticket office. The symbol was designed with the "T" resembling an upside-down anchor, intended as a reference to Cornelius Vanderbilt's commercial beginnings in shipping and ferry businesses.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink What Happened to the Big Armchairs in Grand Central Terminal?, Pollak, Michael, February 13, 2015, The New York Times, December 26, 2018, December 27, 2018,weblink live, In 2017, the MTA based its new logo for the terminal on the engraved design; MTA officials said its black and gold colors have long been associated with the terminal. The spur of the letter "G" has a depiction of a railroad spike.WEB,weblink Iconic Grand Central Terminal Unveils New Iconic Mark, September 28, 2017, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, December 15, 2018, December 16, 2018,weblink live, The 2017 logo succeeded one created by the firm Pentagram for the terminal's centennial in 2013. It depicted the Main Concourse's ball clock set to 7:13, or 19:13 using a 24-hour clock, referencing the terminal's completion in 1913. Both logos omit the word "terminal" in its name, in recognition to how most people refer to the building.WEB, New Work: Grand Central, Pentagram (design firm), Pentagram,weblinkweblink February 23, 2015, March 20, 2012, February 12, 2019,

Influence

Some of the buildings most closely modeled on Grand Central's design were designed by its two architecture firms. Warren and Wetmore went on to design many notable train stations, including the Poughkeepsie station in Poughkeepsie, New York;BOOK, Howe, Patricia, Katherine Moore, National Register of Historic Places nomination, Poughkeepsie Railroad station, February 25, 1976, BOOK, Flad, Harvey K., Griffen, Clyde, Main Street to Mainframes, State University of New York Press, Albany, 70,weblink 2009, February 14, 2019, 9781438426365, January 24, 2024,weblink live, Union Station in Winnipeg, Manitoba; the Yonkers station in Yonkers, New York; Union Station in Houston; and Michigan Central Station in Detroit (also co-designed by Reed & Stem).WEB, Madison Belmont Building, Landmarks Preservation Commission, 4,weblink September 20, 2011, February 15, 2023, February 16, 2023,weblink live, Reed & Stem's successor firm Stem & Fellheimer designed Union Station in Utica, New York, which also has resemblances to Grand Central Terminal.NEWS, Chan, Sewell, On the Road: A Gem of the Railroad Era, The New York Times,weblink January 1, 2010, February 15, 2023, February 15, 2023,weblink live,

Related structures

Park Avenue Viaduct

(File:The New York Grand Central Terminal.jpg|thumb|alt=Elevated view of the terminal from the south, showing Park Avenue wrapping around it|The viaduct as it approaches and wraps around Grand Central, 1944)The Park Avenue Viaduct is an elevated road that carries Park Avenue around the terminal building and the MetLife Building and through the Helmsley Building—three buildings that lie across the line of the avenue. The viaduct rises from street level on 40th Street south of Grand Central, splits into eastern (northbound) and western (southbound) legs above the terminal building's main entrance, and continues north around the station building, directly above portions of its main level. The legs of the viaduct pass around the MetLife Building, into the Helmsley Building, and return to street level at 46th Street.WEB, March 31, 1987, Helmsley Building,weblink New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 19, June 8, 2020, October 3, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20211003115031weblink">weblink live, The viaduct was built to facilitate traffic along 42nd Street and along Park Avenue, which at the time was New York City's only discontinuous major north–south avenue. When the western leg of the viaduct was completed in 1919,NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Link Up Park Av. to Ease Congestion, April 17, 1919, The New York Times, December 7, 2018, August 18, 2020,weblink live, it served both directions of traffic, and also served as a second level for picking up and dropping off passengers. After an eastern leg for northbound traffic was added in 1928, the western leg was used for southbound traffic only. A sidewalk, accessible from the Grand Hyatt hotel, runs along the section of the viaduct that is parallel to 42nd Street.BOOK,weblink Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, Durante, Dianne L., 2007, NYU Press, February 1, 2019, 9780814719862, February 17, 2023,weblink live,

Post office and baggage buildings

File:Grand Central Post Office 1988.jpg|thumb|alt=Exterior of the Beaux-Arts post office building resembling Grand Central|Grand Central Post Office Annex in 1988]]Grand Central Terminal has a post office at 450 Lexington Avenue. Built from 1906 to 1909, it was topped with a high-rise tower in 1992.NEWS, Garbarine, Rachelle, Not Bargain, But Building Is Renting, The New York Times,weblink December 2, 1992, September 18, 2020, 0362-4331, May 14, 2021,weblink live, The original architecture matches that of the terminal, which was designed by the same architects. In 1915, postal operations expanded into a second building, also built by Warren & Wetmore, directly north of the original structure.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Electric Marvels in New Post Office – Belts, Lifts, and Chutes Do All but the Thinking in Building That Opens Today – Covers N.Y. Central Yard – Built to Handle 800,000 Pounds of Mail a Day - Room for 33 Cars of Sacks at Once, August 15, 1915, The New York Times, December 28, 2018, December 28, 2018,weblink live, This second building, erected as the Railroad Mail Service Building and today known as 237 Park Avenue, has been extensively renovated.NEWS, Horsley, Carter B., August 19, 1981, Real Estate; An Atrium For Public In Midtown, en-US, The New York Times,weblink September 19, 2020, 0362-4331, April 3, 2022,weblink live, Grand Central's post office buildings were designed to handle massive volumes of mail, though they were not as large as the James A. Farley Building, the post office that was built with the original Penn Station.{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=181}}The terminal complex also originally included a six-story building for baggage handling just north of the main station building. Departing passengers unloaded their luggage from taxis or personal vehicles on the Park Avenue Viaduct, and elevators brought it to the baggage passageways (now part of Grand Central North), where trucks brought the luggage to the platforms. The process was reversed for arriving passengers. Biltmore Hotel guests arriving at Grand Central could get baggage delivered to their rooms. The baggage building was later converted to an office building, and was demolished in 1961{{harvnb|ps=.|Belle|Leighton|2000|p=6}}NEWS, Grand Old Central Sprouts a Skyscraper, Lee, Henry, October 16, 1960, New York Daily News, 52, 53, newspapers.com, to make way for the MetLife Building.

Subway station

(File:Shuttle Passage.jpg|thumb|left|alt=People standing around Grand Central's Shuttle Passage|View of the Shuttle Passage facing the subway station entrance; the ramp at right leads to street level)The terminal's subway station, Grand Central–42nd Street, serves three lines: the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (serving the {{NYCS trains|Lexington}}), the IRT Flushing Line (serving the {{NYCS trains|Flushing}}), and the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle to Times Square. Originally built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the lines are operated by the MTA as part of the New York City Subway.The Main Concourse is connected to the subway platforms' mezzanine via the Shuttle Passage. The platforms can also be reached from the 42nd Street Passage via stairs, escalators, and an elevator to the fare control area for the Lexington Avenue and Flushing Lines.The 42nd Street Shuttle platforms, located just below ground level, opened in 1904 as an express stop on the original IRT subway. The Lexington Avenue Line's platforms, which were opened in 1918 when the original IRT subway platforms were converted to shuttle use,WEB,weblink Shuttle Service In Operation, September 27, 1918, pudl.princeton.edu, Interborough Rapid Transit Company, September 19, 2016, September 24, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160924061609weblink">weblink live, run underneath the southeastern corner of the station building at a 45-degree angle, to the east of and at a lower level than the shuttle platforms.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Lexington Av. Line To Be Opened Today; Subway Service to East Side of Harlem and the Bronx Expected to Relieve Congestion. Begins With Local Trains Running of Express Trains to Await Opening of Seventh AvenueLine of H System., July 17, 1918, The New York Times, April 14, 2018, October 20, 2019,weblink live, The Flushing Line platform opened in 1915; it is deeper than the Lexington Avenue Line's platforms because it is part of the Steinway Tunnel, a former streetcar tunnel that descends under the East River to the east of Grand Central. There was also a fourth line connected to Grand Central Terminal: a spur of the IRT Third Avenue elevated, which stopped at Grand Central starting in 1878;NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Rapid Transit on the Bowery – Opening of the East Side Elevated Railroad To-Day – Time-Table and Fares, August 26, 1878, The New York Times, December 28, 2018, December 29, 2018,weblink live, it was made obsolete by the subway's opening, and closed in 1923.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink 42d St. Elevated Stops – Service on Spur to Grand Central Discontinued Last Midnight, December 7, 1923, The New York Times, December 28, 2018, March 2, 2020,weblink live, During the terminal's construction, there were proposals to allow commuter trains to pass through Grand Central and continue into the subway tracks. However, these plans were deemed impractical because commuter trains would have been too large to fit within the subway tunnels.

History

{{For timeline}}Three buildings serving essentially the same function have stood on the current Grand Central Terminal's site.

Predecessors

(File:Grand Central Depot (NYPL b13476047-421000).jpg|thumb|alt=An ornate railroad terminal|Grand Central Depot)Grand Central Terminal arose from a need to build a central station for the Hudson River Railroad, the New York and Harlem Railroad, and the New York and New Haven Railroad in modern-day Midtown Manhattan.{{harvnb|ps=.|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=2}} The Harlem Railroad originally ran as a steam railroad on street level along Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue), while the New Haven Railroad ran along the Harlem's tracks in Manhattan per a trackage agreement. The business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the Hudson River and New York Central Railroads in 1867, and merged them two years later.BOOK, Mid-Harlem Line Third Track Project, Section 4(f) Report: Environmental Impact Statement, US Department of Transportation and Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, v. 1, 8.5,weblink 2000, December 6, 2018, January 24, 2024,weblink live, Vanderbilt developed a proposal to unite the three separate railroads at a single central station, replacing the separate and adjacent stations that created chaos in baggage transfer.Vanderbilt commissioned John B. Snook to design his new station, dubbed Grand Central Depot, on the site of the 42nd Street depot.AIA5, 313, {{harvnb|ps=.|Belle|Leighton|2000|p=34}} Construction ran from September 1, 1869, to October 1871. Designed in the Second Empire style, the station was considered the country's first to measure up to those in Europe.BOOK, Meeks, Carroll L. V.,weblink The Railroad Station: An Architectural History, 1956, Yale University Press, 49, registration, (File:Grand Central Station, New York c. 1902.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Postcard of Grand Central Station, c. 1902|Grand Central Station, {{circa|1902}})Expansions in 1895 and 1900—the latter coinciding with a renaming to Grand Central Station—could not keep up with the growth in passenger traffic,{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=87}} nor could they alleviate the problems of smoke and soot produced by steam locomotives in the Park Avenue Tunnel, the only approach to the station. After a deadly 1902 crash in the smoky tunnel,WEB,weblink WGBH American Experience . Grand Central, PBS, January 8, 1902, November 8, 2015, October 23, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151023113600weblink">weblink live, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Fifteen Killed in Rear End Collision; Trains Crash in Darkness of Park Avenue Tunnel, January 9, 1902, The New York Times, December 10, 2018, December 10, 2018,weblink live, the New York state legislature enacted a ban on steam trains in Manhattan, to begin in 1908. William J. Wilgus, the New York Central's vice president, proposed to tear down Grand Central Station and build a new, larger station with two levels of tracks, all electrified and underground. The railroad's board of directors approved the $35 million project in June 1903.

Replacement

(File:Grand Central plan, 1905.jpg|thumb|alt=Sketch of a large Beaux-Arts building|Proposal of the associated architects of Grand Central during its construction, 1905)The new Grand Central Terminal was to be the biggest terminal in the world, both in the size of the building and in the number of tracks.{{Refn|The projects included:{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=64–65}}

1. excavation of Grand Central Yard
2. construction of Grand Central's station building
3. electrification of the Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven divisions
4. lowering the Port Morris Branch tracks in the Bronx
5. building tunnels along the Hudson Division around the Harlem River Ship Canal in Marble Hill, Manhattan (ultimately never built, as the Harlem River Ship Canal was relocated)
6. eliminating grade crossings
7. adding tracks on the Harlem and New Haven divisions|group=N}} It was meant to compete with Pennsylvania Station, a majestic electric-train hub being built on Manhattan's west side for arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad by McKim, Mead & White.WEB,weblink The Rise and Fall of Penn Station – American Experience, McLowery, Randall, February 18, 2014, PBS, December 10, 2018, May 5, 2021,weblink live, New York Central picked the firm of Reed and Stem to handle the overall design of the station, and Warren and Wetmore for the station's Beaux-Arts exterior.

(File:Grand Central construction.jpg|thumb|alt=A large excavated area beside the station while under construction|Terminal and baggage building construction {{circa|1912}})Construction on Grand Central Terminal started on June 19, 1903. and proceded in phases to prevent railroad service from being interrupted.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Constructing A Great Modern Railway Terminal – One of the Most Puzzling of Modem Engineering Problems Is Involved in the Building, Without Interruption to Traffic, of New York's Grand Central Station, August 16, 1908, The New York Times, December 13, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live, About {{convert|3.2|e6yd3|m3}} of the ground were excavated at depths of up to 10 floors, with {{convert|1,000|yd3|m3}} of debris being removed from the site daily. Over 10,000 workers were assigned to the project.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink The New Terminal of the "Grand Central", September 12, 1909, The New York Times, December 14, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live, The total cost of improvements, including electrification and the development of Park Avenue, was estimated at $180 million in 1910. The segments of all three lines running into Grand Central had been electrified by 1907. The last train left Grand Central Station at midnight on June 5, 1910, and the new terminal opened on February 2, 1913.MAGAZINE, Railway Age, 78, Grand Central Terminal opens, September 2006, 0033-8826,

Heyday

The terminal spurred development in the surrounding area, particularly in Terminal City, a commercial and office district created above where the tracks were covered. The development of Terminal City also included the construction of the Park Avenue Viaduct, surrounding the station, in the 1920s.{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=172}}NEWS, Link Up Park Av. to Ease Congestion, 0362-4331,weblink The New York Times, April 17, 1919, December 7, 2018, August 18, 2020,weblink live, NEWS,weblink New Viaduct Thoroughfare Relieves Park Avenue Traffic Congestion; Result of Many Years' Work, September 2, 1928, The New York Times, Real Estate, Page 123, December 7, 2018, April 24, 2022,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20220424164515weblink">weblink live, The new electric service led to increased development in New York City's suburbs, and passenger traffic on the commuter lines into Grand Central more than doubled in the seven years following the terminal's completion.{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=188}} Passenger traffic grew so rapidly that by 1918, New York Central proposed expanding Grand Central Terminal.NEWS,weblink N.Y. Central Plans Broad Expansion, May 24, 1918, Buffalo Commercial, December 19, 2018, 9, newspapers.com, January 24, 2024,weblink live, In 1923, the Grand Central Art Galleries opened in the terminal. A year after it opened, the galleries established the Grand Central School of Art, which occupied {{convert|7000|sqft|m2}} on the seventh floor of the east wing of the terminal.NEWS, New Art School Opens: Reception Held in Studios Over the Grand Central, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink October 2, 1924, 27, March 3, 2010, July 3, 2018,weblink live, NEWS, Terminal Fire Not in Art School, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink September 6, 1929, 9, March 3, 2010, March 17, 2018,weblink live, The Grand Central School of Art remained in the east wing until 1944,NEWS, New Art School Opens: Reception Held in Studios Over the Grand Central, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink October 2, 1924, July 30, 2011, July 3, 2018,weblink live, and it moved to the Biltmore Hotel in 1958.NEWS, Galleries to End 36 Years in Depot; Grand Central Art Group to Move to Biltmore Hotel in March – Fete Held, The New York Times, 0362-4331, October 31, 1958,weblink January 14, 2019, January 15, 2019,weblink live, {{refn|group=N|They remained at the Biltmore for 23 years until 1981, and then moved to 24 West 57th Street, and ceased operations by 1994.WEB, A Finding Aid to the Grand Central Art Galleries records, 1931–1968, bulk circa 1952-circa 1965, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,weblink November 14, 2018, December 7, 2018, December 9, 2018,weblink live, }}

Decline

File:Grand Central Terminal MetLife Building Park Ave viaduct Summer Streets.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=The MetLife Building, towering above Grand Central|The MetLife BuildingMetLife BuildingIn 1947, over 65 million people traveled through Grand Central, an all-time high. The station's decline came soon afterward with the beginning of the Jet Age and the construction of the Interstate Highway System. There were multiple proposals to alter the terminal, including several replacing the station building with a skyscraper; none of the plans were carried out.{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=177}} Though the main building site was not redeveloped, the Pan Am Building (now the MetLife Building) was erected just to the north, opening in 1963.NEWS, Pan Am Building Dedicated in N.Y. – 100 Million Structure, 59 Stories Tall, City's Biggest Other Speakers at Event, The New York Times, 0362-4331, March 8, 1963,weblink December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, In 1968, New York Central, facing bankruptcy, merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central Railroad. The new corporation proposed to demolish Grand Central Terminal and replace it with a skyscraper, as the Pennsylvania Railroad had done with the original Penn Station in 1963.NEWS, Fowler, Glenn, Breuer to Design Terminal Tower – Engaged by Briton for a 2d Project Over Grand Central, The New York Times, 0362-4331, February 24, 1968,weblink December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, However, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which had designated Grand Central a city landmark in 1967, refused to consider the plans.NEWS, Shipler, David K., Landmarks Panel Bars Office Tower Over Grand Central; Landmarks Panel Bars Tower on Grand Central, The New York Times, 0362-4331, August 27, 1969,weblink December 24, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104 (1978) The resulting lawsuit went to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in favor of the city.COURT, Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, U.S., U.S., 438, 104, 135, 1978,weblink December 8, 2018, After Penn Central went into bankruptcy in 1970, it retained title to Grand Central Terminal. When Penn Central reorganized as American Premier Underwriters (APU) in 1994, it retained ownership of Penn Central. In turn, APU was absorbed by American Financial Group.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Company News; Insurance Unit to Buy Its Parent in Stock Merger, December 13, 1994, Reuters, The New York Times, December 19, 2018, December 19, 2018,weblink live, File:Historical Photos of Grand Central Terminal (52664179665).jpg|thumb|alt=A 1986 image of the Main Concourse with large and bright advertisements throughout|The Main Concourse in 1986, featuring the Kodak Colorama, the illuminated clock, and two banks]]Grand Central and the surrounding neighborhood became dilapidated during the 1970s, and the interior of Grand Central was dominated by huge advertisements, which included the Kodak Colorama photos and the Westclox "Big Ben" clock. In 1975, Donald Trump bought the Commodore Hotel to the east of the terminal for $10 million and then worked out a deal with Jay Pritzker to transform it into one of the first Grand Hyatt hotels.WEB, Masello, Robert, The Trump Card,weblink Town & Country, August 3, 2015, February 17, 2016, March 9, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160309052531weblink">weblink live, Grand Central Terminal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and declared a National Historic Landmark in the following year.WEB,weblink Grand Central Station, September 11, 2007, National Historic Landmark summary listing, National Park Service, December 9, 2018, December 10, 2018,weblink live, WEB,weblink "Grand Central Station" August 11, 1976, by Carolyn Pitts, PDF, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination, August 11, 1976, National Park Service, December 21, 2018, August 3, 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink Grand Central Station—Accompanying 11 photos, exterior and interior, from 1983 and undated., National Register of Historic Places Inventory, PDF, 1983, National Park Service, December 21, 2018, April 22, 2020,weblink live, This period was marked by a bombing on September 10, 1976, when a group of Croatian nationalists planted a bomb in a coin locker at Grand Central Terminal and hijacked a plane; the bomb exploded while being disarmed and injured three NYPD officers and killed one bomb squad specialist.MAGAZINE, Skyjackings: Bombs for Croatia, Time (magazine), Time,weblink September 20, 1976, January 29, 2023, January 29, 2023,weblink live, WEB, Zvonko Busic, 67, Croatian Hijacker, Dies, The New York Times, 0362-4331, September 6, 2013,weblink March 24, 2019, October 2, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151002182634weblink">weblink live, The terminal was used for intercity transit until 1991. Amtrak, the national rail system formed in 1971, ran its last train from Grand Central on April 6, 1991, upon the completion of the Empire Connection on Manhattan's West Side. The connection allowed trains using the Empire Corridor from Albany, Toronto, and Montreal to use Penn Station.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Riding the Past From Grand Central, Barron, James, April 8, 1991, The New York Times, December 11, 2018, September 2, 2020,weblink live, However, some Amtrak trains used Grand Central during the summers of 2017 and 2018 due to maintenance at Penn Station.WEB, 6 Amtrak trains to use Grand Central Terminal this summer, lohud.com, June 12, 2017,weblink April 17, 2018, June 13, 2017,weblink live, NEWS, Rulison, Larry, Anderson, and Eric, Repairs will shift Amtrak's Rensselaer trains to Grand Central Terminal, Times Union, April 10, 2018,weblink April 17, 2018, April 18, 2018,weblink live,

Renovation and subsequent expansions

(File:100Years 5900 (8435665301).jpg|thumb|alt=Hundreds of people gathered in the Main Concourse for a celebratory event|Centennial celebration performance, 2013)In 1988, the MTA commissioned a study of Grand Central Terminal, which concluded that parts of the terminal could be turned into a retail area.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Plan Urges New Look At Terminal, Levine, Richard, January 11, 1988, The New York Times, February 26, 2018, February 27, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180227034232weblink">weblink live, In 1995, the agency began a $113.8 million renovation of the terminal's interior. All advertisements were removed and the station was restored; for example, the Main Concourse ceiling was cleaned to reveal the painted skyscape and constellations.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Work Starts 100 Feet Above Grand Central Commuters, Lueck, Thomas J., September 20, 1996, The New York Times, December 6, 2018, December 7, 2018,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Grandeur!, February 16, 1997, New York Daily News, December 6, 2018, 698, newspapers.com, December 7, 2018,weblink live, WEB, Inside The Sky Mural Restoration at Grand Central Terminal,weblink John Canning & Co., August 31, 2016, April 17, 2023, January 25, 2021,weblink live, The East Stairs, a curved monumental staircase on the east side of the Main Concourse, was added to match the West Stairs.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central May Be Getting East Staircase, Dunlap, David W., September 29, 1994, The New York Times, December 9, 2018, December 9, 2018,weblink live, The project's completion was marked with a re-dedication ceremony on October 1, 1998.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink From Gritty Depot, A Glittery Destination; Refurbished Grand Central Terminal, Worthy of Its Name, Is Reopened, Sachs, Susan, October 2, 1998, The New York Times, December 8, 2018, December 9, 2018,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Fanfare marks the rededication of Grand Central Terminal, Klein, Melissa, October 2, 1998, The Journal News, December 6, 2018, White Plains, NY, 1, newspapers.com, December 9, 2018,weblink live, In December 2006, American Financial sold Grand Central Terminal to Midtown TDR Ventures, LLC, an investment group controlled by Argent Ventures, which renegotiated the lease with the MTA to last until 2274.WEB,weblink Midtown TDR Ventures LLC-Acquisition Exemption-American Premier Underwriters, Inc., The Owasco River Railway, Inc., and American Financial Group, Inc., Surface Transportation Board, U.S. Department of Transportation, December 7, 2006, February 3, 2014,weblink January 22, 2017, dead, In 2018, the MTA exercised its option to purchase the terminal, along with the Hudson and Harlem Lines.NEWS, MTA to Purchase Grand Central Terminal, Harlem Line and Hudson Line for $35 Million,weblink January 9, 2019, MTA, November 13, 2018, January 10, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190110234941weblink">weblink dead, The agency took ownership of the terminal and rail lines in February 2020.WEB, MTA takes ownership of Grand Central Terminal, Progressive Railroading,weblink March 13, 2020, March 17, 2020, January 28, 2023,weblink live, File:Inaugural Train Ride To Grand Central Madison - 52649236695.jpg|thumb|alt=Politicians walking through the new bright LIRR concourse|Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA Chair Janno Lieber at the opening of Grand Central MadisonGrand Central MadisonOn February 1, 2013, numerous displays, performances, and events were held to celebrate the terminal's centennial.WEB,weblink Grand Central Centennial Continues in 2013, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, mta.info, February 3, 2013, December 10, 2018, December 11, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181211010126weblink">weblink dead, NEWS, Grand Central turns 100,weblink RT&S, February 1, 2013, February 5, 2013, August 1, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170801235903weblink">weblink live, The MTA awarded contracts to replace the display boards and public announcement systems and add security cameras at Grand Central Terminal in December 2017. The MTA also proposed to repair the Grand Central Terminal train shed's concrete and steel as part of the 2020–2024 MTA Capital Program.WEB,weblink MTA mulling big repairs to Grand Central train shed, December 5, 2018, Crain's New York Business, en, December 6, 2018, December 6, 2018,weblink live, In February 2019, it was announced that the Grand Hyatt New York hotel that abuts Grand Central Terminal to the east would be torn down and replaced with a larger mixed-use structure over the next several years.WEB, Barbanel, Josh, New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel to Be Torn Down, Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2019,weblink February 9, 2019, January 17, 2021,weblink live, WEB, Plitt, Amy, Midtown's Grand Hyatt Hotel to be replaced by huge mixed-use tower, Curbed NY, February 7, 2019,weblink February 9, 2019, November 7, 2020,weblink live, In September 2020, the skyscraper One Vanderbilt opened, along with a train hall at its base, a pedestrian plaza connecting it to the terminal, and an underground passage to the complex's subway station. The plaza was built on a section of Vanderbilt Avenue, permanently closing the section to automobile traffic for the first time.WEB, Wong, Natalie, September 14, 2020, Manhattan's Newest Skyscraper Opens Up to a Dead Midtown,weblink September 14, 2020, Bloomberg, September 16, 2020,weblink live, In January 2023, the MTA's new Grand Central Madison station opened beneath Grand Central Terminal. The new station, serving the Long Island Rail Road, was under development since 2007. The project, officially titled East Side Access, cost $11.1 billion.NEWS, Ana Ley, Wesley Parnell, L.I.R.R. Service to Grand Central Begins at Long Last, The New York Times,weblink January 25, 2023, February 12, 2023, January 26, 2023,weblink live, LIRR trains arrive and depart from a bi-level, eight-track tunnel with four platforms more than {{convert|90|ft|m}} below the Metro-North tracks. The station includes a new 350,000-square-foot retail and dining concourseNEWS,weblink Massive East Side Access Project Rolling On Under Grand Central, Dobnik, Verena, November 4, 2015, nbcnewyork.com, January 19, 2016, December 1, 2019,weblink live, and new entrances at 45th, 46th, and 48th streets.NEWS,weblink Inside the Massive New Rail Tunnels Beneath NYC's Grand Central, Ocean, Justin, November 4, 2015, Bloomberg News, January 19, 2016, February 4, 2018,weblink live,

Innovations

Passenger improvements

File:Whispering Gallery.jpg|thumb|alt=A vaulted ceiling by the terminal's ramps|Incline between concourses, showing the whispering gallerywhispering galleryAt the time of its completion, Grand Central Terminal offered several innovations in transit-hub design. One was the use of ramps, rather than staircases, to conduct passengers and luggage through the facility. Two ramps connected the lower-level suburban concourse to the main concourse; several more led from the main concourse to entrances on 42nd Street. These ramps allowed all travelers to easily move between Grand Central's two underground levels.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink First Great Stairless Railway Terminal in History – Unique Architectural Feature by Which Passengers Reach Trains by Easy Grades, February 2, 1913, The New York Times, December 7, 2018, December 9, 2018,weblink live, There were also 15 passenger elevators and six freight-and-passenger elevators scattered around the station. The separation of commuter and intercity trains, as well as incoming and outgoing trains, ensured that most passengers on a given ramp would be traveling in the same direction.{{harvnb|ps=.|New York Central|1912|p=18}} At its opening in 1913, the terminal was theoretically able to accommodate 100 million passengers a year.The Park Avenue Viaduct, which wrapped around the terminal, allowed Park Avenue traffic to bypass the building without being diverted onto nearby streets, and reconnected the only north–south avenue in midtown Manhattan that had an interruption in it. The station building was also designed to accommodate the re-connection of both segments of 43rd Street by going through the concourse, if the City of New York had demanded it.Designers of the new terminal tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Amenities included an oak-floored waiting room for women, attended to by maids; a shoeshine room, also for women; a room with telephones; a beauty salon with gender-separated portions; a dressing room, with maids available for a fee; and a men's barbershop, containing a public area with barbers from many cultures, as well as a rentable private space. Grand Central was designed with two concourses, one on each level. The "outbound" concourse could handle 15,000 people; the "inbound" concourse, 8,000. A waiting room adjoining each concourse could fit another 5,000. Brochures advertised the new Grand Central Terminal as a tourist-friendly space where "[t]imid travelers may ask questions with no fear of being rebuffed by hurrying trainmen, or imposed upon by hotel runners, chauffeurs or others in blue uniforms"; a safe and welcoming place for people of all cultures, where "special accommodations are to be provided for immigrants and gangs of laborers"; and a general tourist attraction "where one delights to loiter, admiring its beauty and symmetrical lines—a poem in stone". The waiting room by the Main Concourse, now Vanderbilt Hall, also had an advantage over many, including Penn Station's: Grand Central's waiting room was a tranquil place to wait, with all ticket booths, information desks, baggage areas, and meeting areas instead removed to the Main Concourse.NEWS, New Grand Central Terminal Opens its Doors, The New York Times, 69–74,weblink February 2, 1913, December 18, 2018, January 24, 2024,weblink live, (File:Grand Central Terminal - Sectional View 1939.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A cross-cut drawing of Grand Central, showing its rooms, passages, tunnels, and tracks|Cutaway drawing from 1939, illustrating the use of ramps, express and suburban tracks, and the viaduct)Every train at Grand Central Terminal departs one minute later than its posted departure time. The extra minute is intended to encourage passengers rushing to catch trains at the last minute to slow down.NEWS, Grynbaum, Michael M., 2009-10-17, The Secret New York Minute: Trains Late by Design, en-US, The New York Times,weblink 2023-01-30, 0362-4331, January 30, 2023,weblink live, All of the terminal's light fixtures are bare light bulbs. At the time of the terminal's construction, electricity was still a relatively new invention, and the inclusion of electric light bulbs showcased this innovation. In 2009, the incandescent light bulbs were replaced with energy- and money-saving fluorescent lamp fixtures.{{anchor|Porters}}When Grand Central Terminal opened, it hired two types of porters, marked with different-colored caps, to assist passengers. Porters with red caps served as bellhops, rolling luggage around Grand Central Terminal, and were rarely paid tips.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Fifty Years He Watch Growth of Grand Central – George Schuman, Now Retiring, Began Work at the Terminal When It Was Called "the Commodore's Barn" and Had Only 13 Tracks, May 1, 1924, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 6, 2019,weblink live, There were more than 500 red-capped porters at one point. Porters with green caps, a position introduced in 1922,NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink 'Green Caps' to Help Forgetful Travellers – New Functionaries at Grand Central to Perform Offices of aPrivate Secretary., June 25, 1922, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 6, 2019,weblink live, provided information services, sending out or receiving telegrams or phone messages for a fee.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Day in a Green Cap's Life Is Filled With Odd Jobs, August 19, 1923, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 6, 2019,weblink live, NEWS,weblink New Grand Central Green Caps Banish All Trouble for a Dime, July 2, 1922, New York Tribune, January 5, 2019, 4, Fultonhistory.com, January 24, 2024,weblink live, They later started dropping off and picking up packages as well. There were only twelve green-capped porters, as well as two messengers who brought messages to an exchange on the west side of the terminal.

Track improvements

(File:GCT balloon.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Tracks visibly curving around the terminal near a platform|Balloon loop visible behind Track 42)Grand Central Terminal was built to handle 200 trains per hour, though actual traffic never came close to that. It had 46 tracks and 30 platforms, more than twice Penn Station's 21 tracks and 11 platforms. Its {{convert|70|acre|ha|adj=on}} rail yard could hold 1,149 cars, far more than the 366 in its predecessor station, and it dwarfed Penn Station's {{convert|28|acre|ha|adj=on}} yard.As constructed, the upper level was for intercity trains, and the lower level for commuter trains. This allowed commuter and intercity passengers to board and exit trains without interfering with each other.Balloon loops surrounding the station eliminated the need for complicated switching moves to bring the trains to the coach yards for service.{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=44}} At the time, passenger cars did not run on their own power, but were pulled by locomotives, and it was believed dangerous to perform locomotive shunting moves underground. Trains would drop passengers off at one side of the station, perhaps be stored or serviced in the rail yard, then use the turning loops and pick up passengers on the other side. The loops extended under Vanderbilt Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east.{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=81–82}}

Terminal City

File:Helmsley Building vanaf Park Ave - New York 27-02-2016 9-19-52.jpg|thumb|alt=The Beaux-Arts skyscraper in front of the more modern MetLife Building|The Helmsley Building, in front of the MetLife BuildingMetLife BuildingBurying the terminal's tracks and platforms also allowed the railroads to sell above-ground air rights for real-estate development. Grand Central's construction thus produced several blocks of prime real estate in Manhattan, stretching from 42nd to 51st Streets between Madison and Lexington avenues. By the time the terminal opened in 1913, the blocks surrounding it were each valued at $2 million to $3 million. Terminal City soon became Manhattan's most desirable commercial and office district. From 1904 to 1926, land values along Park Avenue doubled, and land values in the Terminal City area increased 244%.The district came to include office buildings such as the Chrysler Building, Chanin Building, Bowery Savings Bank Building, and Pershing Square Building; luxury apartment houses along Park Avenue; an array of high-end hotels that included the Commodore, Biltmore, Roosevelt, Marguery, Chatham, Barclay, Park Lane, and Waldorf Astoria; the Grand Central Palace; and the Yale Club of New York City.{{harvnb|ps=.|New York Central|1912|p=24}} The structures immediately around Grand Central Terminal were developed shortly after the terminal's opening, while the structures along Park Avenue were constructed through the 1920s and 1930s.The Graybar Building, completed in 1927, was one of the last projects of Terminal City. The building incorporates many of Grand Central's train platforms, as well as the Graybar Passage, a hallway with vendors and train gates stretching from the terminal to Lexington Avenue.WEB, The Graybar Building, Landmarks Preservation Commission,weblink November 22, 2016, December 7, 2018, February 6, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210206154750weblink">weblink live, In 1929, New York Central built its headquarters in a 34-story building, later renamed the Helmsley Building, which straddled Park Avenue north of the terminal.NEWS, Park Avenue, Interrupted, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink December 21, 2014, December 8, 2018, March 3, 2020,weblink live, Development slowed drastically during the Great Depression, and part of Terminal City was gradually demolished or reconstructed with steel-and-glass designs after World War II.{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=113}}The area shares similar boundaries as the Grand Central Business Improvement District, a neighborhood with businesses collectively funding improvements and maintenance in the area. The district is well-funded; in 1990 it had the largest budget of any business improvement district in the United States.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central Basks in a Burst of Morning Light, Goldberger, Paul, June 3, 1990, The New York Times, December 25, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, The district's organization and operation is run by the Grand Central Partnership, which has given free tours of the station building.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Answering Questions About New York, April 27, 2014, The New York Times, December 25, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Sheltering Under Grand Central's Ceiling of Stars, Kugel, Seth, November 16, 2008, The New York Times, December 25, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live, The partnership has also funded some restoration projects around the terminal, including installation of lamps to illuminate its facade and purchase of a streetlamp that used to stand on the Park Avenue Viaduct.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink New Lighting for Grand Central Elegance, Shepard, Richard F., March 29, 1991, The New York Times, December 25, 2018, December 25, 2018,weblink live,

Emergency services

File:GCT MTA Police vehicles.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Three parked MTA Police vehicles|MTA Police T3 scooters and GEM electric vehicles for patrol]]File:Grand Central fire vehicles.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Small electric vehicles for firefighting parked inside the terminal|The fire brigade's Taylor-DunnTaylor-DunnThe terminal is served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, whose Fifth District is headquarteredWEB,weblink MTA Police Contact Us, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, February 26, 2019, February 26, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190226234155weblink">weblink live, in a station on the Dining Concourse. MTA officers patrol the terminal in specialized vehicles, including three-wheeled electric scooters from T3 Motion and utility vehicles by Global Electric Motorcars.NEWS, Kaminer, Ariel, October 22, 2010, To Serve and Protect, Perched on 3 Wheels, en-US, The New York Times,weblink October 1, 2020, 0362-4331, January 26, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210126102936weblink">weblink live, Various actions by MTA officers in the terminal have received media attention over the years. In 1988, seven officers were suspended for behaving inappropriately, including harassing a homeless man and patrolling unclothed.NEWS, Hevesi, Dennis, 7 Rail Officers Suspended For Joke Tape, The New York Times, 0362-4331, August 4, 1988,weblink February 4, 2019, February 7, 2019,weblink live, NEWS, Hevesi, Dennis, Police Tape Gets National Attention, The New York Times, 0362-4331, August 7, 1988,weblink February 4, 2019, February 7, 2019,weblink live, In the early 2000s, officers arrested two transgender people—Dean Spade in 2002 and Helena Stone in 2006—who were attempting to use restrooms aligning with their gender identities. Lawsuits forced the MTA to drop the charges and to thenceforth allow use of restrooms according to gender identity.BOOK, Cavanagh, S.L., Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination, University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, 2010, 978-1-4426-9997-7,weblink February 4, 2019, April 22, 2020,weblink live, WEB, Associated Press, Transgendered NYC Woman Arrested for Using Women's Restroom, Fox News, March 25, 2015,weblink February 4, 2019, February 7, 2019,weblink live, In 2017, an officer assaulted and arrested a conductor who was removing a passenger from a train in the terminal.WEB, Conductors union calls for firing, arrest of MTA cops, citing police brutality, lohud.com, August 18, 2017,weblink February 4, 2019, February 7, 2019,weblink live, Fire and medical emergency services are provided by the Metro-North Fire Brigade, a professional fire department whose members belong to the International Association of Fire Fighters union. The brigade handles 1,600 to 1,700 calls for service a year, mostly medical in nature. The brigade regularly trains the NYPD, FDNY, and MTA Police to navigate the terminal and its miles of tunnels, and trains other Metro-North employees in first aid and CPR. It also conducts fire drills and stations fire guards for special events in the terminal. Until 2007, the fire brigade was made up of volunteer Metro-North employees who received firefighting and emergency medical certification and would answer calls while on the clock for the railroad.WEB, Inside the Grand Central Terminal's Fire Brigade Operations,weblink 2022-11-22, www.ny1.com, en, November 22, 2022,weblink live, The brigade's fleet, stored in a bay next to Track 14, includes three electric carts equipped with red lights: a white-painted ambulance no wider than a hospital bed that carries a stretcher, oxygen tanks, defibrillators, and other medical equipment; a red pumper that carries 200 gallons of water and 300 feet of fire hose; and a red rescue truck with air packs, forcible-entry tools, and turnout gear.WEB, Goldberg, Max, Behind the Scenes With New York's Grand Central Fire Brigade, The Drive,weblink December 15, 2015, February 2, 2019, February 2, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190202212429weblink">weblink live,

Art installations and performances

Among the permanent works of public art in Grand Central are the celestial ceiling in the Main Concourse, the Glory of Commerce sculptural group and the statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt decorating the building's south façade,NEWS,weblink The Curious Travels of the Commodore, Gray, Christopher, March 19, 2006, The New York Times, December 15, 2018, 0362-4331, April 22, 2020,weblink live, and the two cast-iron eagle statues adorning sites around the station's exterior.NEWS,weblink Where Are the Cast-Iron Eagles of the Original Grand Central Terminal?, Ortiz, Brennan, February 24, 2014, Untapped Cities, December 6, 2018, October 20, 2018,weblink live, Temporary works, exhibitions, and events are regularly mounted in Vanderbilt Hall,See, for example:NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Adventurous Performers In Unexpected Places, Yarrow, Andrew L., October 9, 1987, The New York Times, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Steel, Roses & Slave Ships, Miller, Andrea, September 1, 2013, Lion's Roar, December 19, 2016, en-US, December 20, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161220183823weblink">weblink dead, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink ART; The Carpet That Ate Grand Central, Yablonsky, Linda, June 27, 2004, The New York Times, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink live, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Watch Out for the Horses on Your Way to the Train, March 24, 2013, The New York Times, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink live, while the Dining Concourse features temporary exhibits in a series of lightboxes.WEB,weblink MTA Arts for Transit Unveils New Papercut Exhibition at Grand Central, September 27, 2013, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181224220248weblink">weblink dead, The terminal is also known for its performance and installation art,WEB,weblink Xin Song's Paper Architecture at Grand Central Station, Opie, Catherine, November 14, 2013, Installationmag.com, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181224220327weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Thomas Witte is Cutting Shadows in Grand Central Station, Song, Xin, November 14, 2013, Installationmag.com, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181224220602weblink">weblink live, including flash mobs and other spontaneous events.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Moncler Grenoble Show Takes Over Grand Central, Trebay, Guy, February 14, 2011, The New York Times, December 22, 2018, December 24, 2018,weblink live,

Visitors

(File:GCT tour crop.jpg|thumb|alt=A tour guide leading a lecture outside the terminal|A guided tour outside the terminal, 2022)Grand Central Terminal is one of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions, with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, excluding train and subway passengers. The high visitor traffic makes it one of the most-photographed places in New York City and the United States. A 2009 Cornell University study of geotagged photos indicated the station was the fourth-most-photographed place in New York City.WEB, Bostwick, William, Apple Store Cube Is More Popular Landmark Than Statue of Liberty: Cornell Report, Fast Company,weblink March 24, 2010, February 26, 2021, February 2, 2021,weblink live, Tourism to the station is not a new phenomenon; the 1900–1910 station was second to the U.S. Capitol Building in its visitor count.WEB, Part I: Happy birthday, Grand Central! Let's see what you're made of..., National Museum of American History, February 2, 2013, June 18, 2023,weblink June 18, 2023,weblink live, In 2013, in conjunction with the terminal's centennial celebration, the Municipal Art Society began providing daily live station tours, and audio tour producer Orpheo USA began providing pre-recorded tours with headsetsNEWS, Rife, Judy, Docent-guided tours to debut at Grand Central Terminal, Times Herald-Record,weblink February 26, 2013, February 26, 2021, May 14, 2021,weblink dead, Tours were suspended for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since late 2022, daily docent-led tours of the station have been conducted by Walks, an international tour company, by arrangement with the MTA.NEWS, Tara, Serena, Guided Tours of NYC's Historic Grand Central Terminal Are Back After 2 Years, Thrillist,weblink December 2, 2022, February 11, 2023, February 11, 2023,weblink live, WEB, Trusttum, Daisy, Grand Central Terminal tours return after pandemic hiatus, amNewYork, December 3, 2022,weblink October 9, 2023, October 12, 2023,weblink live, Transit passenger traffic makes the terminal the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station. {{As of|2018|alt=In 2018}}, about 67.326 million riders entered and exited at Grand Central Terminal.WEB, MNR Ridership 2018,weblink mta.info, November 24, 2018, December 28, 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20211228201223weblink">weblink live,

In popular culture

File:Saturday Night Live main stage by Steven Dahlman.jpg|thumb|alt=The stage of Saturday Night Live, set up with musical instruments|Saturday Night Live stage replica at a Museum of Broadcast CommunicationsMuseum of Broadcast CommunicationsGrand Central Terminal has been the subject, inspiration, or setting for literature, television and radio episodes, and films.The MTA hosts about 25 large-scale and hundreds of smaller or amateur film and television productions every year. Grand Central has been a backdrop for romantic reunions between couples. After the terminal declined in the 1950s, it was more frequently used as a dark, dangerous place, even a metaphor for chaos and disorientation, featuring chase scenes, shootouts, homeless people, and the mentally ill.NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink In a 'Summer of Hell,' Grand Central May Be a Bit of Heaven, subscription,weblink July 5, 2017, Dunlap, David W., David W. Dunlap, July 5, 2017, The New York Times, October 9, 2023, {{void|comment|Fabrickator|this archive is best version with all images working and seems to load quickly}}{{cbignore}} Almost every scene filmed in the terminal's train shed was shot on Track 34, one of the few platforms without structural columns blocking views.Grand Central Terminal's architecture, including its Main Concourse clock, are depicted on the stage of Saturday Night Live, a long-running NBC television show. The soundstage reconstruction of the terminal in Studio 8H was first installed in 2003.NEWS, Sachs, Andrea, Meet me at Grand Central for the 100th, The Washington Post,weblink subscription,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130227111553weblink">weblink February 27, 2013, February 21, 2013, November 21, 2020, {{cbignore}}NEWS, SNL primed for 29, Variety,weblink September 25, 2003, McClintock, Pamela, Adalian, Josef, November 21, 2020, January 30, 2021,weblink live, {{Wikisourcehas|1=the full text for|2=s:Report on Grand Central Terminal|Report on Grand Central Terminal]]}}Notable literature featuring the terminal includes J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye as well as Report on Grand Central Terminal, a short story written by nuclear physicist Leo Szilard in 1948. The infrastructure in Grand Central inspired the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and in turn, the film Hugo.WEB, Exploring Grand Central's Secrets, With the Author of Hugo Cabret – New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News, WNYC, January 6, 2012, Bernstein, Andrea,weblink January 24, 2019, January 24, 2019,weblink live,

See also

• Architecture of New York City
• Transportation in New York City
• List of busiest railway stations in North America

References

Explanatory notes

{{reflist|group=N}}

Citations

NEWS,weblink N.Y. Central Opens Library for Railroaders, June 2, 1937, Brooklyn Times-Union, January 29, 2020, 5, newspapers.com, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Lost on Metro-North, but Most Likely Found, Belson, Ken, May 8, 2007, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 5, 2019,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Grand Central's Kissing Room Is Returning To Its Former Glory, Carlson, Jen, September 26, 2012, Gothamist, December 14, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181006025138weblink">weblink October 6, 2018, dead, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink F.Y.I., Schneider, Daniel B., August 6, 2000, The New York Times, December 14, 2018, December 15, 2018,weblink live, WEB,weblink Inaccessible New York: Behind The Scenes At Grand Central Terminal, March 30, 2013, CBS New York, December 6, 2018, December 7, 2018,weblink live, WEB,weblink Everything You Never Knew You Wanted To Know About Grand Central Terminal, Carlson, Jen, May 12, 2015, Gothamist, January 5, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181007192123weblink">weblink October 7, 2018, dead, WEB,weblink Secret City, Diehl, Lorraine, May 25, 2002, New York Daily News, December 20, 2018, February 26, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180226033925weblink">weblink live, BOOK,weblink Engineering News-record, McGraw-Hill, 1920, 501, nl, January 6, 2019, v. 85, WEB,weblink Neighborhood Map: Grand Central-42 St (4)(5)(6), mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, November 18, 2018, November 20, 2018,weblink live, WEB,weblink Neighborhood Map: Grand Central-42 St (S), mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, November 18, 2018, November 20, 2018,weblink live, WEB, Metro-North's Grand Central Terminal Fire Brigade Celebrates 20th Anniversary, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink May 14, 2007, February 2, 2019, June 22, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180622032743weblink">weblink dead, NEWS, Kadden, Jack, At Grand Central, Your Life Is in Their Hands, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink February 5, 2006, February 2, 2019, June 22, 2018,weblink live, NEWS, Gray, Christopher, Covering Its Tracks Paid Off Handsomely, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink August 19, 2010, December 10, 2018, October 17, 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink A Mammoth Move: Relocating the 50th Street Substation, Blalock, Thomas J., IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, December 26, 2018, December 27, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181227084729weblink">weblink live, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Lost and Found, on Metro-North, Lombardi, Kate Stone, July 28, 1996, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, January 5, 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink Metro-North Railroad Committee Meeting November 2018, November 13, 2018, November 10, 2018, 73–74, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, November 11, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181111133558weblink">weblink dead, WEB, Grand Central Terminal, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink February 24, 2019, December 6, 2003,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20031206050541weblink">weblink live, WEB, Metro-North Railroad Committee Meeting, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, mta.info, 108,weblink January 22, 2018, February 14, 2019, February 15, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190215050350weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Station Will Restore 'Kissing Room', subscription, Mann, Ted, Ted Mann (journalist), September 26, 2012, The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2018, February 7, 2016,weblink {{cbignore}}NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Big Doings at the Depot, McManus, John T, May 9, 1937, January 14, 2019, The New York Times, December 20, 2018,weblink live, WEB, Moser, Emily, A visit to the secret library inside Grand Central Terminal, I Ride the Harlem Line,weblink November 30, 2012, January 29, 2020, January 30, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200130004839weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink Oscar Ready Digs at GCT!, August 2019, Mileposts, September 5, 2019, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink August 19, 2019, dead, MAGAZINE,weblink Exploring New York's Real Underworld, Popular Science Monthly, November 1931, 135, February 13, 2021, May 14, 2021,weblink live, BOOK,weblink Railway Age and Railway Review, Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company, 1910, 620, January 6, 2019, v. 49, WEB,weblink Grand Central Subdistrict, November 1991, Department of City Planning, New York City, December 14, 2018, October 18, 2020,weblink live, NEWS,weblink 12 things you didn't know about Grand Central Terminal, Chaudhury, Nadia, January 27, 2013, Time Out New York, December 6, 2018, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink 100 Years of Grandeur: The Birth of Grand Central Terminal, Roberts, Sam, January 18, 2013, The New York Times, December 14, 2018, none, {{harvnb|ps=.|Roberts|2013}}NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Teeth Missing? Try Lost and Found; At Grand Central, Even Dentures Have Been Reclaimed, Santora, Marc, August 20, 2002, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, NEWS,weblink The View From/Manhattan; A Shorter Commute, Ames, Lynn, October 10, 1999, The New York Times, December 16, 2018, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Lighting at Grand Central Goes Green With Fluorescent Bulbs, Sulzberger, A. G., April 29, 2009, The New York Times, December 28, 2018, NEWS,weblink At 100, Grand Central still holds secrets, Susman, Tina, June 13, 2013, Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2018, NEWS,weblink No light yet at end of tunnel, January 18, 1999, The Journal News, December 6, 2018, White Plains, NY, 9, newspapers.com, NEWS,weblink News of Radio, Wolters, Larry, August 24, 1937, Chicago Daily Tribune, January 6, 2019, 9, newspapers.com, NEWS, Barron, James, A Clock Moves in Grand Central, and Memories Stir, The New York Times,weblink March 25, 2011, February 7, 2019, WEB,weblink Grand Central Directory, April 2018, Grand Central Terminal, March 30, 2020, NEWS,weblink One Place Really Is as Busy as Grand Central Station: The Cliche Has the New York Terminal's Name Wrong, but Its Character Just Right, November 24, 1985, Los Angeles Times, July 26, 2013, NEWS,weblink Secrets of Grand Central Terminal: missing decorations, hidden staircases and a tiny acorn, Ferguson, Colleen, August 8, 2018, The Journal News, December 19, 2018, WEB, MNR Map, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,weblink February 2, 2019, {{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980}}NEWS,weblink A Grander Central, George, Tara, September 30, 1998, New York Daily News, December 6, 2018, 455, newspapers.com, NEWS,weblink dead,weblink November 3, 2012, Donald Trump Bounced off Grand Central Tennis Deal, Sherman, William, March 19, 2009, Daily News (New York), Daily News, October 7, 2020, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink News of the Railroads – New Waiting Room at the Grand Central Station Opens To-day. Appointments Are Up to Date and Improvements of a Modern Type – Some Novel Ideas., October 18, 1900, The New York Times, December 6, 2018, NEWS, Our Subway Open, 150,000 Try It, New York Times,weblink October 28, 1904, February 14, 2019, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Plans Submitted for Great Grand Central – Station Itself to Spread Out with Double-Deck Tracks – Terminal To Use 19 Blocks – Express and Local Traffic Separated – A Monster Concourse – Forty-three Tracks and Wide Platforms, December 24, 1904, The New York Times, December 6, 2018, NEWS,weblink Wonders Grow Near New Grand Central – Work Will Cost $180,000,000 and a New Park Avenue Will Rise to the North, June 26, 1910, The New York Times, February 2, 2018, 0362-4331, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink New Grand Central Station and Stern's Store Important Factors in 42d Street's Development, May 12, 1912, The New York Times, December 24, 2018, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink With the Surrounding Buildings It Covers an Area of Thirty City Blocks – Can Accommodate 100,000,000 People a Year., February 2, 1913, The New York Times, December 20, 2018, NEWS,weblink Modern Terminal Supplies Patrons with Home Comforts, February 2, 1913, The New York Times, February 2, 2018, 0362-4331, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Steinway Tunnel Will Open Today; Officials Will Attend Ceremony in the Long Island City Station at 11 A.M. First Public Train At Noon Public Service Commission Renames the Under-River Route the Queensboro Subway., June 22, 1915, The New York Times, April 14, 2018, NEWS,weblink New Viaduct Thoroughfare Relieves Park Avenue Traffic Congestion; Result of Many Years' Work., September 2, 1928, The New York Times, December 7, 2018, Real Estate, Page 123, NEWS, Grand Central Zone Boasts many Connected Buildings – Pedestrians May Walk Underground for Blocks With out Ever Coming Into Contact With Street Traffic Thousands Use Passages. Reducing Vibration., The New York Times, 0362-4331, September 14, 1930,weblink January 10, 2019, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central Billboard Going Electric; Blackboard Reports on Train Arrivals to Be Replaced Pushbutton System Will Be Installed in Two Weeks, Devlin, John C., January 13, 1967, The New York Times, January 5, 2019, NEWS, Hecker, Don R., A Hidden Wealth of Railroad History, The New York Times, 0362-4331,weblink April 17, 1994, January 29, 2020, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central Makeover Is Readied, Dunlap, David W., January 29, 1995, The New York Times, February 11, 2018, NEWS, Grand Central Terminal; How a Rail Complex Chugged Into the 20th Century, Christopher, Gray, Christopher Gray (architectural historian), 0362-4331,weblink The New York Times, June 21, 1998, July 4, 2011, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Grand Central, Reborn as a Mall; Terminal Becomes Gateway to Shops and Restaurants, Dunlap, David W., August 2, 1998, The New York Times, November 20, 2018, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Space Without Ads Makes Its Own Statement at Grand Central, Dunlap, David W., November 20, 2008, The New York Times, December 8, 2018, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink An Oasis of Tranquility, in Grand Central Terminal, July 16, 2015, The New York Times, December 8, 2018, NEWS, 0362-4331,weblink Nordic Food Court Rises at Grand Central, With an Order to Leave No Trace, Dunlap, David W., April 6, 2016, The New York Times, December 14, 2018, WEB,weblink 2017 MNR Ridership Appendix, 9, mta.info, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, April 23, 2018, November 24, 2018, {{NYCS const|map}}WEB, Warerkar, Tanay, The ultimate guide to Grand Central Terminal, Curbed,weblink December 13, 2018, March 20, 2020, WEB,weblink The Top 10 Secrets of Grand Central Terminal, Untapped Cities, June 23, 2021, WEB,weblink Location Details, USPS.com, December 21, 2018, NEWS,weblink A Tennis Court That Will Cost $210 an Hour, Rubinstein, Dana, November 23, 2010, The Wall Street Journal, July 4, 2011, {{harvnb|ps=.|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=3}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=4}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=5}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=6}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|pp=165–166}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=167}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=168}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=169}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=170}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=171}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=174}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=175}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Langmead|2009|p=176}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|p=2}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|p=4}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|p=5}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|p=7}}{{harvnb|ps=.|New York Central|1912|p=12}}{{harvnb|ps=.|New York Central|1912|p=4}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Roberts|2013|p=72}}{{harvnb|Roberts|2013|p=89}}; {{harvnb|ps=.|Bilotto|DiLorenzo|2017|p=2}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=6}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=66}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=84}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=89}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=93}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=96}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=100}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=103}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=111}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=128}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|pp=131–132}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=136}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=138}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=143}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=150}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=157}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=164}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|p=174}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Robins|New York Transit Museum|2013|pp=177–178}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=8–9}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|p=50}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=55–56}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=60–62}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=62–63}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|p=80}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=106–107}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=121–122}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|pp=126–127}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|p=124}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Schlichting|2001|p=125}}{{harvnb|Schlichting|2001|ps=.|pp=162–163}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Bilotto|DiLorenzo|2017|pp=8–9}}}}

General references

• BOOK, Belle, John, Leighton, Maxinne Rhea, Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives, Norton, 2000, 978-0-393-04765-3,weblink
• BOOK, Gregory, Bilotto, Frank, DiLorenzo, Building Grand Central Terminal,weblink 2017, Arcadia Publishing Incorporated, 978-1-4396-6051-5,
• BOOK,weblink Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center: A Historic-critical Estimate of Their Significance, Fitch, James Marston, Waite, Diana S., 1974, The Division, Albany, New York, en,
• BOOK,weblink Grand Central Terminal of the New York Central Lines, c. 1912, New York Central Lines, {{harvid, New York Central, 1912, }}
• WEB, Grand Central Terminal, Landmarks Preservation Commission,weblink August 2, 1967,
• WEB, Grand Central Terminal Interior, Landmarks Preservation Commission,weblink September 23, 1980, {{harvid, Landmarks Preservation Commission, 1980, }}
• BOOK, Langmead, Donald, Icons of American Architecture: From the Alamo to the World Trade Center, Greenwood Press, Greenwood Icons, 2009, 978-0-313-34207-3,weblink
• BOOK, Sam, Roberts, Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America,weblink January 22, 2013, Grand Central Publishing, 978-1-4555-2595-9,
• BOOK, Robins, Anthony W., New York Transit Museum, Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark, ABRAMS, 2013, 978-1-61312-387-4,weblink
• BOOK, Schlichting, Kurt C., Kurt C. Schlichting, Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Architecture and Engineering in New York, 2001, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 978-0-8018-6510-7,

Further reading

• FEDNYC,
• BOOK, Fried, Frederick, Gillon, Edmund Vincent Jr., New York Civic Sculpture: A Pictorial Guide,weblink registration, 1976, Dover Publications, New York, 978-0-486-23258-4,
• BOOK, Middleton, William D., William D. Middleton, Grand Central, the World's Greatest Railway Terminal, 1999, Golden West Books, San Marino, 49014602,
• BOOK, O'Hara, Frank, Allen, Donald, The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara, 1995, University of California Press, Berkeley, 168, 978-0-520-20166-8,
• BOOK, Reed, Henry Hope, Gillon, Edmund Vincent Jr., Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York: A Photographic Guide, 1988, Dover Publications, New York, 978-0-486-25698-6,
• NEW YORK 1900,

External links

{{Spoken Wikipedia|Grand_Central_Terminal.ogg|date=November 23, 2019}}{{external media|width=220px|float=right_b4XQUE_u8o|"Every Detail of Grand Central Terminal Explained"}}, Architectural Digest, 20186Iz1AD6xuB4|"Train Station Tour: Grand Central Terminal"}}, The Transport Net, 2016GhAQR7sZs8Y|"Grand Central Terminal LED Stars"}}, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2010}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Grand Central Terminal}}
• {{official website}}
• {{MNR links|Grand Central Terminal}}

{{Grand Central Terminal}}{{Midtown North, Manhattan}}{{Midtown South, Manhattan}}{{Park Avenue}}{{MNRR stations navbox}}{{LIRR stations navbox}}{{Amtrak New York stations}}{{NYC terminals}}{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}{{NYC Main Line stations}}{{Authority control}}

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