148-698: Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan , New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad 's Harlem , Hudson and New Haven Lines . It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same site. The current structure was built by and named for the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad , though it also served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad . Passenger service has continued under
296-455: 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, 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
444-509: A Starbucks coffee shop, a Rite Aid pharmacy, and an Apple Store . 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
592-470: 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
740-446: A theatre in the round , spectators sit on three sides of the court. 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 , who also ran the food hall. Both venues permanently closed in 2020 during
888-546: A 60- to 65-story tower with an 18-story base, and space underneath for Park Avenue and 43rd Street to run through the building. Copies of Burnham's proposal no longer exist, but it followed the lines of the City Beautiful movement . The railroad ultimately chose the design offered by Reed and Stem, experienced railway-station designers who proposed vehicular viaducts around the terminal and ramps between its two-passenger levels. Warren and Wetmore were also selected to co-design
1036-629: 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. 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 . The 40-plus retail stores include newsstands and chain stores, including
1184-511: A balloon roof for the train shed, enabling a clear span over the tracks; and inspectors who allowed only ticketed passengers on the platforms. There were four restaurants, a billiards room, stores, and a police station. Its design was similar to that of other major railroad stations, such as St Pancras station in London and Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon in Paris. In particular, Snook took inspiration for
1332-408: A barbershop, laundry service, shoe store, and haberdashery , all under the name J. P. Carey & Co. 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. The businesses were very successful due to their location and show windows that Carey installed. Terminal shops were known to inflate prices, so
1480-599: 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. 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. The room's blackboard displayed the arrival and departure times of New York Central trains until 1967, when
1628-529: A durable stone to use on Grand Central's facade, and thus pillars made of a different varieties of stone were installed in the woods (now by the John Kieran Nature Trail, which opened in 1987).The variety eventually chosen was Indiana limestone . Meanwhile, Wilgus, who had been tapped to lead the project, started to figure out ways to build the new terminal efficiently. To prevent interrupting railroad service, he decided to demolish, excavate, and build
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#17328448601261776-517: 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
1924-464: A foyer gallery, and a reception area. The official opening on March 22, 1923, was attended by 5,000 people. A year after it opened, the galleries established the Grand Central School of Art , which occupied 7,000 square feet (650 m) on the seventh floor of the east wing of the terminal. The school was directed by Sargent and Daniel Chester French . The Grand Central School of Art remained in
2072-409: A height of 100 feet (30 m) at the crown. The train shed's roof was composed of thirty-two trusses that arched above the platforms. There were three waiting rooms, one for each of the three railroads, and a metal-and-glass screen with metal doors closed off the north end of the station. The structure measured 695 feet (212 m) along Vanderbilt Avenue and 530 feet (160 m) along 42nd Street. It
2220-483: A law to ban all steam trains in Manhattan beginning on July 1, 1908. By December 1902, as part of an agreement with the city, New York Central agreed to put the approach to Grand Central Station from 46th to 59th Streets in an open cut under Park Avenue, and to upgrade the tracks to accommodate electric trains. Overpasses would be built across the open cut at most of the cross-streets. All this prompted Wilgus—who had become
2368-401: A lounge and dormitory for railroad employees. During World War II , the terminal became heavily used by troops moving across the United States, and thus additional ticket offices were opened. Mary Lee Read, an organist playing in the terminal from 1928 to the late 1950s, brought commuter traffic to a standstill during the war while playing the U.S. national anthem, and was subsequently asked by
2516-399: A lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 60.9% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported 16 murders, 45 rapes, 461 robberies, 732 felony assaults, 300 burglaries, 758 grand larcenies, and 461 grand larcenies auto in 2022. Wakefield has seen a rise in gangs and gang-related violence from neighboring Edenwald . The high school drop-out rate
2664-460: A mechanical board was installed in the Main Concourse. 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. One of
2812-624: A precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic , Grand Central North closed on March 26, 2020. It reopened in September of that year with hours from 6:30 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. In 2021, its original hours were restored. 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 ". After Grand Central Madison begins full service, Grand Central North will be open from 5:30 a.m. until 2 a.m., seven days
2960-477: A proposal to unite the three railroads at a single central station, replacing the separate and adjacent stations that created chaos in baggage transfer. The three lines would meet at Mott Haven, then run on the Harlem Railroad's tracks along Park Avenue in Manhattan to a new hub station at 42nd Street. By 1869, Vanderbilt had commissioned John B. Snook to design his new station, dubbed Grand Central Depot , on
3108-423: A southbound train overran signals in the smoky Park Avenue Tunnel and collided with another southbound train, killing 15 people and injuring more than 30 others. A week later, New York Central president William H. Newman announced that all of the railroad's suburban lines to Grand Central would be electrified, and the approach to the station would be put underground. The New York state legislature subsequently passed
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#17328448601263256-403: A temporary station during construction. The construction project was enormous. About 3.2 million cubic yards (2,400,000 m) of the ground were excavated at depths of up to 10 floors, with 1,000 cubic yards (760 m) of debris being removed from the site daily. Over 10,000 workers were assigned to put 118,597 short tons (107,589 t) of steel and 33 miles (53 km) of track inside
3404-493: A terminal with separate levels for commuter and intercity railroads; a main concourse with ramps to the lower concourse and the IRT subway station ; an expansive waiting room; a hotel on Madison Avenue; and a viaduct surrounding the 12-story building above the station building. New York Central also planned to eliminate railroad crossings in the Bronx, as well as straighten out and add tracks to
3552-470: A three-story head house as well as a train shed to the north and east of the head house. The head house was an L-shaped structure with a short leg running east–west on 42nd Street and a long leg running north–south on Vanderbilt Avenue. It contained passenger service areas at ground level and railroad offices on the upper levels. The train shed was a generally cylindrical-shaped glass structure about 530 feet (160 m) long by 200 feet (61 m) wide, with
3700-453: A time could be taken out of service. Despite the scale of the project, no pedestrians were hurt during construction. The first bite, which covered the area along Lexington Avenue, required the demolition of more than 200 buildings — and the eviction of hundreds of people from their homes — on a 17-acre (6.9 ha) plot of land bounded by Madison and Lexington avenues between 50th and 45th streets. O'Rourke soon fell behind schedule, and soon it
3848-534: A train arrives at the terminal every 58 seconds. Three of Metro-North's five main lines terminate at Grand Central: 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 . The MTA's Long Island Rail Road operates commuter trains to
3996-504: 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
4144-554: A week. The main entrance into the terminal, underneath the Park Avenue Viaduct, opens into the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Foyer. 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
4292-576: A whole declined slightly during the Great Depression . Regulations from the Interstate Commerce Commission and competition from automobile traffic were cited as factors in this decline. The railroad's finances were also put in danger because of the large amounts of debt incurred during the construction of Grand Central Terminal and Terminal City. New York Central's debt had grown from $ 299 million in 1911 to $ 377 million in 1914. By 1932,
4440-402: 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
4588-542: A year. To accommodate the crowds, the railroads expanded the head house from three to six stories, enlarged the concourse at a cost of $ 2.5 million to connect the three railroads' separate waiting rooms, and increased the combined areas of the waiting rooms from 12,000 to 28,000 square feet (1,100 to 2,600 m). Foyers were added to the west, south, and east sides of the station; women's waiting rooms, smoking rooms, and restrooms were also added. The tracks that previously continued south of 42nd Street were removed. The train yard
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4736-426: 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. In their design for the station's interior, Reed & Stem created a circulation system that allowed passengers alighting from trains to enter
4884-596: Is bounded by the city's border with Westchester County to the north, East 222nd Street to the south, and the Bronx River Parkway to the west. Wakefield is the northernmost neighborhood in New York City (although the city's northernmost point is actually in Riverdale , at the University of Mount Saint Vincent ). The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community District 12 and its ZIP Codes are 10466 and 10470. Wakefield
5032-407: Is designated a "terminal" because trains originate and terminate there. 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". Grand Central Terminal serves some 67 million passengers a year, more than any other Metro-North station. During morning rush hour ,
5180-578: Is higher than the city average, but lower than central Bronx neighborhoods. Many households in the area are headed by a single mother. Wakefield is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Co. 63/Ladder Co. 39/Battalion 15, located at 755 East 233rd Street. Wakefield is located within two ZIP Codes . Most of the neighborhood is located in 10466, but certain areas around East 241st Street and White Plains Road are part of 10470. The United States Postal Service operates
5328-401: 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. 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
5476-670: Is located further west in Woodlawn (and partly in Westchester). The New York Public Library (NYPL)'s Wakefield branch is located at 4100 Lowerre Place. The branch opened in 1938 and contains collections in its basement and first floor. The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve Wakefield: Wakefield is also served by the following Bee-Line Bus System routes to Westchester County, New York : The following New York City Subway stations serve Wakefield: The Metro-North Railroad also stops at Wakefield station , served by
5624-412: Is located on the upper platform level of Grand Central, in the geographical center of the station building. The 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m ) 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
5772-413: Is named for the plantation where Washington lived for most of his adulthood. Formerly, Wakefield was home to large Irish American and Italian-American populations. During the 1980s, these communities were replaced with large Caribbean and Guyanese populations, which now compose 72.3% of the neighborhood's total population. 19.6% of the population is Hispanic. Many residents are or are descended from
5920-404: 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,
6068-562: Is patrolled by the 47th Precinct of the New York City Police Department . Wakefield, originally in Westchester County, became part of New York County and New York City, when the eastern section of The Bronx was incorporated and merged with the western section (previously incorporated in 1873) as a borough of New York City, in 1895. Like the rest of the Bronx, it was once mainly forested and later became farmland. With
History of Grand Central Terminal - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-594: The 4 , 5 , 6 , and <6> trains, opened in 1918. The Grand Central Art Galleries opened in the terminal in 1923. The space was operated by the Painters and Sculptors Gallery Association, founded by artists John Singer Sargent , Edmund Greacen , Walter Leighton Clark , and others. At its opening, the Galleries extended over most of the terminal's sixth floor, 15,000 square feet (1,400 m), and offered eight main exhibition rooms,
6364-700: 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 . 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
6512-582: The Architectural Iron Works . Although Vanderbilt was inspired by French Classical architecture , Snook's final design was in the Second Empire style . Its design, materials, and convenience rivaled European train stations; it was considered the first in the U.S. to measure up to those in Europe. Construction started on September 1, 1869, and the depot was completed by October 1871. The project included
6660-534: The COVID-19 pandemic . City Winery signed a lease for both the food hall and the Agern space in 2022. 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. The Biltmore Room, originally known simply as the incoming train room, is a 64-by-80-foot (20 by 24 m) marble hall that serves as an entrance to tracks 39 through 42, and connects to Grand Central Madison. The hall
6808-565: The Caribbean (mostly Jamaican ) and Guyanese immigrants. The 2010 United States Census reported a population of 67,813 residents in the surrounding area, while the 2000 United States Census reported a total of 68,787 residents. Wakefield and Eastchester are patrolled by the 47th Precinct of the NYPD , located at 4111 Laconia Avenue. The 47th Precinct ranked 35th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The 47th Precinct has
6956-579: The Chrysler Building ; luxury apartment houses along Park Avenue; and an array of high-end hotels. The Commodore Hotel , built on the east side of Grand Central Terminal, was opened in 1919. Terminal City was mostly complete by the late 1920s with the completion of the Graybar Building in 1927 and the Helmsley Building in 1929. The development of Terminal City also included the construction of
7104-513: The Grand Central Madison station beneath Grand Central, completed in 2023 in the East Side Access project. The project connects the terminal to all of the railroad's branches via its Main Line , linking Grand Central Madison to almost every LIRR station. Partial service to Jamaica began on January 25, 2023. The New York City Subway 's adjacent Grand Central–42nd Street station serves
7252-454: The Harlem Line . Several scenes from the 1970 film Love Story starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw were filmed on East 233rd Street, East 238th Street (Nereid Avenue), and Barnes Avenue, all located within the neighborhood. The Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church located at 4360 Boyd Avenue (corner of Barnes Avenue) is featured in the film. Many internal and external bar scenes from
7400-686: The New York City Rapid Transit Commission was planning to give the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) the right to construct an underground subway route around Grand Central Station, which would preempt New York Central's rights to build underground. Wilgus' letter also proposed replacing the two-year-old station with a new two-level electric train terminal, which would allow a larger yard to be built. The terminal would include balloon loops to allow trains to turn around without changing direction. To offset
7548-402: The New York and Harlem Railroad , and the New York and New Haven Railroad in what is now Midtown Manhattan. The Harlem Railroad was the first of these railroads to operate, having been incorporated in 1831. The railroad had been extended to Harlem , in upper Manhattan, by 1837. The first railroad structure of any kind on the modern-day site of Grand Central Terminal was a maintenance shed for
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#17328448601267696-460: The Park Avenue Viaduct , surrounding the station; one leg of the viaduct opened in 1919, and another part of the viaduct opened in 1928. The electrification of the commuter lines and subsequent completion of Grand Central Terminal contributed to the development of affluent suburbs in the lower Hudson Valley and southwestern Connecticut. This trend had been observed as early as 1907, following
7844-516: The 1950s and 1970s, there were two separate proposals to demolish Grand Central, though both were unsuccessful. The terminal was given several official landmark designations during this period. Minor improvements occurred through the 1970s and 1980s, followed by an extensive rehabilitation in the mid- and late 1990s. From 1913 to 1991, Grand Central was also a major intercity terminal. In its latter years as an intercity station, all trains traveling along Amtrak 's Empire Corridor —the former main line of
7992-421: 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
8140-593: 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. 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. Since summer 2006, Grand Central North has been closed on weekends. As
8288-512: The 62nd and youngest county in the state. The current Wakefield station of the Metro-North Railroad 's Harlem Line was on the site of a village called Washingtonville, which was incorporated into Wakefield when it became a village on August 8, 1889. Wakefield was named after the Virginia plantation where George Washington was born (now part of George Washington Birthplace National Monument ). Neighboring Mount Vernon , in Westchester County,
8436-493: The Carey businesses displayed affordable items with visible price tags in its show windows, as opposed to the norm of displaying the most expensive and luxury items. Carey would store his merchandise in an unfinished, underground two-story section 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
8584-546: The Fourth Avenue Improvement Project. The tracks between 48th and 56th streets were to be moved into a shallow open cut , while the segment between 56th and 97th streets, which was in a rock cut, would be covered over. The improvements were completed in 1874, allowing trains approaching Grand Central Depot from the north to descend into the Park Avenue Tunnel at 96th Street and continue underground into
8732-506: The Harlem Railroad expanded in the area around the 42nd Street depot, which at the time was still sparsely developed. By the mid-1860s, the railroad owned 11 parcels bounded by 42nd and 48th streets on either side of Fourth Avenue, between Lexington Avenue and Madison Avenue . The structures on these parcels included two locomotive sheds, a car house, and a stable and horseshoeing shop for the horses that pulled Harlem Railroad carriages from 42nd Street to Madison Square. Vanderbilt developed
8880-532: The Harlem Railroad, built c. 1837 on the west side of Fourth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets. Since the Harlem Railroad had the exclusive right to operate along the east side of Manhattan south of the Harlem River , it originally ran as a steam railroad on street level along Fourth (now Park) Avenue . After the passage of laws prohibiting steam trains in Lower Manhattan, the railroad's southern terminal
9028-505: The Harlem and New Haven Railroads' southern terminal was moved there. The Hudson River Railroad, meanwhile, was limited to the west side of Manhattan, away from the development that was concentrated on the east side. The business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt , who operated steamboats along the Hudson River, started buying the Harlem Railroad's stock in 1863. By the next year, he also controlled
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#17328448601269176-497: The Hudson Division. Excavations were only performed if there were available tracks to accommodate the work trains. Although construction continued around the clock, workers often halted every few minutes to allow trains to pass, and a smaller crew worked during the day than in the night. In addition, since Grand Central Station saw 800 trains per day, rock-blasting for excavation could only be performed at night, and only one track at
9324-467: The Hudson River Railroad. Vanderbilt attempted to get permission to merge the railroads in 1864, but Daniel Drew , a one-time competitor in the steamboat industry, bribed state legislators to scuttle the proposal. Drew unsuccessfully attempted to short-sell Harlem and New York Central stock, and Vanderbilt made large profits after buying stock in both companies. Vanderbilt became the president of
9472-676: The Hudson River and New York Central railroads in 1867, and merged them into the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad two years later, on November 1, 1869. He then built a connecting line along the Harlem River's northern and eastern bank, running from the Hudson River Railroad in Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx , to the junction with the Harlem Railroad in Mott Haven, Bronx , as part of the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad . Concurrently,
9620-414: The Main Concourse and the construction of Grand Central Tower . 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 65 by 205 feet (20 m × 62 m). The north and south walls are divided into five bays, each with large rectangular windows, screened with heavy bronze grills. The room
9768-471: The Main Concourse ceiling. 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
9916-606: 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 240 feet (73 m) east to Lexington Avenue by 43rd Street. Several passages run north of the terminal, including
10064-454: 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 48 acres (19 ha) and has 44 platforms , more than any other railroad station in the world. Its platforms, all below ground, serve 30 tracks on
10212-582: The New York Central—originated and terminated at Grand Central. In 1991, Amtrak consolidated its New York City services at nearby Penn Station . The East Side Access project, which brought Long Island Rail Road service to a new station beneath the terminal, was completed in January 2023. Grand Central Terminal arose from a need to build a central station for the Hudson River Railroad ,
10360-512: 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
10508-606: The Northwest Passage's walls have red ones. The ceilings are 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3.0 m) 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. 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,
10656-538: The Wakefield Station post office at 4165 White Plains Road. There are several public schools scattered throughout the neighborhood including PS 16, PS 21 and PS 103. There are also many private and catholic schools including St. Francis-Assisi, Our Lady of Grace and the prominent all-male Catholic secondary school Mount Saint Michael Academy , which serves 1,100 students from grades 7-12. The all-female St. Barnabas High School serves many students from Wakefield and
10804-438: The building and in the number of tracks. The Grand Central Terminal project was divided into eight phases, though the construction of the terminal itself comprised only two of these phases. The current building was intended to compete with the now-destroyed Pennsylvania Station , a high-end electric-train hub being built on Manhattan's west side for the arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad by McKim, Mead & White . Wilgus wanted
10952-453: The building, The design also incorporated air rights above the tracks, as had Wilgus's original proposal. Nepotism may have played a role in the selection of Reed & Stem—one partner, Charles A. Reed, was Wilgus's brother-in-law, and the official reason for their selection was that Reed & Stem's plan contained "an elevated driveway around the Terminal". Family ties definitely accounted for
11100-425: The building. Grand Central Terminal Metro-North Railroad terminal 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
11248-510: The building. They installed ramps of different angles and watched as people of a variety of ages, heights, and weights walked up and down them, in unblinded and blind trials . The incline chosen was 8 degrees, reportedly gentle enough for a child to toddle from a train to 42nd Street. One additional test took place in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, where 13 stone pillars were erected and allowed to weather. The architects wanted to choose
11396-487: The completion of electrification. Well-to-do passengers were likely to travel to destinations served by electric trains that ran directly from Grand Central, such as Greenwich or Larchmont , while less wealthy passengers were likely to get off at stops that were further away, such as Stamford or New Rochelle . New York Central promoted new private suburban developments through its “Four-Track Series" magazine. Following Grand Central Terminal's completion, traffic to and from
11544-511: 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. 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
11692-472: The concourse's original terrazzo floor. 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 . 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
11840-586: The construction of Grand Central Terminal alone was expected to cost $ 100 million. The New York Central Railroad tested third-rail-powered electric trains in 1904, using a fleet of new MU Sprague-GE cars from the General Electric Company , and found that their speeds were adequate for service into Grand Central. Over the next few years, the New York Central and New Haven Railroads electrified their tracks, allowing trains to enter Grand Central Terminal upon its completion. The first electric train departed for
11988-429: The costs of construction and of acquiring the expensive new land that would be required—Grand Central proper only covered three blocks—he proposed to superimpose over the terminal a 12-story, 2,300,000-square-foot (210,000 m) building whose rents would bring in gross annual income of either $ 1.35 million or $ 2.3 million. In March 1903, Wilgus presented a more detailed proposal to the New York Central board, describing
12136-499: The country's fourth-largest at the time, The New York Sun wrote just before it opened. The project included the construction of Depew Place, a marginal road on the east side of the annex named for longtime Vanderbilt lawyer Chauncey Depew and meant to complement Vanderbilt Avenue on the station's west side. The train yards were also expanded, and various maintenance sheds were moved to Mott Haven. Grand Central Depot reached its capacity again by 1897, when it saw 11.5 million passengers
12284-484: The creation of Vanderbilt Avenue , a service road along the depot's western border. To reduce confusion, the railroads staggered their inaugural runs to the new station. The Harlem Railroad switched from its Madison Square depot on October 9, 1871; the New Haven Railroad arrived on October 16; and the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad on November 1, eight days later than planned. The terminal consisted of
12432-559: The decision to hire Warren and Wetmore as co-designers: Cornelius Vanderbilt's grandson William insisted upon employing the firm co-founded by his cousin Whitney Warren . Warren was an alumnus of the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts , which influenced his final design for the building. The two firms entered an agreement to act as the associated architects of Grand Central Terminal in February 1904. Reed and Stem were responsible for
12580-423: The diagonally opposite corner. 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. The 1,000-foot (300 m) Northwest Passage and 1,200-foot (370 m) Northeast Passage run parallel to the tracks on the upper level, while two shorter cross-passages run perpendicular to
12728-648: The east wing until 1944. In 1958, the Grand Central Art Galleries moved out of the terminal, to the Biltmore Hotel . A power and heating plant had been built in conjunction with the terminal, on the east side of Park Avenue between 49th and 50th streets. The plant provided power to the tracks and the station, as well as to nearby buildings. By the late 1920s, the power and heating plant had become largely unnecessary, as most power and heating services were contracted out to Consolidated Edison . The power plant
12876-419: The entrance. 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
13024-440: The expansion of railroad transportation via the arrival of the New York and Harlem Railroad circa 1840, the area experienced moderate development. In 1898, the boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx were merged with greater New York City as a result of the state legislature's decision to amalgamate New York City with Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. The Bronx later attained independent county status on April 19, 1912, which makes it
13172-552: The final structure. The excavation produced too much spoil for horse-drawn wagons, which at the time could carry 3 or 4 cubic yards (2.3 or 3.1 m) apiece, so a 0.5-mile-long (0.80 km), 6-foot-wide (1.8 m) drainage tube was sunk 65 feet (20 m) under the ground to the East River. O'Rourke also carried waste away by train, using hopper cars to transport rock and earth to a landfill in Croton-on-Hudson, New York , via
13320-406: 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. The middle passageway houses Grand Central Market, a cluster of food shops. The site
13468-453: The following routes: These MTA Regional Bus Operations buses stop near Grand Central: 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 ,
13616-524: 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. Since 1999, Vanderbilt Hall has hosted the annual Tournament of Champions squash championship. Each January, tournament officials construct a free-standing glass-enclosed 21-by-32-foot (6.4 by 9.8 m) squash court. Like
13764-509: The late 1890s and early 1900s, so did the problems of smoke and soot produced by steam locomotives in the Park Avenue Tunnel, the only approach to the station. In 1899, William J. Wilgus , the New York Central's chief engineer, proposed electrifying the lines leading to the station, using a third rail power system devised by Frank J. Sprague . Railroad executives approved the plan, but shelved it as too expensive. On January 8, 1902,
13912-414: The late 1890s or early 1900s as expected. In 1885, a seven-track annex with five platforms was added to the east side of the existing terminal. Designed in the same style as the original station, with a 90-foot-high (27 m) mansard roof , it handled passengers disembarking to New York City, while the original building handled outbound traffic. If the annex had been a standalone station, it would have been
14060-538: The name of its immediate predecessor 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. According to 21st-century sources, it
14208-557: The need for ultra-strong columns to support the upper level. The upper level was covered over in 1910. The second and third bites were harder to construct than the first bite, as these were located over the most active sections of track on the west and center sides of Grand Central. North of the station site, Park Avenue and surrounding streets were raised onto bridges above the tracks. The first and second bites had been completed by 1910. The last train left Grand Central Station at midnight on June 5, 1910, and workers promptly began demolishing
14356-431: The new Grand Central Terminal's architecture to match the grand design of Penn Station. In 1903, New York Central invited four well-known firms and architects to compete for the job: Daniel H. Burnham ; McKim, Mead & White; Reed and Stem ; and Samuel Huckel Jr. All four proposed a station topped by a tower, though Huckel did not seem to have participated significantly in the competition. McKim, Mead & White suggested
14504-406: The new depot. As part of the project, Fourth Avenue was transformed into a boulevard with a median strip that covered the railroad's ventilation grates, and renamed Park Avenue. Eight footbridges crossed the tracks between 45th and 56th streets; vehicles crossed on overpasses at 45th and 48th streets. Traffic at Grand Central Depot grew quickly, filling its 12 tracks to capacity by the mid-1880s, not
14652-605: The new station. The building was nearly finished by this point, although some additions would take place later, including the installation of Glory of Commerce in 1914. The terminal spurred development in the surrounding area, particularly in Terminal City , a commercial and office district created above where the tracks were covered. Land values along Park Avenue and in Terminal City more than tripled from 1904 to 1926. Terminal City would eventually include office buildings such as
14800-814: The new terminal increased considerably. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, Grand Central handled 22.4 million passengers. By 1920, a total of 37 million passengers used the station. However, Grand Central was not the most-used station in New York City after 1919, because Penn Station consistently saw more passengers than Grand Central. Even so, Grand Central's development led to the rapid growth of New York City's northern suburbs. The Bronx's population nearly quadrupled between 1900 and 1920, while Westchester's population more than doubled. In 1918, flags were hung in Grand Central Terminal, honoring railroad employees who were fighting in World War I . One flag read 4,976 for
14948-876: 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 16-acre (65,000 m ) 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
15096-527: The north–south 45th Street Passage, which leads to 45th Street and Madison Avenue, 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. Its walls and seven large transverse arches are made of coursed ashlar travertine , and
15244-501: The number of New York Central employees serving, another read 1,412 for New York, New Haven & Hartford employees, and a third read 104 for Grand Central Terminal employees. In 1918, New York Central proposed expanding Grand Central Terminal. Three tracks would be built on the outside of the suburban level, new platforms would be built, and the ramps to the platforms would be widened. A power plant would also be constructed at 43rd Street. Passenger numbers continued to grow, and by 1927,
15392-525: The old station. A large scaffold, as high and wide as the trusses of the train shed, was erected at the rear of the shed. The scaffold was built on rollers, and as each section was demolished, the scaffold was moved to the next section. The design of the new station was not finalized until 1910 because certain design elements of the new terminal, such as the Main Concourse , were not decided until most of Grand Central Station had been demolished In January 1911,
15540-497: The overall design of the station, while Warren and Wetmore worked on designing the station's Beaux-Arts exterior. Charles Reed was appointed the chief executive for the collaboration between the two firms, and he promptly appointed Alfred T. Fellheimer as head of the combined design team. New York Central submitted its final proposal for the terminal to the New York City Board of Estimate later that year. The proposed station
15688-441: The platforms via 37 stairs, six elevators, and five escalators. 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
15836-546: The project's cost, also objected to the tower's removal because it would deprive the railroad of revenue, and objected to Warren's elaborate design because it would cost more to build than Wilgus's and Reed and Stem's. The New Haven refused to approve the final design until December 1909, when the two railroads and agreed to include foundations to support a future building above Grand Central Terminal. The elevated viaducts were also restored, as were several of Reed and Stem's other design elements, but Warren's elaborate headhouse design
15984-571: The railroad could not pay dividends to its stockholders, though this financial deficit was somewhat ameliorated by the end of the decade. When Grand Central Terminal opened, it contained a direct connection to the adjacent IRT subway station . The current 42nd Street Shuttle platforms were part of the original IRT subway , which opened in 1904. The IRT Flushing Line platform, served by the 7 and <7> trains, opened in 1915, two years after Grand Central Terminal's opening. The IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms, served by
16132-489: The railroad filed 55 blueprints for the new station building with the New York City Department of Buildings , among the most comprehensive sets of plans that had ever been submitted to the department. The last tracks from the former Grand Central Station were decommissioned on June 21, 1912. On December 19, 1910, a gas explosion at an electrical substation near Grand Central killed 10 people and injured 117 more. It
16280-510: The railroad lines leading to Grand Central, as part of the Grand Central improvement. The railroad's board of directors approved the $ 35 million project in June 1903; ultimately, almost all of Wilgus's proposal would be implemented. The entire building was to be torn down in phases and replaced by the current Grand Central Terminal . It was to be the biggest terminal in the world, both in the size of
16428-480: 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. 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
16576-516: 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. Later, the room held a newsstand, flower stand, and shoe shine booths. In 2015, the MTA awarded
16724-466: The segments of the lines into Grand Central were electrified by 1907, full electrification on the remaining parts of these lines was not completed until 1913. Subsequently, as Grand Central Terminal was being completed, all three commuter rail lines moved their operations to Grand Central Palace. Work on the yard progressed slowly, due to the small size of each individual bite, as well as the difficulty of designing two levels with separate track layouts, and
16872-406: The site of the 42nd Street depot. The site was far outside the limits of the developed city at the time, and even Vanderbilt's backers warned against building the terminal in such an undeveloped area. Snook worked with engineers Isaac Buckhout and R.G. Buckfield to design the structure. Its train shed was designed by either Joseph Duclos or R. G. Hatfield, both of whom were employed by the fabricators,
17020-706: The soon-to-be-demolished Grand Central Station, to the Harlem Division's Highbridge station in the Bronx, on September 30, 1906. Electrification was eventually extended to Croton–Harmon station , the Hudson Line's northern terminus. By late 1906, Harlem Division trains were also electrified, and its operations moved to the basement of Grand Central Palace; Harlem Line electrification would ultimately stretch as far north as Southeast station . New Haven Division electric trains started running to Grand Central in October 1907. Though
17168-456: The south side of 47th Street between Park and Lexington avenues. 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 . Proposals for these tunnels had been discussed since at least the 1970s. The MTA approved preliminary plans in 1983, gave final approval in 1991, and began construction in 1994. Dubbed
17316-414: The stationmaster not to play the anthem and delay commuters. Also during the war, retired employees rejoined the terminal's staff, and women first began being trained as ticket agents, both to make up for the lack of younger men. Due to Grand Central's importance in civilian and military transit, the terminal's windows were covered with blackout paint , which would prevent aerial bombers from easily detecting
17464-406: The successors of the New York Central and New Haven railroads. Grand Central Terminal arose from a need to build a central station for three railroads in present-day Midtown Manhattan. In 1871, the magnate Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt created Grand Central Depot for the New York Central & Hudson River, New York and Harlem Railroad , and New Haven railroads. Due to rapid growth, the depot
17612-500: The terminal in sections. The project was to contain three phases or "bites" in total, moving from east to west. As originally planned, the first new bite was supposed to be completed in December 1905, and the last bites would be completed two or three years afterward. Construction on Grand Central Terminal started on June 19, 1903, though official construction plans were not submitted to the city until December 1904. A contract for depressing
17760-563: The terminal saw 43 million annual passengers. Minor improvements were made to Grand Central Terminal during the 1920s and 1930s, such as the 1926 opening of the Graybar Passageway, as well as the 1937 opening of Grand Central's newsreel theater. In 1938, two lower-level platforms were extended to allow commuters to board more easily. By that year, the terminal was regularly accommodating 100,000 passengers and at least 300,000 visitors on an average weekday. The ridership of New York Central as
17908-427: 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. 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. The sorting system
18056-659: 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
18204-552: The tracks on Park Avenue south of 57th Street, as well as for excavating the storage yards, was awarded to the O'Rourke Construction Company in August 1903. The following year, New York Central bought two additional blocks of land east of the future terminal, bounded by Lexington Avenue, Depew Place, and 43rd and 45th streets. This land acquisition included the Grand Central Palace Hotel, an exhibition hall that would be used as
18352-408: The tracks. The 47th Street cross-passage runs between the upper and lower tracks, 30 feet (9.1 m) below street level; it provides access to upper-level tracks. The 45th Street cross-passage runs under the lower tracks, 50 feet (15 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
18500-480: The train shed's roof from St Pancras and London's Crystal Palace , as well as from the Louvre museum in Paris. The tracks laid to the new terminal proved problematic. Accidents began immediately at the grade crossings along Fourth Avenue from 42nd and 59th streets; seven people died within 12 days of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad's move to Grand Central. The following year, in 1872, Vanderbilt proposed
18648-448: 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. 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",
18796-554: The vice president of New York Central—to write a fateful letter to Newman. Dated December 22, 1902, it argued that the Park Avenue open cut should be electrified because electric trains were cleaner, faster, and cheaper to repair. Electrification would also remove the issue of smoke and soot exhaust; as such, the open cut could be covered over, and the railroad would benefit from enabling new real estate to be built along sixteen blocks of Park Avenue. The tunnel had to be approved soon because
18944-484: Was among the most famous trains of its time. 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. Notable Amtrak services at Grand Central included the Lake Shore , Empire Service , Adirondack , Niagara Rainbow , Maple Leaf , and Empire State Express . Grand Central Terminal
19092-466: 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 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
19240-464: 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. 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, as well as for special exhibitions and private events. From 2016 to 2020, the west half of
19388-505: Was chartered in 1849 and had trackage rights to operate on the Harlem Railroad's tracks from Wakefield, Bronx , to Manhattan. The Hudson River Railroad did not have any trackage rights with the Harlem Railroad, so it ran in Manhattan separately along what would become the West Side Line , terminating at Tenth Avenue and 30th Street in what is now Hudson Yards . When the city banned steam trains below 42nd Street c. 1857–1858 ,
19536-415: 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. 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 ]; and 1,100 umbrellas" a year. By 2007, it was collecting 20,000 items
19684-524: Was considered the largest railroad station in the world, with 12 tracks that could accommodate 150 train cars at once. It also had the largest interior space in North America. The storage yard stretched north to 58th Street. Because of the complexity of the switches in the yard, New York Central employed several shunting locomotives to shunt empty passenger cars to and from the storage sidings . Grand Central Depot contained three innovative features of note: high-level platforms, level with train cars' floors;
19832-404: Was described as being largely complete the same year. The section-by-section building process doubled the cost of construction; at first the project was supposed to cost $ 40.7 million, but the cost jumped to $ 59.9 million in 1904 and to $ 71.8 million in 1906. The total cost of improvements, including electrification and the development of Park Avenue, was estimated at $ 180 million in 1910. Of that,
19980-477: 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 . The Main Concourse
20128-581: Was later discovered that a motorman had accidentally broken a gas storage tank, causing a leak. A jury later declined to find the motorman guilty of wrongdoing. On February 2, 1913, the new terminal was opened. Passengers boarded the first train at one minute past midnight. The opening had been celebrated one day prior with a private dinner for Warren and Wetmore and 100 guests at the Grand Central Terminal Restaurant . Within 16 hours of its opening, an estimated 150,000 people had passed through
20276-467: Was massive, containing two track levels, a large main concourse, a post office, several entrances, and a construction footprint spanning 19 blocks. The design team, called Associated Architects of Grand Central Terminal, had a tense relationship due to constant design disputes. Over Wilgus' objections, Warren and Wetmore removed the 12-story tower and vehicular viaducts that had been part of Reed and Stem's plan. The New Haven Railroad, which bore one-third of
20424-494: Was moved northward from 14th Street in Union Square to 26th Street near Madison Square . In 1857, the New Haven Railroad built a terminal adjacent to the Harlem Railroad's; their rail lines turned into a rail yard shared by both terminals, which was the beginning of the idea of a central terminal, shared by different rail companies. The building was later converted into the first Madison Square Garden . The New Haven Railroad
20572-447: Was much criticism of the station's filthiness. In 1899, The New York Times published an editorial that began, "Nothing except the New York City government has been so discreditable to it as its principal railroad station […] at 42nd Street." The architect Samuel Huckel Jr. was commissioned to make further modifications to the terminal's interior. A nearby post office was also proposed to ease mail handling. As train traffic increased in
20720-576: Was once the office of 1920s tycoon John W. Campbell , who decorated it to resemble the galleried hall of a 13th-century Florentine palace. In 1999, it opened as a bar, the Campbell Apartment; a new owner renovated and renamed it the Campbell in 2017. Wakefield, Bronx Wakefield is a working-class and middle-class section of the northern borough of the Bronx in New York City . It
20868-445: Was originally a segment of 43rd Street which became the terminal's first service dock in 1913. In 1975, a Greenwich Savings Bank branch was built in the space, 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. The southernmost of
21016-686: Was originally configured with two parallel passages, later simplified into one wide passageway. 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
21164-548: Was reconfigured and a pneumatic switch system was added in an effort to reduce congestion and turn-around time for trains. Finally, the renovation added a new facade in the Neo-Renaissance style, based on plans by railroad architect Bradford Gilbert . The reconstructed building was renamed Grand Central Station . The new waiting room, located between 42nd Street and the concourse, opened in October 1900. By this time, Grand Central had lost its impression of grandeur, and there
21312-447: Was reconstructed and renamed Grand Central Station by 1900. The current structure, designed by the firms Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore , was built after a 1902 crash between two steam trains had prompted a study of the feasibility of electric trains. The building's construction started in 1903 and it was opened on February 2, 1913. The terminal continued to grow until after World War II, when train traffic started to decline. In
21460-446: Was retained. Reed died in 1911; the day after his funeral, Wetmore and New York Central met secretly. The railroad then entered a contract solely with Warren and Wetmore, who took full credit for the station's design. Allen H. Stem of Reed and Stem subsequently sued Warren and Wetmore, which was ordered to pay restitution after a protracted legal battle. Before construction, the architects tested several aspects that were to be included in
21608-546: Was returned to its original two-story volume during the terminal's 1998 restoration. The Oyster Bar ramps lead down from the Main Concourse to the Oyster Bar and Dining Concourse. They span a total of 302 ft (92 m) from east to west under an 84 ft (26 m) 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
21756-559: Was torn down starting in 1929 and replaced by the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel. A new substation was built 100 feet (30 m) under the Graybar Building at a cost of $ 3 million, and opened in February 1930. In 1913 when the terminal opened, J. P. Carey leased 12 square feet (1.1 m) and opened a shop adjacent to and one level below the terminal's waiting room (now Vanderbilt Hall). Carey's business expanded to include
21904-413: Was unable to excavate the first bite before the deadline of July 1, 1906. The construction company blamed New York Central for not making tracks available, thereby preventing its trains from hauling out debris, but was loath to hire more workers because it would cost more money. This considerably slowed construction progress. In May 1907, O'Rourke and New York Central terminated their contract. The first bite
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