Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal in New York City
Grand Central Terminal
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Grand Central Terminal
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Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT, often inproperly called Grand Central Station) is a terminal rail station at 15 Vanderbilt Avenue (42nd Street and Park Avenue) in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger trains, it is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower.
It serves commuters traveling on the Metro-North Railroad to Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York State, and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut. Although it has been properly called “Grand Central Terminal” since 1913, many people continue to refer to it as “Grand Central Station”. Technically, that is the name of the nearby post office, as well as the name of a previous rail station on the site.
The Main Concourse is the center of Grand Central. The space is cavernous and usually filled with bustling crowds. The ticket booths are here, although many now stand unused or repurposed since the introduction of ticket vending machines. The large American flag was hung in Grand Central Terminal a few days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The unusual ceiling of the Main Concourse is described below. The main information booth is in the center of the concourse. This is a perennial meeting place, and the four-faced clock on top of the information booth is perhaps the most recognizable icon of Grand Central. Each of the four clock faces are made from opal, and both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have estimated the value to be $10m-$20m. Within the marble and brass pagoda lies a “secret” door that conceals a spiral staircase leading to the lower level information booth.
Outside the station, the clock in front of the Grand Central facade facing 42nd Street contains the world’s largest example of Tiffany glass and is surrounded by sculptures carved by the John Donnelly Company of Minerva, Hercules and Mercury. For the terminal building French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan created what was at the time of its unveiling (1914) considered to be the largest sculptural group in the world. It was 48 feet (14.6 m) high, the clock in the center having a circumference of 13 feet (4 m). The upper level tracks are reached from the Main Concourse or from various hallways and passages branching off from it.
Address
71-105 East 42nd Street, New York City
http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/
Admission
Free
Directions
By Subway:
4 5 6 7 S to Grand Central Station
By Bus
M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M42, M98, M101, M102, M103, M104 to Grand Central Terminal.