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Grand Central Terminal (often still called '''Grand Central Station''') is a Train Station at 15 Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown Manhattan , a borough of New York City . GCT (as it is often called) is located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue . Built by the New York Central Railroad (for which it was named) in an era of many 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 situated on two underground levels with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. Currently it serves commuters commuting on the Metro North Railroad to Westchester , Putnam , and Dutchess counties in New York, and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut . It is also a major station on the New York City Subway . Although it has been properly called "Grand Central Terminal" for a century, many people continue to refer to it as "Grand Central Station." Technically, that is the name of the nearby post office and New York City Subway station on the Lexington Avenue Line , as well as the name of a previous station on the site. LAYOUT Besides train platforms, Grand Central contains restaurants (the most famous of which is the Oyster Bar ), fast food outlets, delis, newsstands, a food market, an annex of the New York Transit Museum and over forty retail stores. Main Concourse ]] 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 Machine s. 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 Terminal. 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-Alexis 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 Grand Concourse or from various hallways and passages branching off from it. Ceiling In 1999 a 12 year restoration of Grand Central revealed to commuters that the concourse had an elaborately decorated astrological ceiling, painted in 1912 by French artist Paul César Helleu , and which had been obscured by decades of tobacco smoke. There are two peculiarities to this ceiling. First, the sky is backwards. Second, all of the stars are off by a bit. This is because the ceiling is based on a medieval manuscript. This manuscript visualized the sky as it would look from outside the Celestial Sphere , which is why the constellations are backwards. As the celestial sphere is an abstraction (stars are all at different distances from the earth, not lying on some sphere), this view doesn't correspond to the actual view from anywhere in the universe. The reason for the displacement of the stars is that the manuscript showed a (reflected) view of the sky in the middle ages, and due to Precession Of The Equinoxes , the stars have all moved. Dining Concourse The Dining Concourse is below the Main Concourse. It contains many Fast Food outlets and restaurants, the world-famous Oyster Bar with its Guastavino Tile vaults, and provides access to the lower level tracks. The two levels are connected by numerous Stairs , ramps, and Escalator s. Vanderbilt Hall Vanderbilt Hall, named for the Vanderbilt Family who built and owned the station, is located just off the Main Concourse. It is used and rented out for various events. Omega Board The Omega Board was an Electromechanical display mounted in Grand Central Terminal used to display the times and track numbers of arriving and departing trains. Shaped like a large black block with rows of flip panels to display train information on the front, the Board was visually incongruous with the rest of the terminal - its boxy shape contrasted strongly with the classical design of the Terminal. It was replaced with a more aesthetically fitting electronic display during renovation of Grand Central Terminal in the 1990s. Subway Station See Also: Grand Central-42nd Street (New York City Subway station) The subway platforms at Grand Central are reached from the Main Concourse. The subway areas of the station lack the majesty that is present throughout most of the rest of Grand Central. The Grand Central shuttle platforms were originally the Grand Central express stop on the original Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) line, opened in 1904 . Once the east side IRT was extended uptown in 1918 , the original tracks were converted to shuttle use. Only the #1 track is still connected to the main line on the east side, but not for passenger use. A fire in the 1960s destroyed much of the shuttle station, which has been rebuilt. The only sign of the fire damage is truncated steel beams visible above the platforms. Grand Central North Grand Central North is a relatively recent addition that provides access to Grand Central from 47th and 48th streets. It is connected to the Main Concourse through two long hallways, known as the Northwest and Northeast passages, which run parallel to the tracks. HISTORY Three buildings serving essentially the same function have stood on this site. The original large and imposing scale was intended by the New York Central Railroad to enhance competition and compare favorably in the public eye with the arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad and smaller lines. Grand Central Depot towards the station in 1880 ; note the labels for the New York and Harlem and New York and New Haven Railroads; the New York Central and Hudson River was off to the left. The two larger portals on the right allowed some horse-drawn trains to continue further downtown.]] Grand Central Depot was designed to bring the were elevated to the height of the cars and the roof was a Balloon Shed with a clear span over all of the tracks. Grand Central Station |
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