HOTEL IN GRAND CENTRAL STATION HOW TO
HOTEL IN GRAND CENTRAL STATION PATCH

HOTEL IN GRAND CENTRAL STATION PATCH

We think it’s a fitting homage to the family.” An Unrestored Patch Remains on the Ceiling Mural “It’s around the water fountains, above the doors to the platforms, atop the iconic clock and the ticket windows, and on a lot of the lighting fixtures. Eventually, two architectural firms were hired to complete the project: one of which included a cousin of the Vanderbilts among its principals.Īnd while Cornelius Vanderbilt didn’t live to see the opening of Grand Central Terminal in 1913, there are reminders of his origin story and the family’s roots throughout the building-in the form of acorns and oak leaf ornamentations.Īccording to Concetta Anne Bencivenga, director of the New York Transit Museum, the motif comes from the Vanderbilt family crest, which is based on the motto, “out of an acorn, a mighty oak grows,” and there are many examples that remain today. Within a few decades, Grand Central Depot could no longer accommodate the rail traffic of the rapidly growing city, and in 1903, the New York Central Railroad’s board of directors-which included two of Vanderbilt’s grandsons-approved plans to demolish the depot and construct a massive terminal in its place. He was also the driving force behind the construction of Grand Central Depot, which opened in Manhattan in 1871, six years prior to his death. The dynasty began with Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, a self-made shipping and railroad tycoon who amassed a multi-million-dollar fortune throughout much of the 19th century, including gaining control of the New York Central Railroad in 1867. Today, the Vanderbilt name is associated with one of the wealthiest families of America’s Gilded Age, but this wasn’t always the case. There Are Acorns and Oak Leaves Everywhere Here are the stories behind eight of them.

Despite being open to the public for more than a century, and approximately 750,000 people passing through the complex each day, Grand Central Terminal has retained a few secrets and hidden features.

HOTEL IN GRAND CENTRAL STATION HOW TO

“Grand Central Terminal represents one of those buildings where it was built with money as almost no object, intended to be left as a legacy by one person who consulted others as to how to build an efficient, useful, but also aesthetically stunning building.”įinally, there’s the mystery. “Today, public places are designed by committee and often by politicians who are not experts in urban design, architecture, etc.,” Young explains. There is also the visual allure of the grandiose terminal. Grand Central epitomizes that, and is the child of New York City's preservation movement.” “That dynamism is part of the city's appeal, but its identity is actually about a delicate balance between modernizing and respecting the past. “New York City is constantly tearing itself down and rebuilding,” says Michelle Young, an adjunct professor of architecture at Columbia University, and founder of Untapped New York, an online magazine that also offers tours of the city's hidden gems, including one on the Secrets of Grand Central. But preserving the past hasn’t stood in the way of upgrades to meet the city’s needs, such as the addition of Grand Central Madison, a station beneath the historic terminal that debuted in January 2023. Committees and individuals, including former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, fought to keep it standing. Unlike many of the city’s other architecturally significant structures from the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Grand Central wasn’t demolished in the name of progress. Why are people so fascinated by Grand Central? More than a century later, with the golden age of rail travel firmly in the past, the Beaux-Arts masterpiece continues to draw visitors from around the world in fact, it’s the second-most-visited destination in New York City, after Times Square. On February 2, 1913, at exactly midnight, members of the public started streaming through the doors of the newly constructed Grand Central Terminal to get their first glimpse of the architectural and engineering marvel.

Hotel in grand central station