History - Grand Central Terminal (2024)

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Grand Central Terminal is Born

Here Comes The Neighborhood

Boom Town

America's Terminal

Saved By Penn Station

Trouble Brewing

Jackie Makes History

Beauty Fades

Revitalization and Renewal

The World Is Watching

LIRR Arrives at
Grand Central Madison

Grand Central Terminal is Born

Although construction was not yet entirely complete, Grand Central Terminal officially opened to great fanfare at 12:01am on Sunday, February 2, 1913. More than 150,000 visited on opening day. New York City would never be the same.

Here Comes The Neighborhood

The Biltmore Hotel and Yale Club were constructed across Vanderbilt Ave. During the 1920’s, warehouses gave way to skyscrapers such as the Chanin, the Lincoln, and Chrysler Building. The Hotel Commodore opened in 1919 and the Graybar Building was completed in 1927, each with a passageway connection to Grand Central’s Main Concourse.

Boom Town

As the neighborhood prospered, so did Grand Central. It has housed an art gallery, an art school, a newsreel movie theater, a rail history museum, and countless temporary exhibitions. Grand Central was the busiest train station in the U.S., and famous long-distance trains like the Fast Mail, the Water-Level Limited, the Wolverine, and the Twentieth Century Limited departed from the Main Concourse.

America's Terminal

As the neighborhood prospered, so did Grand Central. It has housed an art gallery, an art school, a newsreel movie theater, a rail history museum, and countless temporary exhibitions. Grand Central was the busiest train station in the U.S., and famous long-distance trains like the Fast Mail, the Water-Level Limited, the Wolverine, and the Twentieth Century Limited departed from the Main Concourse.

Saved By Penn Station

On August 2, 1967, NYC’s recently established Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Grand Central Terminal as a landmark, subject to the protection of the law. Pennsylvania Station had recently been demolished and the decision ensured the Terminal’s safety — for the moment.

Trouble Brewing

Penn Central (the result of a merger between the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads) leased Grand Central Terminal to developer UGP Properties, Inc, who proposed building a 55-story tower designed by Marcel Breuer above Grand Central. The Terminal’s façade would have been preserved yet unviewable, and the entire main waiting room and part of the Main Concourse would have been demolished.

Jackie Makes History

Penn Central filed an $8 million lawsuit against the City of New York, which was blocking the renovation. Litigation lasted for nearly a decade. City leaders including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Brendan Gill rallied against changes and in December 1976, the national register of historic places named Grand Central Terminal a national historic landmark.

Beauty Fades

Grand Central had been spared the wrecking ball, but it was far from saved. After decades of deferred maintenance, the building was crumbling. The roof leaked, stonework was chipping away, and structural steel was rusted. Pollution and dirt had stained surfaces and commercial advertisem*nts such as the Kodak sign and the Newsweek clock blocked out natural light.

Revitalization and Renewal

Metro-North took over operations and commissioned a $435 million master revitalization plan from Beyer Blinder Belle, the architects responsible for the restoration of Ellis Island, with retail specialist Williams Jackson Ewing planning amenities and services. A further investment of $160 million was used for utility grants, Main Concourse improvements, and structural repairs.

The World Is Watching

Construction began with the cleaning of the Main Concourse ceiling. As restoration and renovation continued, the project generated more than 2000 construction-related jobs throughout New York State. The project culminated with a rededication celebration that garnered international media attention and marked the beginning of a new chapter for Grand Central Terminal.

LIRR Arrives At
Grand Central Madison