Happy Birthday Grand Central!
On February 1, 1913,
opened it's doors and today it turns 100. I decided to pay a visit to the birthday boy — girl? building? — last night, hoping to pay my respects while avoiding the crowds brought in by
(although the
in some restaurants and shops are pretty tempting). I also wanted to check out the
Transit Museum's Holiday Train show
, on view until February 10th.
I was definitely expecting something a bit more "grand" of the train show, instead it was basically a tiny store display, inside of the the Transit gift shop. The model of Grand Central itself was pretty cute, but I guess I was expecting more.
I would love to come back and eat at Cipriani Dolci overlooking the Main Concourse like Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro did in Falling in Love (it was a different restaurant then, but still), and I have yet to try the whispering corners with someone other than my mom (I think they're so romantic — but you know, not with my mom).
The full-scale Grand Central still wows me, no matter how many times I walk through it. It's a good place to spend a rainy afternoon, or in my case, a very windy, chilly night. I always end up gawking at the celestial ceiling and taking a million pictures like a starstruck tourist, but I especially love people watching from one of the balconies. I even made a little video if you want to people watch along with me. I love the hustle of everyone, the feeling that everyone is going somewhere important or exciting or exotic.
[source]
It's crazy to think that the Terminal was almost demolished in the 60s, and saved in part due to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. It makes me sick when I think about the old Penn Station, and how I'll never be able to see it — worse yet, it's now basically a K-Mart. It also makes me mad that the light no longer filters into Grand Central like it did in these famous photos, because neighboring buildings have blocked the sun. I know that change is an inevitable part of the city, but I'm grateful that Grand Central is still intact and just as impressive, even at the ripe old age of 100.
Side note: I'm not a huge fan of Pentagram's clock logo rebrand for Grand Central, but I do like the accompanying advertisements and I think the website redesign is especially nice. There's something about the clock illustration that feels cheap to me, but a lot of Pentagram's work has been really underwhelming recently, at least I think. What do you think?
