Grand Central Terminal, New York

Architect	Reed & Stem
Date Built	Opened 1913
Location	89 E 42nd S
Description
Landmarks Preservation Commission says that when this Beaux-Arts railway station opened on February 2, 1913, ".... the citizens of New York first viewed its imposing interiors. Grand Central had become the object of international admiration. In European as well as American publications, the architectural beauty of the building had been praised, its advanced engineering and fine planning acclaimed. Many have since echoed those sentiments. The Terminal has been recognized moreover as an epochal transportation complex, a civic center, and catalyst to healthy urban development. Nearly half a million people pass through Grand Central every day, each benefiting from the superb qualities which have sustained this venerable monument through its near 70-year" "The main facade of Grand Central is crowned by the justifiably famous sculptural group created by the French artist Jules Alexis Coutan. The sculpture, a "tribute to commerce," depicts a triumphant Mercury, god of commerce and travel, flanked by a reclining Hercules, the hero famed for physical strength and moral courage, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and patroness of artists and artisans. The huge group - roughly 50 feet tall - is perfectly scaled to the monumental facade and plays an integral part in the architectural composition, functioning as the dramatic climax to the whole." - Inside - ".... the Main Concourse, the climax of the entire composition. .....'breathtakingly grand' and in the opinion of the eminent architectural historian, Henry Russell Hitchcock, 'one of the grandest spaces the early 20th century ever enclosed', has captured the affection and admiration of generations of travelers." The ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com website explains the story behind the chandeliers. It says that, ".... Dropping from Vanderbilt Hall and other parts of Grand Central Terminal like heavenly jewels are spherical chandeliers—each with its light bulbs bare and exposed. There’s a reason for this, and it stretches all the way back to the building’s construction and design at the turn of the last century. The Vanderbilt family, which built this third version of Grand Central at 42nd Street, were “immensely proud of Grand Central’s status as one of the world’s first all-electric buildings, Previously, train stations and the engines that went in and out of them were smoky and sooty, making them unpleasant—not to mention unsafe. In fact, their pride greatly influenced the station’s interior designs. When it first opened, every one of the stations chandeliers and lighting fixtures featured bare, exposed light bulbs—more than 4,000 of them.” The information booth shown above was originally a ticket counter connected by a spiral staircase with another on the level below. "The round-arched entrances to the train platforms are surmounted by lunettes containing foliate ornament against a trellised ground."

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