One Vanderbilt

Trains Magazine Transit
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New skyscraper going up. In the meantime, west wall of GCT in plain sight.

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“Grand Central Station, crossroads of a miilion private lives!”

What a place, it really was “Vander-Built!”

Sorry.

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I was in the deli there on the east side of the concourse buyng beer for the ride home. A good loooking blonde woman in there gave me the eye. She was pretty nice. She was also a sergeant with the NYPD. Without a doubt, New York’s finest!

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So much for the sunlight streaming thru the windows of Grand Central…

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Nice photo, but that is showing the south and west sides of the concours. The stairs shown are at the west end, the eastern staircase wasn’t built until the building was last renovated. Just to the right of the top of the stairs there used to be a pretty nice comfortable bar that is now an expensive Michael Jordan restaurant the last time I was there in 2014. The demolished building would be visible outside of the two windows on the right of the photo.

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It was nice to see the side of the building again. It had been a long time. As long as skyscrapers surround it and not replace it or get built on top of it (which was proposed until Jackie Kennedy stepped in) I don’t care.

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The center east window gets the morning sun, through the gap between the Graybar Building and the Hotel Commodore.

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Great photos! I love how people dressed back then.

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…and thin, no one obese, or very rarely. Look through the photo segment provided by Wanswheel on the Hagerstown and Frederick thread in Classic Trains showing images of downtown Hagerstown…onlookers, folks going about their business all dressed well and thin thin thin! Not like that today. …and…they did not have diet sodas and burgers and fries were cooked using real fat. Food was way way better.

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One Vanderbilt will be the tallest building in the neighborhood, as once was the New York Central Building.

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The Grand Central office building is where the “board room” scene from The Godfather was filmed.

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Going a little bit off topic here. Probably everyone has heard of Bill Ackman and his company Pershing Square.

https://www.pershingsquareholdings.com/welcome/?requested=https://www.pershingsquareholdings.com/

http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2556.pdf

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A “valiant” effort, apparently in vain, from the boys at Pershing Square. [;)]

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love the old classic photos, thx to all for sharing. And people did dress up in those days too. My parents and I got in on the tail end of grand days of railroading. Glad we got to go through GCT when we took NYC from New York City to Niagara Falls. I will never forget that round ticket counter with the clock and people hurrying in every direction. Don’t remember much about Pennsy station, we came in on PRR, just a big building with lots of space, haven’t been back since that time, so I’m sure that looks different.

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That round structure was the information counter. The ticket windows were on the south side opposite the train gates.

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Is it not still there? With the clock above? With lots of gold trim. Shame if its gone. Used to be the classic meeting point.

If I remember, on the south wall, the New Haven ticket windows were on the east side of the main entrance from 42nd Street, and the Central’s on the west side. And don’t try to buy a NYC ticket at the New Haven windnow or visa versa! Either one would sell you a ticket to Montreal, either overnight or day.

Nearbu, in a building at 41st and Park, were offices of the ticket offices of the Atalantic Coast line that would sell you a PRR ticket (yes PRR ticket stock) for a trip to the Carolinas, Georgia, F;lorida, and Alabama. And at 41st Street under the vehicular ramp to the ex-streetcar tunnel Park Avenue Vicular tunnel was the B&O ticvket office and bus station for the bus connection to Jerseyu City trainside. Happy memories of using all those facilities.

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Leaves every day at 6, arrives at 9 the next day. A drink or two, dinner, a good nights sleep and then breakfast. How civilized! Why the hell can’t I do that now? Yes, I know but still…

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5 Gold Stars to 54light15! Hear Hear!