When it comes to the world’s most majestic train stations, New York’s Grand Central Station almost always makes the list. Built in 1913, the Beaux Arts depot is the world’s largest in terms of platforms—there are 44 of them serving 63 tracks—and it’s famed for its elaborate details, such as the magnificent celestial ceiling mural and the iconic four-faced clock (worth an estimated $10 to 20 million) in the main hall. But despite being an architectural gem, Grand Central was almost lost to the wrecking ball, like its competitor Penn Station, in the 1970s. Thanks to a push by preservationists and architecture enthusiasts, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, that captivated the nation, the terminal was saved in a landmark Supreme Court case about landmarks (pun intended)—a ruling that celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2023. This year also sees the 25th anniversary of the massive restoration that brought Grand Central back to its former glory. To celebrate these occasions, we’re taking a walk down memory lane and diving into the history of this legendary railway terminal.
At the turn of the 20th century, rail travel represented the peak of a modern, connected society. However, it also meant pollution—and lots of it. At the time, city laws prohibited steam engines south of 42nd street since the hub of the vibrant metropolis was downtown. Coincidentally, New Yorkers were keen to solidify their city as a cultural and economic capital with a majestic landmark. The complimentary occurrences meant one thing: New York City deserved a grand train depot, and 42nd street would be an ideal location for the structure. “People who come to New York should enter a palace on the end of their ride, and not a shed,” read the June 5, 1869, edition of the Real Estate Record and Guide.
Still, officials quickly determined that one depot wouldn’t be enough, and it was decided that two stations would serve the city. Pennsylvania Station, operated by Pennsylvania Railroad, would be located on the west side of the city while Grand Central Station, operated by the competing New York Central Railroad, would cover the east side of the island. Work on Penn Station began first, with the railroad hiring popular architecture firm McKim, Mead, and White, which also designed the Brooklyn Museum, to create a great Beaux Arts structure. Not to be outdone, the New York Central Railroad hosted a design competition for its own depot—two firms, Reed & Stem and Warren & Wetmore, were chosen as winners, and they (rather contemptuously) brought their two individual proposals together to create the Grand Central Terminal we see today, a masterpiece with a sculptural stone façade and a sumptuous baroque interior.
The troubles began in the mid-20th century, after the two main railroad companies merged as Penn Central, led by CEO Stuart Saunders. With the decline in rail travel, the company was losing money quickly, so Saunders had the old Penn Station building razed in 1963 and the space above the tracks converted into a revenue-generating office building and the Madison Square Garden arena—both of which are significantly less visually appealing than the McKim, Mead, and White structure. The loss of Penn Station was and still is considered one of the greatest architectural tragedies in America, prompting a public outcry that contributed to the founding of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee, designed to preserve the city’s architectural heritage, in 1965. It gave landmark status to Grand Central Terminal in 1967, hoping to spare the building from Penn Station’s fate.
But Saunders would ignore the designation, seeking bids from architects to design an office tower that would replace the Beaux Arts building. “Suffering financial woes, the railroad proposed demolishing Grand Central and replacing it with a flamboyant 80-story tower by architect I.M. Pei,” reads the station’s history page, which was curated by the New York City Transit Museum. Ironically, the Reed & Stem and Warren & Wetmore design team had proposed an office tower in their original plans, though the plan was ultimately scrapped before construction. In fact, a number of office tower proposals circulated throughout this time, including one by Marcel Breuer that saw a 55-story office tower on top of the existing structure, not in place of it.
Nonetheless, the Landmarks Preservation Committee unanimously voted to deny Saunders’s plans in 1969, and the CEO retaliated with a lawsuit, claiming that it was unconstitutional for the committee to interfere with his private property. The case was taken to the New York State Supreme Court, which ruled in Penn Central’s favor in 1975. According to Insider, the judge agreed that the city wouldn’t miss the station’s “long neglected faded beauty.”
At this point, New York’s Municipal Art Society formed the Committee to Save Grand Central, which included prominent figures including congressman and future New York mayor Ed Koch, architect Philip Johnson, and former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to drum up public support to protect not only Grand Central but all landmarks in New York. “I think if we don’t care about our past, we can’t have very much hope for our future,” said Onassis at a press conference. “We’ve all heard that it’s too late…but I don’t think that’s true. Because I think if there is a great effort, even if it’s at the 11th hour, you can succeed.” In a New York Times article in January of 1975, Johnson expressed similar sentiments with readers. “Europe has its cathedrals, and we have Grand Central Station. Europe wouldn’t put a tower on a cathedral.”
With these and many other galvanized patrons, the city refused to give up. After the initial court case, the City of New York appealed the ruling and won, though Saunders and Penn Central responded by taking the litigation to the highest level of the state courts and subsequently lost again. However, it could be agued that Saunders was determined, and he decided to take the case to the United States Supreme Court.
The Committee to Save Grand Central took its fight to Washington, DC, via a one-day Amtrak train journey deemed the Landmark Express, with hundreds of supporters attending. Two months later, in June 1978, the Supreme Court voted 6–3 in favor that it is indeed constitutional to have regulatory control of historic structures, ensuring the preservation of not only Grand Central but also landmarks across the country.
Though Grand Central had been saved, it should be noted that the terminal itself was not in the best condition. In fact, it was quite run-down, with its formerly beautiful architectural detailing dirtied and covered by billboards. Thus, after the Supreme Court case, it was decided that Grand Central would need to be restored—it would undergo a 12-year, $118.3 million renovation that was completed in 1998, during which half an inch of grime, largely from cigarette smoke, was removed from the ceiling murals, unveiling the stars for the first time in decades. (In fact, you can see a small dark square on the ceiling today, which is an unrestored patch purposely left behind to show the difference. There’s also a small hole up there, which some argue is from the tip of a Redstone rocket that was once displayed in the hall, but that’s another much disputed story.)
The terminal was not only cleaned but also modified to more clearly reflect the original design, to provide more modern amenities such as escalators, and to create thousands of square feet of retail space, providing additional revenue for the landlord of Grand Central—the city of New York. In the Main Concourse, the billboards were removed, blackout paint left over from World War II was scrubbed off the windows, a baggage storage room on the west side demolished to make way for a grand marble staircase to match the one on the east, and walls and decks put up to divide the space were torn down. The result is a beautiful, vast space that dazzles tourists and commuters alike.
Today, Grand Central Terminal serves more than 750,000 passengers a day via the subway and on Metro-North, the state-operated commuter line that serves the suburbs north of the city. And currently, a new tunnel in the works will connect the station to Long Island, which is now serviced only via Penn Station. Commuting aside, the depot is also somewhat of a hot spot for food and beverage, with an ever-popular dining concourse filled with only New York–based businesses such as Shake Shack and Magnolia Bakery, a new food hall by Noma cofounder Claus Meyers, four fine-dining restaurants, and a cocktail bar in the ornate former private office of financier John Campbell. Thanks to the hard work of preservationists and restoration teams over the past four decades, Grand Central Terminal’s legacy as New York’s finest train station has been ensured.
