Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America

by Sam Roberts, Pete Hamill (Foreword by)

Overview

A richly illustrated - and entertaining - history of the iconic Grand Central Terminal from Sam Roberts of the New York Times

"This well-done piece of urban history will appeal to both railroad enthusiasts and general readers."-Booklist

Featuring quirky anecdotes and behind-the-scenes information, this book will allow readers to peek into the secret and unseen areas of Grand Central — from the tunnels, to the command center, to the hidden passageways.

With stories about everything from the famous movies that have used Grand Central as a location to the celestial ceiling in the main lobby (including its stunning mistake) to the homeless denizens who reside in the building's catacombs, this is a fascinating and, exciting look at a true American institution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455525973
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sam Roberts is an urban affairs correspondent and Metro Matters columnist for The New York Times, and, as such, has become something of the face and voice for the city at large. He is also the host of the"The New York Times Close Up" television interview program each weekend. He is the author of numerous books, including The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case. Sam is frequently heard on NPR.

Table of Contents

Foreword Pete Hamill ix

Prologue: The Accidental Terminal 3

Rails vs. Rivers 23

The Commodore 35

The Depot 49

The Station 59

The Engineer 69

Terminal City 97

All Aboard 113

Gateway to a Continent 127

Saving Grand Central 159

The Restoration 189

The Characters 209

Commutation 227

Secrets of Grand Central 233

How it Works 257

Since 2001: A Space Odyssey 269

Epilogue: The Second Century 283

Acknowledgments 290

Art Credits 291

A Note on Sources 292

Bibliography 293

Index 297

About the Author 303

Editorial Reviews

"This well-done piece of urban history will appeal to both railroad enthusiasts and general readers."
—Booklist

"A wonderful volume for New York City buffs or railroad aficionados, Roberts closes with discussions of some of the terminal's quirks and mysteries like the ubiquitous decorative acorns, the secret staircase, and various secret underground locations."
—Publishers Weekly

"Sam Roberts' book integrates a historical perspective with contemporary storytelling. This compelling narrative invites the reader into an immersive world of Grand Central that is personal, historically rich, and peppered with engaging anecdotes."
—American Institute of Architects

From the Publisher

Roberts delivers the story of one of the most famous transportation hubs in the world and how it shaped Midtown Manhattan into the bustling, thriving center of commerce and entertainment it is today. This is also a history of railroads in New York, from horse-pulled streetcars, to steam engines, to the electric trains brought to the city by Grand Central's chief engineer William Wilgus. Credited with being the first person to monetize "air rights", Wilgus conceived of Grand Central as a 12 story building with the terminal below and 2.3 million square feet above to be rented out to businesses. Roberts, the New York Times's Metro Matters columnist, covers the details of the construction of Grand Central as well as its massive renovation in the 1990's. He describes the massive changes in Midtown area after its initial construction, including the arrival of luxury hotels and office towers. "With Grand Central acting as an anchor," he writes, "Park Avenue was elevated into New York's most prestigious address." A wonderful volume for New York City history buffs or railroad aficionados, Roberts closes with discussions of some of the terminal's quirks and mysteries like the ubiquitous decorative acorns, the secret staircase, and various secret underground locations.
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Publishers Weekly

A middling account of the architectural splendor that is Manhattan's Grand Central Station. "Modern time began at Grand Central," writes New York Times urban affairs correspondent Roberts (A Kind of Genius: Herb Sturz and Society's Toughest Problems, 2009, etc.), an aperçu he repeats a few times in his paean to what is certainly America's definitive, if not greatest, railway terminal. The author observes that it was the need of the new railroads to observe an established schedule that resulted in standardized time--no news to readers of Wolfgang Schivelbusch, that great historian of technology, but a useful gauge all the same in explaining why a railroad station should merit our attention. There are other reasons, which Roberts attentively enumerates: In the instance of Grand Central, which indeed pioneered standardized time and has lived through a few incarnations since ground was broken for the modern structure 110 years ago, it contains the world's largest piece of Tiffany glass, to say nothing of "the largest sculptural grouping in the world" and a ceiling that famously invokes the vastness of the firmament. Roberts closes his rambling, almanaclike narrative with an account of where the ceiling painter went wrong; apparently, railroad officials explained that "the celestial mural represented God's view." There's nothing wrong with an assemblage of oddments and answers to common questions, as any trivia buff will tell you, but at times, Roberts' book resembles an infodump of semidigested notes; this is nowhere more true than in the section on Grand Central in popular culture. Still, the book is inarguably populated by a fascinating cast of characters, from the barons of the late Gilded Age to Jackie O. Grand Central deserves a deep history as good as the World Trade Center got with James Glanz and Eric Lipton's City in the Sky (2003). This isn't it, though railway-history buffs may enjoy this book.

Kirkus Reviews