Results tagged “grandcentral”

Twitter is being flooded with frantic news of Grand Central Terminal being evacuated. Business Insider reports via the Twitter updates that subways are skipping the stop, the SWAT team has flooded the platforms and the building has been evacuated. We got word over the newswire this afternoon that a suspicious package was spotted at East 42nd and Park Avenue. Is this chaos real? A hoax? We've contacted the NYCT and MTA and will update when there is more info. more ›

Are the NYPD stepping on the toes of MTA officers? The NY Post reports that the NYPD has started sending some of their officers to police commuter trains as part of their anti-terror efforts — a move that has upset the MTA. more ›

Life seemed so much simpler back in the days of Don Draper. You could get back home after a long day in the office on the commuter train, which according to Mad Men was never over-crowded, and highly encouraged relaxation methods like smoking cigarettes and reading the evening paper. Or you could just drive drunk back to Ossining. Choose your own adventure! Either way, the romanticized Grand Central of yesteryear is a far cry from the nightmarish reality of today. more ›

The MTA officers do not like gymnastics. Consider that your warning. One man, Jesse Archer, was recently walking through a nearly empty Grand Central at 1:30 a.m., on his way home from a birthday party at the Grace Hotel, when he decided to do a cartwheel. He reports back: more ›

The Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park contains many rail remnants (including an old passenger platform) from the New York Central Railroad's Putnam Division, which began construction there in the 1870s. Amongst the historical artifacts that remain in the overgrown trail are 13 stones that were placed there prior to 1903 by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. He had quarries send him samples to help determine which weathered best, with the chosen one used as the building material for Grand Central Terminal. "In the end, the second southernmost stone, Indiana limestone, was chosen not for its durability but for its cheaper transportation cost across Vanderbilt's railways." Who knew we had our very own Stonehenge in the Bronx! more ›

Since being named director of the Hayden Planetarium in 1996, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson has transformed himself from a relatively obscure astrophysicist into one of the leading promoters in the public eye for science and scientific exploration. His advocacy work through his books and TV appearances has earned him accolades of all varieties—honorary degrees, medals of excellence, even an asteroid bearing his name—and popularity enough to get him a spot on People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" list in 2000. more ›

Apparently, a successful robbery M.O. means attempting it again less than 24 hours later and the Grand Hyatt, which is just east of Grand Central Terminal, was the victim of two robberies. NY1 reports that on Tuesday night, "Investigators say a man carrying a blue duffle bag went up to a hotel clerk, passed a note saying there was a bomb in the bag, and demanded money." The Post says the note read "I have a bomb. Remain calm. Empty your register and no police"—the clerk gave him $1,000. Then yesterday afternoon, the same robber came back, giving a similar note to another clerk, who also complied and gave him $1,000. Cops are investigating and ask that anyone with information contact CrimeStoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS or texting TIP577 to CRIMES. more ›

A good, if gross story about the police nabbing a serial pervert yesterday. According to the AP, the police arrested Darrel Corian "on charges of persistent sexual abuse and forcible touching." At around 9:05 a.m., police officers Michelangelo Hidalgo and Amauris Santana, who were on plainclothes assignment (part of the Anti-Crime patrol), observed Corrian acting suspiciously on the southbound platform of the 42nd Street-Lexington station at Grand Central. They followed him onto a 5 train. "Police say officers caught him rubbing his exposed penis up against at 19-year-old woman's backside, and arrested him." What's more, he had been paroled just two weeks ago "after serving time for persistent sexual abuse and was supposed to stay off buses and subways." Last month, a suspected subway perv with a long rap sheet was arrested with the help of his victim's cellphone photo of him. more ›

Campbell Terrace: Summer's here (in spirit) and the time is right to relax outside in mahogany rocking chairs and drink. Campbell Terrace, run by the same folks who operate the clubby Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Terminal, have just re-opened for the season in the Vanderbilt Avenue portico between 42nd and 43rd Streets. Boasting 1,500 square feet of shady, open-air imbibing, the terrace's myriad rocking chairs are a homage to the furniture provided in the ladies' waiting rooms in the early days of Grand Central Terminal. This year Campbell Terrace reopens with a new and expanded spirits menu, featuring vintage cocktails such as the Strawberry Southside (Gin, fresh muddled strawberries and mint topped with Champagne), and signature cocktail The Terrace Punch (Cane rum, orange liqueur, ginger liqueur, mango nectar, fresh lemon juice and a pinch of allspice). The food menu is the same as the inside bar, and includes club sandwiches, quesadillas, and cheese plates. Open Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, (212) 980-9476. more ›

The tennis courts over Grand Central "will live on," according to the NY Post. An earlier report said that the tennis courts would be eliminated—what with Donald Trump's incredibly inexpensive 30 year-lease ($4/square foot or $95,000/year in rent) running out—in order to make way for a break room for Metro-North employees. Now the Post reports, "The space, which soars three stories, is so large that railroad officials say they can divide it up with enough space left over for a new tennis club that could fetch five times the rent Trump has paid." Huzzah! And the break room is required by federal law, because "railroads must provide rest areas for crews that work swing shifts longer than 12 hours." The Municipal Art Society has more details on the tennis courts—and weekly tours of Grand Central. more ›

A capacious old attic on the third floor of Grand Central Terminal, located directly above Vanderbilt Hall, has since 1965 been home to two clay tennis courts. While open to the public for a fee of $170 an hour, the courts are one of the city's best-kept secrets, or, rather, they were—Metro-North administrators have decided to replace the courts with a rest area for conductors and train engineers. According to the Daily News, the new facility will include bunk beds, showers, lockers and a lounge. more ›

Reportedly the Hudson News shop in Grand Central Terminal has "censored" the latest issue of GQ, whose cover features a photo of Jennifer Aniston posing with strategically-placed hands and nothing but a tie. Folio reports, "The popular newsstand has placed a piece of paper across the issue in its window display. Copies inside the store, however, remain uncovered." They harken back to June of 2006 when the store covered up an issue of FHM featuring Brooke Hogan (incidentally the following 4 issue covers were also covered up). NYMag assumes in the most recent case that Hudson News is simply on Team Angie, but Folio points out that in the case of the Hogan cover, the issue "sold over 400,000 copies on newsstands, well above its 350,000 average." Perhaps Hudson News is just keeping in mind the kids visiting the Transit Museum annex's train show? more ›

Top Chef fever is spreading like salmonella, and who among us can resist the hype, especially considering that the new season of Top Chef, premiering next month, was filmed here in NYC? Last week the Top Chef Truck concluded its tour in Union Square with former cheftestants Richard Blais and Andrew D'Ambrosi cooking for us in the tractor trailer's kitchen. And yesterday a slew of Top Chef stars, past and future, were wrangled for cooking demos and flesh-pressing at the Taste of the Five Boroughs fundraiser for City Harvest. Blogger Life Vicarious was on the scene, which turned into a bloodbath:

We did find Andrew D'Ambrosi at his knife skills demo across Vanderbilt Hall where he was proud to represent the restaurant "rockin' the three stars." And how he represented! Showcasing his non-sissy knife skills at breakneck speed, he started supreming fruit before carving into his finger, began bleeding, turned to the demo sinks disappointed to discover they're just props, was first handed paper towels, then a bandage, then finally left the stage as an EMT arrived, and wanting to shift the focus and cameras away from him and back to his demo partner Spike Mendelsohn he went backstage to be tended by the EMT. (We can't even imagine how an actual sissy would have handled this!)

The Zaro's in Grand Central Terminal has whipped up a political pastry whose sales are turning into an unscientific (but delicious) poll; their black & white cookies can now be purchased with the faces of the four candidates on them. That's right, all you Joe Six-packs out there can now sink your teeth into the former Miss Alaska hopeful, gosh darnit. more ›

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Grand Central Partnership on behalf of four Rastafarian security guards (not pictured) who say they've been unfairly punished for not tucking their dreadlocks under their uniform caps. The lawsuit, which seeks back pay and damages for pain and humiliation, asserts that three of the men were suspended for at least one day, with one plaintiff forced to shave his beard. Rastafarian beliefs prohibit men from cutting their hair, and some of the men have dreads that are several years long. The lawyer for the EEOC tells the Times, "It would be hard to imagine that amount of hair sitting under a baseball cap." A spokesman for the the business improvement district partnership said they were surprised by the lawsuit because they had recently agreed to provide custom-made hats so they could tuck in their dreadlocks. more ›

Con Edison has agreed to pay $24 million in damages caused by the steam pipe explosion near Grand Central Station last year. Con Ed will not pass along any of those costs to customers and in addition agreed to return to customers anything beyond $24 million that it wins in pending legal settlements related to the explosion. City Councilman Eric Giola spoke out in favor of the settlement saying Con Ed's “mistakes and bad management don’t just cost New Yorkers money, they also cost lives.” more ›

The latest happening from the pranksters at Improv Everywhere – masters at getting weird looks from people as they plug in big desktop computers at Starbucks, flood Abercrombie & Fitch with shirtless average Joes, and (the best) freeze in Grand Central – is all about twins. Organizers recruited nine sets of identical twins in matching outfits to ride the 6 train uptown, sit across from each other and mirror each other's gestures. It's not The Shining, but bemused looks ensue.

Today, more than 50 musicians and musical acts gathered on the northeast balcony of Grand Central Terminal to audition for spots in NYC Transit's Music Under New York program. MUNY grants buskers spots in subway stations to entertain commuters and make a little cash in the process. more ›

A man who concealed a video camera in a shopping bag to film women as they got onto an escalator at the Grand Central subway station was arested for unlawful surveillance. more ›

If you are one of the 700,000 people who pass through Grand Central Terminal every day there are things that you may take for granted or just may not know about the great train station. Thanks to Metro-North's Dan Brucker, Gothamist can reveal some of them to you. more ›

There are some residual delays on Metro-North this morning after yesterday's East Harlem building collapse that led to the suspension of all service in and out of Grand Central. The trains' speed restrictions were lifted at 6:30 a.m. and there may be 5-10 delays. more ›

A building collapse at 124th Street and Park Avenue has prompted the MTA to shut down all train service in and out of Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North's Dan Brucker told WCBS 880, "We don't know how long the closure will last. We have been told by the police not to have any trains run through the 125th Street station." more ›

The Chrysler Building. The Seagram Building. The Apple Store Soho? The Center for Architecture's executive director Rick Bell made a list of 10 great buildings to see in New York City (presumably for tourists) and spoke to the AP about it. The list spans two boroughs, a classic skyscraper, a beloved transportation hub, and retail stores, and some landmarks are deliberately left off (like the Empire State Building which everyone knows about):
• Conde Nast Building, for its "environmentally correct" design by Fox & Fowle.
• Brooklyn Museum, for the modern entry pavilion and plaza, designed by James Polshek, against its Beaux Arts facade; the AP writes the addition makes makes the museum "inviting and accessible, a suitable centerpiece for Brooklyn's burgeoning hipster art scene."
• Prada New York in Soho, designed by Rem Koolhaas, for the way it "displays the merchandise, it doesn't sell it."

If you've perused the latest issue of the New Yorker, you may have noticed a rather long letter to the editor about a January cover (by Mark Ulriksen, pictured above). If you didn't, here's how the letter starts:

Mark Ulriksen’s “Winter Pleasures,” an impressionistic rendering of Grand Central Terminal’s main concourse, depicts the famous golden clock bathed in sunlight (Cover, January 28th). Note that this can be only an eastward morning scene, not a westward afternoon. The angle of the long axis of the concourse, following that of Manhattan’s east-west streets, is not 90° but 119° east of north, and aligns with the sun through its “west” windows only from late May to early July, and then only at an elevation of less than 3°. But aren’t those the south-side ticket windows at the left of the picture, with the tracks and trains therefore on the right? And doesn’t the clock seem to read three-fifty, hardly a time for the morning sun?

Thanks to Modern Mechanix we can now see what New York was supposed to look like by the year 2000, as seen from 1927. In that article "streets on five levels have been prophesied," but by 1931, two-level streets (pictured) seemed more realistic.

A definite step towards the relief of traffic congestion on much traveled city thoroughfares by the construction of streets under streets is soon to be taken by the city of New York. When this stupendous project has been brought to completion the metropolis will have an underground lane for fast through traffic, a tunnel for local and express trains, all built underneath the surface street, which will be left for local traffic. more ›

On Tuesday, the New York City Transit Museum opened a small exhibit dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of Metro-North Railroad in its Annex at Grand Central Terminal. It features some artifacts from both the pre-MTA takeover (which created Metro-North) days to today and provides a Cliffs Notes version on how the railroad that serves the northern suburbs and Connecticut operates. more ›

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Later today, the city will discuss whether the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers should be landmarked. The Observer reported that NYU announced its support today, a reversal from an earlier position over three years ago. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a serious trauma at East 16th St. and Moore Pl. in Brooklyn, a water search at Kosciusko Bridge in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery on Lexington Ave. in Manhattan,
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who popularized transcendentalism in the West with the support of The Beatles, died yesterday at an undetermined age.
• Postmodern reality at its best: Silvercup Studios, where "Gossip Girl," is filmed could actually become an educational institution.
• A Whole Foods location is opening in Gowanus, Brooklyn, after groundbreaking last spring and much consternation.
• Going against the grain of many city mayors who are declaring their municipalities a safe haven for illegal immigrants, Mayor Mark Boughton of Danbury, CT wants to align his police force with federal law enforcement to crack down on undocumented workers.
• Brooklyn's 4th Ave. has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last five years. The new-and-improved version seems equally unimpressive to some.
• Customers at the Grand Central Oyster Bar who want to order New England clam chowder will have to ask for "Giants Clam Chowder" this week.
• Big Brother is a salesman. He wants to follow you to sell you stuff.

John McCain's Straight Talk Express headed into Manhattan today, taking him to Grand Central Terminal where he got the endorsement of former governor George Pataki. McCain, along with wife Cindy, appeared with Pataki, Alphonse D'Amato, Joseph Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate appears to be leading in many Super Tuesday polls over rivals Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. more ›