Grand Central Terminal
Resources/Tour Follow-Up
The first list is of resources for Grand Central Terminal – this is in progress and will be growing over time.
The second list is of resources relating to the controversy over the recent upzoning of a large portion of East Midtown as it relates to the surviving buildings of Terminal City
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL
Web pages:
Grand Central Terminal web page (then scroll down and click on “time-line”).
Grand Central Centennial official web page – Upcoming events and details about the celebration.
Supreme Court decision – The one-page “syllabus” (summary) of the actual Supreme Court decision upholding New York City’s designation of the terminal as a local landmark – and, if you’re curious (they’re long and legal, but very interesting), the opinion by Justice Brennan and the dissenting opinion by Justice Rehnquist.
Guastavino web page – A site devoted to the remarkable “thin-tile-and-cement” works of the Guastavino family, which forms the ceiling of the Oyster Bar and adjoining areas
Books:
New books out for the Grand Central Centennial:
Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark – The 100th anniversary book by the Transit Museum and Anthony W. Robins.
Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America – The 100th anniversary book by New York Times reporter Sam Roberts.
Grand Central’s Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science) – The new biography of Wilgus by Kurt Schlichting
Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives (Updated Edition) – The updated edition of the book by John Belle and Maxinne Leighton of the architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle which undertook the enormously successful restoration of the terminal. Especially good – as you would expect – on the details of the restoration.
Older books worth a look:
Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Engineering, and Architecture in New York City – by Kurt Schlichting (2001). Particularly good on the engineering.
The Port of New York: A History of the Rail and Terminal System from the Grand Central Electrification to the Present (Port of New York, Volume 2) – by Carl Condit (1981 – out of print). Condit is a major historian of American architecture, and this two-volume set is a classic.
Grand Central – By David Marshall (1946 – out of print). A different kind of classic volume – wonderful stories about Grand Central.
Grand Central Terminal: City Within the City – (1982 – out of print). Put out by the Municipal Art Society, edited by Deborah Nevins, with essays on all aspects of Grand Central by Elliott Willensky, Elaine Abelson, Milton R. Newman, David Bonderman and Hugh Hardy. Full of interesting information and great photos.
New York Landmarks Conservancy
Municipal Art Society (including a link to their extensive report on the zoning change and its potential impact)
Historic Districts Council