Grand Central
Is there any place more glorious, or more mysterious, than Grand Central Terminal? It’s not just it’s marvelous beaux-arts architecture that appeals, or its cavernous layout, but it’s the feel of the place.
It’s an odd waystation in the midst of the city. On the one hand, everyone is rushing about to points near and far, but there is also a whole bunch of hanging around and waiting. If there is one place left in the city where you could reasonably film a noirish murder mystery, this would be it.
Recently, the Times reported on a 77-year-old man who discovered a trove of photographs that he took 50 years ago depicting life in Grand Central.
David Margolick writes:
The young student thought he was documenting the great terminal’s eternal rituals, mostly the ritual of waiting. “It was a place of contemplation, really — the exact opposite of what it is today,” he recalled. “In the waiting room, you could sit. The policemen wouldn’t bother you. No one bothered you. I liked the quiet of it. It was like a cathedral. You didn’t have to pray; you could reflect on yourself.”
Some of the photos:
And beneath Grand Central is another one of the great NYC spots, the vaulted-ceiling Oyster Bar, dating to 1913
Some closing time shots after the jump:
