1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So we're 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: a year into this pandemic almost at least in terms 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: of of places being locked down and travel restrictions happening. 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: And I really miss travel. I know that's like a 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: very privileging to miss, but I one of the things 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: I have really really been missing, and so is my husband, 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: has been New York. Um. Because prior to that, I 10 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: feel like I was getting to the point where I 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: was in New York once a month, and like, you know, 12 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: if it felt like second home for a while, I 13 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 1: would go to my usual fabric stores and they knew me, 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: and I would, you know, just tootle around New York 15 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: because I love it. UM. So I thought, to quell 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: my own wanderlust, it would be interesting to look at 17 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: the history of a place that is iconic to New 18 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: York UH, to try to help me cope with these feelings. 19 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: So I thought it would be fun to look at 20 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: the history of Grand Central Terminal as it started and evolved. Um. 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: This is a story that starts really with one of 22 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: the wealthiest names in US history. But it also kind 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: of becomes the story of the city itself, at least 24 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: since the mid eighteen hundreds, because Grand Central has been 25 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: such a pivotal element, as had the railroads in the 26 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: growth of Manhattan. So that's what we're covering today. In 27 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds, New York was growing rapidly. We've talked 28 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: about this before, including in our episode on Seneca Village. 29 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: One of the big elements of the city's growth was 30 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: the development of railroads to connect the city to other 31 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: parts of the island of Manhattan and beyond. Three of 32 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: the major railroad companies that introduced lines in New York 33 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: City by the middle of the nineteenth century became the 34 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: drivers of the story of Grand Central. So the New 35 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: York and Harlem Railroad was chartered in eighteen thirty one, 36 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: and it initially ran tracks along Fourth Avenue that started 37 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: at twenty three Street and went all the way up 38 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: to the Harlem River. And then there were also eventually 39 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: branch tracks off of it that left that primary line 40 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: and kind of took left turns and stuff as well. 41 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: Keep in mind these were not yet steam engines. These 42 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: lines were carrying horse drawn cars at this point, and 43 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: then the Hudson River Railroad was established in eighteen forty 44 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: seven and ran, as the name suggests, along the Hudson 45 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: River for almost the length of the island. The New 46 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: York Central Railroad had formed in eighteen fifty three when 47 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: ten smaller railroads merged. Those railroads still exist today sort 48 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: of now they are part of the Metro North Railroad 49 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,839 Speaker 1: company owned by the Umbrella company that has more name recognition. 50 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: That's Metropolitan Transit Authority or mt A. Yep, when you 51 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: see people tweeting about their MTA trains, it's all related 52 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: all the way back to the eighteen hundreds, and the 53 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: beginning of the consolidation of those three lines is thanks 54 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: to Cornelia's Vanderbilt. Today, the Vanderbilt name is associated with wealth, 55 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: but when Cornelius was born on nine four on Staten Island, 56 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: his family lived in poverty. Cornelius only went to school 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: until he was eleven because after that he had to 58 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: focus on earning money for the family, working alongside his 59 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: father on the docks as part of his father's ferry service. 60 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: When he was sixteen, Cornelius Vanderbilt bought his first boat. 61 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: Sometimes this is also reported as being two boats, and 62 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: he started his own ferrying service, carrying people from Staten 63 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: Island to New York City. And while he ran the 64 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: business on his own, he had gotten a loan from 65 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: his parents for the purchase, so he shared his profits 66 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: with them. From that small beginning, he built a fleet, 67 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: taking advantage of the War of eighteen twelve to eight 68 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: span so that he could carry needed supplies to various 69 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: outposts through a government contract. So he made some money 70 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: from this enterprise, and he sold his little armada just 71 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: eight years into this ferry business and became a captain 72 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: award a steamship. That seems weird, and he spent eleven 73 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: years in that role, and then in nine he kind 74 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: of goes back to his roots of being an entrepreneur 75 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: because he parlayed his expertise in steamships that he had 76 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: gained to start his own steamship company, once again offering 77 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: ferry service, but this time in a much more upscale 78 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: fashion to his previous first company's offering. And he was 79 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: fairly cutthroat when it came to his competitors. That's the 80 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: kindest way I can put that. He lowered his fares 81 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: to the point that he pushed other New York ferry 82 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: services into a corner they were going to go out 83 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: of business because they could not compete, and they eventually 84 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: paid him just to move his business to another market. 85 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: Then he shifted his company's roots to run some Massachusetts 86 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: and Rhode Island from Long Island along the Hudson River, 87 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: and his wealth continued to grow at this point, just exponentially. 88 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: He eventually expanded his shipping business two routes that included 89 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: New Orleans and then the US West Coast via passage 90 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: through Nicaragua, which was shorter and faster than the one 91 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: through Panama that most of his competitors were using. Once again, 92 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: he pushed his competition to the brink of ruin and 93 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: then cut a deal so that they could pay him 94 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: to cease operations, which they did. Uh. You might have 95 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: gathered from this that Vanderbilt was kind of a business 96 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: genius but also a real jerk in most ways. Uh. 97 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: This fleet of steamboats that he amassed earned him the 98 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: nickname commodore. Yeah, and a lot of those dealings, I 99 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: mean he's getting paid to not work like he's like, 100 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: you will pay me and then pay me an annual 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: stipend to continue to not compete with you, which is, 102 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: as I said, cutthroat is the nicest way I can 103 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 1: put it. After he left the shipping industry, Vanderbilt turned 104 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: his eye to railroads, which at this point he was 105 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: starting to see us having far more potential for growth 106 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,239 Speaker 1: than shipping trust. We're leaving out a lot of stuff 107 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 1: here about his various ongoing feuds with other people, but 108 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: at this point he started purchasing stock in the New 109 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 1: York and Harlem Railroad, and he continued to do so 110 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: until he kind of cornered the market and then owned 111 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: the line that was in sixty three. By eighteen sixty nine, 112 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: he had also taken control of the Hudson River Railroad 113 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: and the New York Central Railroad, and the acquisition of 114 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: the New York Central Railroad was downright ruthless. He had 115 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: refused to take passengers from the New York Central Line 116 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: onto his other railroads as connections during the winter, when 117 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: the path along the Erie Canal that Central would have 118 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: normally used was frozen over. So this meant that both 119 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: freight and passengers were cut off and isolated, and to 120 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: quell the growing unrest and difficulty, the Central Railroad at. 121 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: As a consequence, the New York Central Railroad sold control 122 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 1: of the company to Vanderbilt just to get everything moving again. 123 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: One of the ways that Vanderbilt had outmaneuvered his competition 124 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: throughout his career was by having capital on hand before 125 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: starting a new venture, whether it was ships or railroads. 126 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: He was able to undercut marketplace cost to the consumer 127 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: because he had enough to not have to jack up 128 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: his prices to keep the business afloat. Simultaneously, he invested 129 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: large portions of his capital into infrastructure, so he was 130 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: upgrading his businesses, many of which had been struggling when 131 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: he acquired them, to then make them more profitable. Yeah. Basically, 132 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: he could take the time to make the investment and 133 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: take an initial loss and then be like, look, my 134 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: line is way more luxurious and I'm charging way less 135 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: than the other guys, and of course everyone would flock 136 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: to that. Uh. This consolidation that he created with the 137 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: railroads started a number of industry standards in the US 138 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: based on rules that Vanderbilt insisted on. For one, all 139 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: of his railroad employees were a uniform. For another, he 140 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: instituted the policy that tickets had to be punched before boarding. 141 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: This is not, to be clear a situation where Vanderbilt 142 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: invented these practices. They were already standard procedure in Britain. 143 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: For example, he actually modeled a lot of his trained 144 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: business on the way Britain managed their trains, but he 145 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: just integrated them into US business and made them the standard. 146 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: So in terms of connecting various locations to each other, 147 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: these rail lines were pretty great, and Vanderbilt was making 148 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: a lot of money. But there was also the very 149 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: real problem of pollution. New Yorkers did not like all 150 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: the soot that came with trains in the city. As 151 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: a consequence, the city ordinance had been issued in eighteen 152 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:59,199 Speaker 1: fifty four that banned steam engines from traveling south of Street. 153 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:01,839 Speaker 1: If you were in the city lower than that, you 154 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,840 Speaker 1: would only see horse drawn conveyances. Yes, the trains would 155 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: all stop at forty two, passengers would switch over to carriages, 156 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: and that's how they would get around in the southern 157 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: part of Manhattan Island. And again that that ordinance happened 158 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: before he really got like huge into into trains. But 159 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: naturally he saw this and wanted to extend his railroad service, 160 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: and he also wanted to make it easier to coordinate 161 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: among the three railroads that he now owned, so he 162 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: was at the start of eighteen sixty nine running lines 163 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: with two separate terminals. He did not have a freight 164 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: complex for the Hudson Line, and so his approach of 165 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: developing infrastructure was that whole thing where he would like 166 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: use his money to build it up. Was what led 167 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt to construct the Grand Central Depot starting in eighteen 168 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: sixty nine. The decision was to build a transit hub 169 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: at forty two Street that all three lines could use 170 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: on a tract of land in the St. John's Park neighborhood. 171 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: This project, which was known as the Grand Central Depost, 172 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: started in eighteen sixty nine. The face of the structure 173 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: on Street was two nine feet wide and extended north 174 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: to east forty Street. The land that the railroad did 175 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: not already own was purchased by Vanderbilt, once again through 176 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 1: his use of pressure. Oh he loved to pressure people 177 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: to give him what he wanted, uh So in eighteen 178 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: fifty again. Way before this, the General Railroad Law of 179 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 1: New York State had established a rule regarding land that 180 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt was happy to exploit when it came time to 181 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: do so. So, in an effort to foster growth and infrastructure, 182 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: via this law, the railroads have been given the power 183 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: to appropriate land and then have its value assessed by 184 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: the court system. So basically say, hey, person, I need 185 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: your land. The court's gonna tell us what it's worth, 186 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: and I'll pay you that. And though there was at 187 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: least one offer by a landholder to lease Vanderbilt his property, 188 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: instead of selling, the tycoon insisted that he always bought 189 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: and never leased, and he was able to acquire the 190 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 1: plot in question, as well as every other tract of 191 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: land that he needed for his project. Many of these 192 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: assessments were likely at far lower prices than they should 193 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: have been, thanks to the various connections that Vanderbilt had 194 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: two people in power, which he was again perfectly happy 195 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: to massage and manipulate. In the end, Grand Central Depot 196 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: cost Cornelius Vanderbilt six point four million dollars was designed 197 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 1: by architect John B. Snook and it opened on November one, one, 198 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: so estimating that six point four million dollar value today 199 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: puts it at more than a hundred and forty million dollars. 200 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 1: It had five elevated platforms, five mansward roofs tower in 201 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: honor of each of the three railroad companies that came 202 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: together there. It had a sixty thousand square foot glass roof, 203 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: offering passengers a sense of grandeur as they boarded and 204 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: made their transfers. Whistles and bells were not allowed inside 205 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,959 Speaker 1: the train shed, so it was surprisingly quiet. I will 206 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: say at this point that the use of the phrase 207 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: train shed always cracks me up when looking at these 208 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: historical things, because I think of a shed as a 209 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: small structure in your backyard. But these were I mean, 210 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: this was like the train version of Paxton's Crystal Palace. 211 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: It was huge, and it's where all the trains came 212 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: through and all of the passengers boarding. So we're gonna 213 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: talk about the reaction to Vanderbilt's new train depot and 214 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: how it evolved after we first paused for a sponsor break. 215 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: So once it opened, some journalists downplayed Vanderbilt's depot as 216 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: being neither central nor grand uh and one writer actually 217 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: called it end of the world station. Part of the 218 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,959 Speaker 1: criticism here came from the logistical arrangement of the station, 219 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: so inbound trains arrived on the east side of the 220 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: so called shed, and outbound trains exited on the west 221 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: side at that meant that trains needed to sometimes cross 222 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: each other's paths north of the station, so it created 223 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,199 Speaker 1: kind of a weird traffic tangle. Also, even though this 224 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: was spacious, sometimes passenger traffic caused log jams of people 225 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: as the passengers tried to navigate through the platforms. And 226 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,719 Speaker 1: dozens of trains came and went through the facility every day, 227 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,719 Speaker 1: and each railroad line had a separate waiting room, so 228 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 1: for people who had to do their transfer with luggage, 229 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: this was an especially trying or deal. Still, the depot 230 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: had its bans, with the New York Herald calling it 231 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: quote the finest passenger railroad depot in the world. In 232 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, increased demand for more tracks led to 233 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: complaints that the train tracks were already creating huge swaths 234 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,839 Speaker 1: of unsafe areas as crossing multiple tracks which was necessary 235 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: to traverse certain parts of the city on foot or 236 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: in vehicles, that you were putting yourself in danger almost 237 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: every time, especially as the traffic load increased on those tracks. 238 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: In a letter to the New York Times, one resident wrote, quote, 239 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,719 Speaker 1: there is no single thing on New York Island so 240 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: dangerous to the community and prejudicial to its interests as 241 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: the Valley of the Shadow of Death, which cuts the 242 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: city into its entire length and stretches unpaved, ungraded, and 243 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: is given over to the hundreds of locomotives that continually 244 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: dash up and down through the richest district of New York. 245 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: This led Vanderbilt to run sunken tracks with bridges in 246 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: place for pedestrians to safely pass over them. For seeing 247 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: that the same problem would crop up in other neighborhoods 248 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: north of this main area of complaint, he also made 249 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: arrangements to tunnel through the rock below the city streets 250 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: up to tracks were sunk underground up to the Harlem River. 251 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty nine, a sculpture of Commodore Vanderbilt by 252 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: sculptor Ernst Plasman was commissioned by one of Vanderbilt's associates, 253 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: Albert DeGroot, and was erected downtown at one of his 254 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: his older train depots. I believe this bronze statue is 255 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: reported as costing eight hundred thousand dollars, but for all 256 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: of that money, the reviews of it were really not good. 257 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: Lawyer and diarist George Templeton Strong wrote of the statue 258 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: quote as a work of art, it is beast youll 259 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: you can decide for yourself if you're in New York. 260 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: That statue still exists, but it now sits at the 261 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: south facade of the Grand Central Terminal. De Groot had 262 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: been planning a second statue specifically for Grand Central Depot, 263 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: and Vanderbilt had even had architects Snook create a space 264 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: for it, but the poor reception to the first one 265 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: caused them to reconsider. Cornelius Vanderbilt died in eighteen seventy seven, 266 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: but his son William, who inherited most of his father's 267 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: businesses and money, and then William's sons, continued to run 268 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: the depost successfully for more than twenty more years, and 269 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: in a way, vanderbilt success in normalizing train travel for 270 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: New York also led to the downfall of his Grand 271 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: Central Depot. Train commuting became so commonplace that demands sword, 272 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: which meant that the depot really was no longer big 273 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: enough to handle the required traffic for the city. In 274 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred, there were one point eight million people in 275 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: New York City and Grand Central depot, which at that 276 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: point was just thirty years old, was already considered woefully 277 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: outdated for what the city needed. There had been an 278 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: effort to expand the facility a couple of years earlier 279 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: that included an exterior transformation to a Neo Renaissance style. 280 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: That renovation had built the structure up, adding several floors. 281 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: In nine hundred, another round of renovation started that reorganized 282 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: the layout of the depot, which by then was already 283 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: being called Grand Central Station. The separate waiting rooms were 284 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: combined into one large space. A women only waiting room 285 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,160 Speaker 1: and retiring room was created, and then another waiting room 286 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: was added underground for lower class passengers that they would 287 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: not crowd the main waiting area. And yes, I would 288 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: not even call it thinly veiled. This is a pretty 289 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:20,159 Speaker 1: over way of relegating the poor immigrant community into a 290 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: waiting room in the basement. Yeah, there's actually a company 291 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: executive I think who is like basically made this statement 292 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 1: to the papers that was like, don't worry. You can 293 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: come to the station and you won't see poor people 294 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: to upset you on your travels. It's a little it's 295 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,439 Speaker 1: super ikey um. New tunnels for trains had also been 296 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: added by this point, and while these tunnels were vented, 297 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,239 Speaker 1: they still filled with steam and smoke regularly. This of 298 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,679 Speaker 1: course impacted visibility. You can see where it's going. And 299 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 1: on January eighth, nineteen o two, the horrible but inevitable 300 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: finally happened. That is an incident that is now own 301 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:04,400 Speaker 1: as the Park Avenue crash. This collision happened because an 302 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 1: engineer running an express train from White Plains just couldn't 303 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: see the signal that indicated that another train was up ahead. 304 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: The express rear ended a commuter train. Fifteen people died 305 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: instantly and dozens more were badly injured. The engineer, John Whisker, 306 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,200 Speaker 1: was arrested and charged with manslaughter. Several weeks later, he 307 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,120 Speaker 1: was released after a jury was split on his level 308 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:33,679 Speaker 1: of responsibility, but they were unanimous that railroad management was 309 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: to blame for the conditions that caused the tragedy. Ultimately, 310 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,160 Speaker 1: there were thirty lawsuits that resulted from this accident, including 311 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: one which awarded a six hundred thousand dollar payout to 312 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,479 Speaker 1: a widow of a man who had been killed. This 313 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: was expensive to the company in addition to just being 314 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: a terrible tragedy uh, and it caused a lot of 315 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: ramifications in New York. The state legislature put limitations on 316 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: steam locomotives in the place, and by the end of 317 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: nineteen o two, the railroad was scrambling to figure out 318 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: how it would manage under these new laws. These laws 319 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: forbade steam trains in the city all the way up 320 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: to the Harlem River. Then on December twenty two of 321 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: that year, engineer William J. Will Gas wrote the railroad 322 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,879 Speaker 1: president a letter outlining an ambitious solution that was to 323 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,120 Speaker 1: tear down the old Grand Central and build a new 324 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: one that was designed to accommodate electric trains. Yeah, and 325 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: for clarity, the city had a number of years to 326 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: make this change over. It wasn't like effective immediately no trains, 327 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: but they were still in a bit of a panic 328 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: because they did not know how they were going to 329 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: continue their business, especially considering that they had lost a 330 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: lot of money in these payouts. They were very, very worried. 331 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: So electric trains were still pretty new at this time. 332 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: They had been introduced in eight on the Baltimore and 333 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: Ohio line. But they also offered so many solutions to 334 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: the problems that and there was no smoker soot, there 335 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: was no need for large scale train sheds, and because 336 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: of that lack of a need for an above ground shed, 337 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,360 Speaker 1: that meant that they could stack two levels of platforms 338 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: to accommodate greater numbers of trains and do it all underground. 339 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: Um this would mean that the ongoing issues of places 340 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: where above ground tracks caused traffic dangers could also be 341 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,880 Speaker 1: finally addressed, and all of those criss crossing tracks could 342 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 1: be designed a little bit more elegantly and dropped underground. 343 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: And the plan that Willis had the company would build 344 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: a twelve story building over the train terminal, with space 345 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: available for rent. He estimated that would bring in two 346 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 1: point three million dollars a year. This was not a 347 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: slam dunk suggestion. There was a lot of pushback from 348 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: the executive level about the estimated thirty five million dollar 349 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:50,639 Speaker 1: budget for the project. Willgas was able to make his 350 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,439 Speaker 1: case to the board of directors of the railroad and 351 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 1: he did convince them. By mid January nineteen o three, 352 00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,920 Speaker 1: they were on board. Will Just had a full green 353 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: light to start the project. By June of nineteen o three, 354 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: New York Central Railroad was given rights to the city's 355 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: underground between Lexington and Madison and East forty two and 356 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: forty seven in perpetuity and exchange. The railroad agreed to 357 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: an annual fee of twenty five thousand dollars. So this 358 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 1: project was a great opportunity for Willis. He got a 359 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,640 Speaker 1: huge promotion out of the deal, but this was also 360 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,480 Speaker 1: a huge challenge. He had to figure out how to 361 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 1: transition the railroad lines for electric cars, how to raise 362 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: the existing building, and how to construct a new one 363 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: while service continued. They could not shut down their train 364 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: service at all, and he had to do this while 365 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was the New York Central's direct competitor, 366 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: was also building their own brand new station servicing Manhattan, 367 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: set in the blocks between seventh and eighth Avenues from 368 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 1: thirty one to thirty third Street. While steam locomotives were 369 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: only banned in the city proper, will Gas figured they 370 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,919 Speaker 1: would just go ahead and electrify their lines outside the 371 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: city as well to accommodate a growing commuter population. This 372 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: level of electrification for a rail line had not been 373 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: done anywhere else at that time, and it's a little 374 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: bit of a spoiler alert, but will gets pulled it off, 375 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,680 Speaker 1: so the railroad had been given until night to cease 376 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: operation of steam engines in the city. They were running 377 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: electric by the end of nineteen o six. They had 378 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: started in August three moving a lot of the station's 379 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 1: business to Grand Central Palace Hotel so that the depot 380 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: turned station could start construction. Trains were still using the depot, 381 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: but passengers did all of their purchasing and checking of 382 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: items through the hotel. Will Gas also set up this 383 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 1: construction plan of what he called bites. Basically, it was 384 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: little sections of railway that would be completed at a time, 385 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: which slowly chewed their way through the city, leaving new 386 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: electricity ready rail systems in their wakes. To design the 387 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: station itself, Railroad asked for submissions from architects. The contract 388 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,439 Speaker 1: looked like it was going to go to a St. 389 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: Paul firm, which was Read and Stem. Here's a handy coincidence. 390 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: Alan H. Stem was married to willgass sister, But another 391 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 1: firm with its own connections to the Vanderbilt family, just 392 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: Warren and Wetmore, submitted a design that was rushed through 393 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: approvals at New York Central That resulted in both firms 394 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,639 Speaker 1: being used in a partnership agreement. The final plans weren't 395 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: quite as ambitious as Willis had initially envisioned, but this 396 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: was still a massive project. As the station construction got underway, 397 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: the rail lines themselves continued to be augmented and switched 398 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: over with a new lower track that ran forty to 399 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: forty five ft underground. One eighteen thousand, five hundred ninety 400 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: seven tons of steel were used, and as many as 401 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: ten thousand workers were employed during the busiest phases of construction. 402 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,440 Speaker 1: The first electric train on the system ran on September 403 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: nineteen o six, and it and the other electric trains 404 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,880 Speaker 1: that were part of the New York Central System could 405 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: run at much higher speeds than their steam counterparts, going 406 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: forty to fifty two miles per hour depending on where 407 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: they were in the system. And the whole thing was 408 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: controlled by two massive lever systems, one for the regular 409 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: trains and one for the express trains, with four hundred 410 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: and three sixty two levers respectively. Forty levers were assigned 411 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,399 Speaker 1: to each system operator, and this system was in an 412 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: underground tower under fifty Street, and while that early ahead 413 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: of schedule, transition to electric trains was a huge feather 414 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 1: in William Willis's cap. He did not get to enjoy 415 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: his glory for very long. In February of nineteen o seven, 416 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: the company had expanded its electric line to include a 417 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: route to Westchester, and just two days after that line opened, 418 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,879 Speaker 1: on February seven, there was an accident as the White 419 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: Plains and Brewster Express was heading north through the Bronx 420 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: at six pm. The commuter train jumped off the tracks 421 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 1: while going around a curve at two d fifth Street. 422 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: Twenty people were killed, with one and fifty more injured. 423 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: Most of the deaths were people in the last car, 424 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: which was filled primarily with women and children. It was 425 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: both a tragedy and a public relations nightmare for New 426 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: York Central. Will Gas and the company thought the cause 427 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: of this was a problem called nosing. This was a 428 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: problem where the tracks were widening slightly under the weight 429 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: of the new trains, so the locomotives would shift or 430 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: nose to one side or the other. Will Just kept 431 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: detailed notes as he examined the possible causes of the wreck, 432 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: and this documented how he came to the conclusion that 433 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: nosing was the issue. The railroad's lawyer pushed him to 434 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: destroy these notes, which will Gas did, but then he 435 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: recreated them without telling the council or the company. They 436 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: were eventually donated, with a number of his other papers 437 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: to the New York Public Library. The railroad had started 438 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: redesigning their locomotives, but they left Wilgas out of the project, 439 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: and this after he had been told to destroy papers 440 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: that he thought were important because the company was worried 441 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: about if anybody found them. Just made him feel both 442 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,239 Speaker 1: angry and insulted, and he resigned. While he went on 443 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 1: to have a lot of other achievements in his career 444 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: and he won a number of awards, he was not 445 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: part of the grand opening of the terminal that he 446 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: had envisioned and guided through so much of its development. 447 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: We'll talk about the last phases of the projects that 448 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: played out after Wilgas's departure in just a moment after 449 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: we hear from the sponsors that keep our show going. 450 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,639 Speaker 1: The last train left the old Grand Central station on 451 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: June five, and then the full demolition of the building 452 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: began to make way for a new terminal that would 453 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: cover more than forty six acres of land. That's twice 454 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: the footprint of the structure it was replacing. It was 455 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: going to have the ability to handle triple the traffic 456 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,959 Speaker 1: that its predecessor had. When the all new Grand Central 457 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: Terminal opened at midnight on February second, nineteen thirteen, it 458 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,439 Speaker 1: was filled with amenities. Women passengers had their own waiting 459 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: room attended by maids. There was a salon for women 460 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: and a barbershop for men. A telephone room stood ready 461 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: for communication needs, and advertisements touted the terminals knowledgeable and 462 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 1: friendly staff dubbed walking Encyclopedia's. There were no stairs, only ramps. 463 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: Immigrants and laborers were still hidden away from other passengers though. Yeah, 464 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 1: they just did not fit into the the image that 465 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,640 Speaker 1: they were trying to portray of this as a beautiful, 466 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: upscale place, so they grossly hit them away. The boz 467 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: Are style Terminal was and still is a place with 468 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: some spectacular art. The massive sculpture Glory of Common, which 469 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: is also called Transportation, features Hercules Minerva and Mercury. It 470 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,720 Speaker 1: was carved by Jules Felikutin for the facade, and that 471 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,880 Speaker 1: was unveiled in nineteen fourteen. You can still see it. 472 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: It is still there today. The elliptical barrel vault ceiling 473 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: had a celestial mural with overlays on the starfield showing 474 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: where various constellations sit in the ninth sky. So, if 475 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 1: you've ever been to Grand Central and looked up at 476 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: the current ceiling and marveled and said that sounds familiar, 477 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: that one that you're looking at is not the original. 478 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,640 Speaker 1: That original painting got water damage and just became kind 479 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 1: of gross, and it was covered over and repainted to 480 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: replicate the original in the nineteen forties. Then it was 481 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: cleaned and repainted again in the nineteen nineties. The first 482 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 1: train out was the Boston Express, the first train in 483 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: was a Harlem Line car, and over the course of 484 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: the terminal's first day, an estimated hundred and fifty thousand 485 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: people came to see it. Incidentally, the oldest tenant of 486 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: Grand Central Terminal is the Oyster Bar. That's a restaurant 487 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: that was there in nineteen thirteen. It is still there today, 488 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: although at the moment it is temporarily closed due to 489 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: pandemic restrictions. With the opening of the new terminal, which 490 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: drew a claim from the press, the neighborhood immediately surrounding 491 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: it just instantly became more valuable in terms of real estate. 492 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,959 Speaker 1: Grand Central was valued by the city's assessment at seventeen 493 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: point seven million dollars in nineteen thirteen, and just a 494 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: year after it opened, the properties surrounding it all more 495 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: than doubled in value that continued to rise in the 496 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 1: years after that. What had been an area filled with 497 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: warehouses changed really rapidly into an upscale section of Manhattan. 498 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: Terminal City with its residences, hotels, and office buildings had 499 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: been part of wilgas earliest ideas to make Grand Central 500 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: terminal and anchor to a full business community. It had 501 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: remained in the plans, though the extent of it had 502 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,240 Speaker 1: waxed and waned over time, and it came fully realized, 503 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: with connected buildings offering thousands of residents the choice to 504 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: travel from home to office while staying completely indoors if 505 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: they wished. The New York Times wrote, quote, the Grand 506 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: Central Terminal is not only a station, It is a monument, 507 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 1: a civic center, or, if one will, a city without exception. 508 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: It is not only the greatest station in the United States, 509 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: but the greatest station of any type in the world. 510 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: Grand Central continued to evolve over time, with various businesses 511 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: moving in and out through the years. In nineteen sixty seven, 512 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: Grand Central Terminal was designated as a landmark by the 513 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: Landmarks Preservation Commission, which meant that it was protected by law. 514 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: That commission, incidentally was formed in response to various buildings 515 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,959 Speaker 1: of historical significance in the city being demolished. The final 516 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: incident that catalyzed that commission to come to be and 517 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,160 Speaker 1: this got Grand Central classified as a landmark, actually was 518 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: the demolition of Pennsylvania Station. Pennsylvania Railroad. New York Central 519 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: actually merged into one company called penn Central a year 520 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: after that landmark designation, and then proposed a significant renovation 521 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: of Grand Central that would have left the facade in place, 522 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: although I think it would have been um covered over. 523 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: It would have been internalized to the new design, and 524 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: it would have demolished a lot of the main building. 525 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: This proposed construction was not approved and led to Penn 526 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: Central filing a lawsuit against the city for preventing the project. 527 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: In this case dragged out until nineteen seventy six, when 528 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 1: Grand Central Terminal was added to the National Register of 529 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: Historic Places. The building complex, which had fallen into disrepair, 530 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: was eventually taken over by Metro North and it underwent 531 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: a massive multi year restoration and renovation that upgraded Grand 532 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 1: Central structurally as well as esthetically. And now there's all 533 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: kinds of fun stuff that goes on there. Yeah, I'll 534 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: tell my Grand Central story and are behind the scenes fabulous. 535 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: I love it. Anyway, New York, I miss you, that's 536 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 1: really I miss all of my favorite restaurants. UM. I 537 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: miss going to the mat. I really miss New York. UM. 538 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: I miss seeing our colleagues in New York like whole 539 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: other thing. It's like we'll see them sometimes on big 540 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: company meetings, but when you're on a huge video call, 541 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,959 Speaker 1: not everyone shows anyway, and it just I miss all 542 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: those kiddos. UM. So for listener Mail, I'm going to 543 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: cross the country to talk about another famous thing in 544 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,440 Speaker 1: a city that we have talked about recently, which is 545 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: Griffith Park. And this is from our listener Mike, who 546 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 1: wrote Ladies. Thanks for the story of Griffith Park and 547 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: Griffith J. Griffith. Although Griffith J. Griffith devolved into a pariah, 548 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: the park that he helped create is a true jewel 549 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: in the city of Los Angeles. I grew up about 550 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: six miles from the park, and over the years living 551 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: in the Southland, I learned the following at the park. 552 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: To swim at the park pool, ride a horse at 553 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: the pony rides and equestrian trails. The love of train 554 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: steam engines at travel town, astronomy from the observatory, love 555 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 1: of wildlife at the Old and New Zoo, love of 556 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: the outdoors by walking the trails and fire roads of 557 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 1: the park. Landscape photography by standing on the park's hilltops 558 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: and looking at the south Land and how dependent the 559 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 1: Southland is on imported water by the Mulholland Fountain. He 560 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: also goes on to recommend another thing, and he sent 561 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: us a picture of l A that was taken from 562 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: the observatory looking south and it's beautiful. Uh yeah, I'm 563 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: glad that. I'm glad that he wrote this, just because 564 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,480 Speaker 1: we talked about it some in the episode about how 565 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: important it continues to be to l A's identity. But 566 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: it's just good for a local to remind us of 567 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,560 Speaker 1: all of the cool things that are part of growing 568 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: up in l A that you can do in Griffith Park. 569 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:57,480 Speaker 1: Um it I marvel whenever I'm there. At how much 570 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:02,960 Speaker 1: of it remains undeveloped in kind of uh just natural landscape, 571 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: like again in a city that always blows my mind. 572 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: We talked about it when we talked about Central Park before, 573 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: but because it is so huge Griffith Park, I'm almost like, really, 574 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 1: they're just they're none of this is developed. Yeah. Yeah. 575 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: When we recorded that episode and you you had the 576 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: number of acres in there, um, I remember looking for 577 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 1: comparison at how big the Middlesex Fells are here in Massachusetts, 578 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:36,720 Speaker 1: because that's like a big undeveloped park space full of trails, 579 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: and it's not entirely undeveloped. Parts of it are are 580 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: you know, there's like a dog park and that kind 581 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 1: of stuff, But like, yeah, it was way bigger, way 582 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: bigger than something I already felt like was huge. That's 583 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 1: the thing, right, If you've ever like, one of the 584 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: things I love to do when I'm in New York 585 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: is to walk the whole length of Central Park. It's 586 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: one of the things like Brian and I do together 587 00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:59,439 Speaker 1: when we're there and it takes a while and it's long, 588 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: and you realize how big the park is. And then 589 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,759 Speaker 1: when I think like this was like way Huger, it 590 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,359 Speaker 1: don't gives you a sense of scale and appreciation for it. 591 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,440 Speaker 1: Um so yes. Thank you Mike for sharing that with us. 592 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you can 593 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: do so at History Podcast at i heeart radio dot com. 594 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,439 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as missed 595 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: in History pretty much everywhere, and if you would like 596 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 1: to subscribe to the show, you can do that on 597 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, at Apple podcasts, or wherever 598 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 1: it is you listen. Stuff you Missed in History Class 599 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. 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