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Did you know?

  • Although the original Grand Central Depot was built in the same place as today's terminal, the location was not yet "central" to much of anything. The building was constructed to the north of the actual city.
  •  The original Grand Central Depot had a separate waiting room for immigrants so that other travelers could avoid associating with them.
  • Although many people, including most New Yorkers, refer to the modern building as Grand Central Station, the correct name is Grand Central Terminal. A station is a stopping place along a route, while a terminal refers to either end of a railroad line.
  • Each of the five chandeliers in Grand Central Terminal is gold and nickel-plated and has 144 light bulbs.
  • The floor of Grand Central's Main Concourse consists of an entire half-acre of Tennessee marble.
  • The southwest corner of the terminal was once the duplex apartment home of wealthy New York financier John W. Campbell.
  • A decision of the Supreme Court in 1978 was needed to preserve Grand Central Terminal's landmark status and prevent developers from demolishing the building and replacing it with a six-million-square-foot office tower.
  • More visitors flock to Grand Central Terminal each year than to any other landmark in New York. 500,000 people arrive at the terminal every day.
  • The 2,500 stars of the Sky Ceiling that twinkle 125 feet above the Main Concourse were supposed to depict a view of the constellations above Manhattan on an autumn night, but were painted backwards. The mistake was never corrected, and the ceiling still gives visitors a "God's eye view" of New York's nighttime sky.
  • Grand Central was originally built for $80 million, which translates to about $1.6 billion in today's money. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's renovation plan restored the landmark Beaux-Arts building for $197 million, a fraction of the original cost.