The Hidden Side Of Grand Central Terminal - NYC Revealed

New York City is the heart of America’s train system. At its center stands Grand Central Terminal. The station’s Beaux-Arts style has attracted both tourists and commuters alike for over a century. But keeping it all on track requires hundreds of conductors, station managers and rescue workers.
Join Cheddar & CuriosityStream as we explore the unique histories and modern challenges, defining the future of each of New York City's one-of-a-kind infrastructure systems, in NYC Revealed.
Watch 13 minute versions here on Cheddar's KZbin page. You can also watch the full 24 minute episodes on CuriosityStream and on Cheddar's live network.
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[@celebrityrog]

The original Penn Station was literally the absolutely most beautiful rail station in THE WORLD. It was the most beautiful interior of ANY American building and would have stood the test of time for HUNDREDS of not Thousands Of years

[@matthewkissau981]

any American building? That’s a stretch as there are some amazingly beautiful buildings in the USA.

[@cgirl111]

I'm old enough to have used and marveled at the old Penn Station. It's a classic case of you don't know what you've got till it's gone. They spent as little as possible maintaining it. It's exterior was layered in city crud, it's interior wasn't much better being somewhat faded and poorly lit. But if they had spent just a small fraction of the amount of the horrid new Penn they could have made it a shining example of NYC and nobody would have dared tear it down.

[@kimabrams97]

Not exactly true, it required a ton of repair, in the end it was deemed cheaper to destroy it and rebuild than to fix it. However that doesn't mean I still don't think it's a travesty

[@ummmbye1228]

And today the closest resemblance to the old penn station is the Harrisburg station :,)

[@mattkennedy6115]

You should see pictures of it right before it was a demolished. It became an eyesore due to neglect. I still wish that it didn’t have to come to that

[@jfei64]

I was too young to know it but my mom always bemoaned how they tore down the original Penn Station saying that it was a travesty that they ever did that.

[@abarratt8869]

Similar thing happened here in the UK, London's Euston fine Victorian station was scandalously replaced with a ghastly 1960s construction. Fortunately the others have survived and thrived. The current 1960s building is described as "a design that should never have left the drawing board, if indeed it was ever on a drawing board". Eventually they're going to have to demolish it and replace it, as the building isn't really fit for purpose. The 1960s gave us some great things, but Euston station is not one of them.

[@JeffinBville]

During the renovation I, and my fellow commuters each day would walk out of the train platform and into the main hall at GCT and if they had moved the scaffolding over the weekend and a new section had been completed, there'd be a significant backup as people walked out the doors, looked up, stopped in their tracks and said, "Wow!"

[@caesar7734]

3:24 Fun Fact: This photograph cannot be replicated today because of adjacent skyscrapers blocking the sun.

[@EvanEngel]

That is... the opposite of fun :(

[@TheLiamster]

I remember seeing a proposal to demolish Grand Central Terminal and build a skyscraper called the “Hyperboloid”. The Hyperboloid looked cool but losing GCT would have been catastrophic

[@benevolencia4203]

I was born in 1960 New York City, and I can still remember everything about the subway. I was a toddler at a time, getting wheeled in by my mom, the smell, graffiti, everything about it I love. Growing up, we had the park to play in, I can remember the smell of the gravel, and the horses, the hotdog and pretzel vendors. I especially loved those huge granite rocks in Central Park that I would climb. They’re not that huge now when I go back and look. But then it was like the first “mountain” I conquered. I hope everybody is as happy of the place they grew up in as I am of my hometown New York city PS: But the most fun was hiding underneath the station platforms and putting pennies and nickels on the track watching them get smashed flat as the train wheel passed over.

[@luxuryhub1323]

As an indigene of New York I can assure you that this mega project will be one of the most transformative projects in New York city history. With all of the traffic congestion coming into New York city , by rail, the 40 or so minutes that traveling into and out of city towards Long Island is immense.

[@664theneighbor5]

It will also pollute our precious terminal with dirty long islanders!!

[@timfonteyne]

All I want is them to bring back old Penn Station.

[@664theneighbor5]

Jerseyites and Long Islanders don’t deserve it

[@RoccosVideos]

98% on time rate is very impressive especially for such a busy place. 👍

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

Doesn't say how much late is considered "late" Could be 15 minutes so being 10 minutes late wouldn't get counted Not saying that it's 15 minutes. Just that the percentage says nothing without the measure

[@abarratt8869]

@@whoeveriam0iam14222 Here in the UK, a train is officially "on time" even if it's 10 minutes behind schedule (so it is commonly rumoured). We're very good in this country at having some epic train delays. Japan's trains are inhumanly punctual, doing somewhat better than 98%, but there's a reason why... It comes at a cost. It takes a lot of resources, and the pressure on staff is immense. But, it is undeniably impressive to experience it.

[@GIJew]

@@whoeveriam0iam14222 Metro-North Railroad follows the standards set forth by the Federal Railroad Administration and considers any train arriving at its final destination 5 minutes and 59 seconds late or less to be on-time. Considering that all other railroads in the US follow this same standard and have abysmally lower on-time performance, Metro-North's OTP is actually extremely impressive. The Long Island Rail Road, which like Metro-North is also owned and operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, historically has OTP ranging anywhere from as low as 60% up to 90%. As a daily rider of Metro-North, I can tell you that one thing they certainly do reliably is get you to work on time. Late trains are usually caused by passengers (fare evaders, thugs assaulting the crew/passengers, medical emergencies, etc.) and occasionally severe weather. Even during some pretty bad snowstorms and thunderstorms their trains are usually on time.

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Grand Central is such a cool and unique space it's hard to believe it's part of the same system as Penn Station which is a total dump and nightmare to pass through.

[@abarratt8869]

250k passengers per day is a lot, probably seems quite crowded, but can you imagine what it's like to experience the 467k passengers per day in Tokyo Central Station? That's 170million people per year, or about 2% of the global population passing through annually... And, just down the track, there's Shinagawa station, which gets 378k passengers daily. Tokyo is one very busy place! Glad NY saved Grand Central 🙂

[@Ianchia860]

Yes, true, but the Tokyo's rail system works like a subway system with 2 minute frequency and lots of standing passengers. For the same reason that's why times Square station carries much more passengers than Penn/GCT

[@tedalert1825]

I was just about to say the same .. whenever I hear "worlds most" I compare it to Tokyo or a 1st tier city in China.

[@qwerty112311]

You don’t need to imagine Tokyo, you can walk a few blocks down and a few blocks over to the hell hole that is penn station and see what 500k per day looks like.

[@DavidWRyan]

I worked in the Graybar Building, and I would go through GSS every day. And every day I would marvel at it.

[@james4thedoctor482]

Skipper: Status report!? Rico: Kaboom? Kowalski: All aboard, sir. Private: Choo-choo! Kowalski: Incorrect, Private. NYC outlawed Steam engines, I mean: “Choo-choo’s, over a century ago. Their smoke was resulting in too much… Rico: Kaboom!

[@sandyfeet9502]

THANK YOU...I loved this!!! First set my feet at Grand Central Station in 1958 having eyes wide open I fell in love with this magnificent architectural wonder and I am still in awe of it today. I saw The Pan Am Building being built and changed to become The Met Life Building across 42nd street there was The Texaco Building and The Bowery Savings Bank Building (now another Cipriani) which brings back so memories of my past. I worked at The Chrysler Building and later The Graybar Building and had lunch down at the Oyster Bar way before Cipriani took over the West Balcony. Because I worked in the City my father and I used to meet and catch up at the Horn & Hardart at the corner of 42nd and 3rd Avenue before catching the commuter back home to Westchester. Christmas was the best of times and it brings back wonderful memories!! I miss and love NY, so THANK YOU! I will forever be grateful to Mrs. Kennedy-Onassis along with Ms. Bess Myerson for their vision and fighting for Grand Central it was a labor of love. Can't say the same for Penn Central which was beautiful and NOW NOT SO MUCH, the low ceilings and the amount of traffic makes one feel claustrophobic or maybe going to the slaughterhouse. 👺

[@FinancialShinanigan]

As a NYC commuter, glad the LIRR transformation is happening

[@dustin6804]

I commute to the city daily from Long Island for work. It makes me so angry thinking about what Penn used to be. Yes, the new Monihyan hall is spectacular compared to what we had, it has nothing on the original Penn. It is true what Yale professor Vincent Scully, Jr has said, “One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.”

[@blackpanda7298]

Well done 👍🏽

[@henrysantos121]

Oh wow looks amazing well done,

[@hwangjam]

Very interesting! Glad they didn't demolish Grand Central!

[@darkgalaxy5548]

I'm curious as to which astronomy professor, on his way home, looked up at the newly painted ceiling & said, "Hey, they got it backwards".

[@SanchezS]

Impresionante Tnks

[@bonniefoerster8526]

My name is Bonnie and I'm 78 years young and I live in Salt Lake City Utah I was born in Atlantic City New Jersey and I grew up in New York City. I worked at 2:30 park Avenue so I went to grandcentral everyday this is such an amazing video thank you for sharing💜

[@LuckyClovers]

Yo if you hit up nyc grande centrale check out the whispering gallery and the small rectangle containing the patina of uncleansed tobacco smoke on the ceiling near the perimeter. It’s bussin

[@ShionChosa]

The historical society saved New York from carmageddon

[@Actionronnie]

Don't know if it's the beaux arts style, or the architects. But I can see the similarities between GCS and Winnipeg's Union station that opened one year earlier. For me if you took the indoor from GCS and the outdoor of Winnipeg's Union station it would be awesome. But I'd prefer the glass dome of union station over GCS ceiling.

[@staytheknight]

I take metro north to the city exclusively. Yeah there’s a lot of stops north of Stamford but I’ve never had a delayed train and they’re slowly changing some of the stops. Hopefully the New Haven line will only have stops in Bridgeport and Stamford one day. If you live in the Megapolis we understand the usefulness of trains. Hopefully the rest of the country could catch up

[@AC-im4hi]

Most of the rest of the county doesn't need or want trains. We just live close to where we work and drive.

[@karishmasingh4517]

After Covid this city has def improve !

[@kckgirl78]

WOW!! 😮

[@james5360]

Look east from the information booth and you will see a small black mark on the wall. That was left after the cleaning to show how bad it had become, the ceiling cleaning was separate from cleaning the rest of the station and was caused by the New Haven RR FL-9’s the new haven never maintained the third rail electric side of the engines so the crew’s had to use the diesels which caused tons of smoke and soot to cling everywhere. This eventually led to a massive cleaning program to restore the interior to its as built finished look. There are two spots that were saved to demonstrate how dirty I everything was, one is on the ceiling and the other is on the east wall about halfway down the left side. Both will show how bad it had become but the east wall is easier to see.

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

1) arteries go one direction 2) the network is not extensive- it is the minimal to get by with 3) you are right about Penn Station being destroyed. The current station out-dates me- but I can imagine a lot of folks would equate it to demolishing GCT.

[@Riomojo]

I love the I Am Legend Grand Central Station scene

[@paulsuprono7225]

Bummer, I'm always hit Penn Station, due to Amtrak ! 🇺🇸

[@bailliedapooch4609]

Ah its that train station from the movie with the penguins.

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

This is good stuff. Please include an episode on the world trade centre site if you could!

[@runoflife87]

1:43 - lool, Cheddar used the image of the Russian TEP70 locomotive? The scenario of "Red Dawn" became the truth, it seems to me.

[@PlittHD]

2:35 But what does count as "on time" 3 minutes? 10 minutes? Same day delivery?

[@LSOP-]

An old pdf I found stated +2/-5 min

[@PlittHD]

@@LSOP- Per station or average on a line it's just I am very sceptical since my countries railway company always uses statistics in the most deceiving way possible. Like not counting cancelled trains as late

[@GIJew]

The same standard set by the FRA for all railroads in the US: any train less than 5 minutes and 59 seconds late to its final destination is considered on-time. Compared to most other railroads in the US, MNR's 98% OTP is extremely impressive.

[@Ianchia860]

The concourse at Grand Central looks very pretty, but the platforms need a lot of work. They are a huge step down compared to the atrium, which is the only part that tourists see

[@prabhushankar8520]

Good.

[@chris-hu7tm]

8:01 nice excuse for a mistake

[@BatCaveOz]

Only 700 trains per day from Grand Central? That doesn't sound right. Flinder's Street Station, In Melbourne, Australia has over 1500 departures per day, and it isn't one of the world's great train stations.

[@Brick-Life]

A crazy station

[@KingUnKaged]

All I can say is I hope the OCC room is hella sound-proofed. I cannot IMAGINE having to work and concentrate in a room on top of a busy train station

[@geniferteal4178]

I see people taking backwards selfies everyday and they're fixing the problem without even realizing it. Most people don't know the selfie camera is backwards unless you change the setting.

[@kushalraj]

If only railways weren’t de-prioritised in favour of cars, and run along-side one another. What railways in the US could have been.

[@Novers]

Give us back old Penn station brick by brick

[@SamSitar]

they should extend the Hudson Line.

[@almerindaromeira8352]

0:55 world's largest what? Grand Central is not busier than many European or Asian stations.

[@RBzee112]

Grand Central has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world. Its platforms, all below ground, serve 30 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. In total, there are 67 tracks, including a rail yard and sidings; of these, 43 tracks are in use for passenger service, while the remaining two dozen are used to store trains. Another eight tracks and four platforms are being built on two new levels deep underneath the existing station as part of East Side Access.

[@lemongrass3345]

They were clearly talking about physical size but how busy it is

[@almerindaromeira8352]

@@RBzee112 are you trying to impress me? Where I live the central station has a daily passenger count of 500.000 and 1000+ trains are dispatched

[@almerindaromeira8352]

@@lemongrass3345 yeah but that phrasing with the "world" was very odd to me since even Morocco has better passenger rail than the US

[@Ianchia860]

The only "world largest" that Grand Central can claim is # of platforms/tracks, which are mostly used to store trains between the two rush hours. By passenger volume it's much less than Penn Station, and the world's busiest would be Shinjuku in Japan (I've been there and is very impressive). The largest by size is somewhere in China (don't know which one)

[@darploin5071]

Well that's about 3 months and 2 weeks away for it to be opening hopefully it's almost finished

[@asdsdjfasdjxajiosdqw8791]

11 Bn dollars is peanuts for a line that carries that many people. You could build a highway for that money that doesn't even have 1/100 of the capacity of a rail line.

[@Yusuf-ke5iu]

One thing too note is that "on time" is not always the same. In the Netherlands, trains are on time if they arrive within 3 minutes. Switzerland uses 5 minutes. Who knows what america uses

[@darkgalaxy5548]

I think, same day.

[@rustyshackelford8865]

Within 5 min and 59 seconds

[@chris-hu7tm]

7:00 so oldschool, today we use ai

[@andrewfrumkin9632]

East side access just in time for me to move to florida

[@chrisklugh]

I find myself have always wanted to visit NYC and see it for myself, but there is no way I'd want to live in a concrete jungle.

[@abimaellopezmaylord27lopez7]

You can visit and cities are supposed to have concrete

[@sandyfeet9502]

There are places in NYC that are quiet with birds besides pigeons. Central Park offers a respite from the concrete jungle, there are also NUMEROUS parks scattered across the city with trees, flowers, and places that are quiet.

[@allenmyers8568]

A bit out of date. Penn Station is being phased out and all Amtrak trains go through Moynihan Train Hall.

[@ingoos]

In case anyone is looking for a legacy project (for the rest of the world too): Anyone interested in a new/dead-simple non-MagLev design for significantly more affordable, faster, safer & more reliable HSR (high speed rail)? Will even be better than current HSR designs. Uses existing components & technologies which are already compliant with all known local as well as international standards & regulations.

[@FinneasJedidiah]

Are you making a sales pitch for a new rail technology in the comments of a KZbin video?

[@ingoos]

@@FinneasJedidiah just curious to see who is/would be interested in such a project, really. In any case, I have filed for a patent....

[@jonathandevries2828]

looks like the same 8 tweets!

[@victorharderson8782]

Which platform leads to Lex Luthors apartment?

[@marafresi1202]

You now grand central terminal was in the movie Madagascar

[@tomburns5231]

It's cute how Americans think this train station is big, busy, and wonderful.

[@MANNYISTHERE]

Hate that I will never see penn station

[@pantone369c]

I read the title as "The Hidden SLIDE Of Grand Central Terminal" and realized a few minutes in that I'm the stupidest nutcracker ever.

[@henreereemanmini3973]

London has 13 major terminals and 18 total "main stations". lol London = better

[@jimmyyu2184]

Shoulda hired that Italian guy to paint a ceiling... Maybe he was asking for too much money, but what do I know...

[@qjtvaddict]

Nyc is the only city with a usable subway system

[@yongchen4158]

Grand center historic landmark meaning can’t be redeveloped mostly city locations

[@rickieg9870]

Bruh what? Chicago is literally the heart of America’s train system.

[@dk50b]

Yes, the freight system. In terms of commuter rail, the NY area is by far the largest and busiest in North America. It's 3 commuter operators, The LIRR, Metro-North, and NJ Transit carried over 113.5 million passengers in 2021, compared to Metra and the South Shore Line's 15.1 million.

[@jamesthemaniac3293]

I mean…objectively Chicago is the Heart of America’s rail system

[@gildedbear5355]

Completely agree. However, I can accept the idea that New York city is the heart of america's /passenger/ rail system.

[@mattlandry8742]

For freight it is not commuting

[@jahoyhoy9097]

Look, I'm sorry. Tokyo has a much more useful metro system. It also moves twice as many riders annually than NYC. Love the big apple, however your city needs an upgrade.

[@godsgrace9890]

I realized that the secret to making a million is saving for a better investment. I always tell myself you don't need that new Maserati or that vacation just yet. That mindset helped me make more money investing. For example last year I invested 80k in stocks (with the help of my Financial Advisor of course) and made about 246k, but guess what? I put it all back and traded with her again and now I'm rounding up close to a million.

[@kendrickshaw8852]

@Jasmine Kirabecca

[@kendrickshaw8852]

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[@kendrickshaw8852]

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[@kendrickshaw8852]

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[@goddid9189]

I'm very confident trading with Mrs Kathy because of the steady income she makes for me. She has never faltered

[@664theneighbor5]

I can tell you as a metro north rider we do NOT want long islanders coming into our beautiful station

[@brandonstafford4054]

🤣

[@jeffreywenger281]

New York is NOT the heart of America's rail system. That is Chicago.

[@CrimsonAlchemist]

US's train system maybe one of the first, but it's the worst currently in the developed world. It's always LATE, Dirty, Smelly, Chaotic, Rude Staff, etc. While Asian train systems are the BEST in the world. In Japan, they're always on Time, Super Clean, High tech, Friendly staff, etc.

[@madgreekracing]

Y'all need to change this to a facts about NYC channel, because that's what every one of your video seems to be about now.

[@christopher9727]

John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

[@suleiman1520]

First

[@jepbarhalmyradov9135]

Even tho US has one of the worst public transport systems, u guys are masters at glorifying anything

[@GIJew]

Metro-North Railroad is quite possibly the only transportation system in the US that is competitive with those of other countries. It's extremely reliable, fast, clean, and on-time (5 min 59 seconds late or less) 98% of the time.

[@HenryLeslieGraham]

wtf is with the mask????????????????????????????

[@jasminejohnston6393]

New York has Grand Central Terminal…Vancouver has Waterfront Station which is almost the same thing but much smaller