Waiting Room Outline Joyia’s Script AnnotatedBibliography Script2 Aniqa’s Script

https://soundcloud.com/user-333488461/commercialization-of-the-grand-central-terminal-waiting-room

This video about Penn Station was so much more interesting than any of the Grand Central videos and tours. For some reason,  I really enjoyed the older woman’s commentary because it was really personal, she included stories of her aunt’s visits to Penn Station, and made Penn Station feel less far-removed than it really is. When the older woman gives her account of Penn Station at age 10, and mentioned that her aunt described Penn Station as making her feel as if she was a queen, it made me wish I was old enough to experience Penn Station for myself. It was exciting to see the underwater tunneling process, and actually see the sandhogs that contributed to infrastructure that still stands today.  Alexander Cossott’s ambition and determination to connect Pennsylvania R.R. to Manhattan without government subsidies is almost unbelievable to me because everyone is always trying to keep as much money, as possible, in their pockets (even the rich folk). Whether I’m right or wrong, I get the sense that one of Cossott’s goals was not to make history but to improve the quality of daily life whereas Vanderbilt only wanted to make money and keep it within his family. Despite all the construction setbacks and negative publicity, publicity, Cassot still managed to get the two halves of the North tunnel to align, almost perfectly, underneath the Hudson River. Penn Station didn’t get a fair chance to blossom as did Grand Central Terminal. And because of that, younger generations will never get the opportunity to appreciate the beauty it once was.

The Bowery Boys’ podcast was essentially everything we have been reading and learning about while on the walking tours. Since everyone heard the same podcasts, to simply summarize would be ultra- repetitive, and a response is more fitting for this podcast. For some reason, I was expecting to hear something a little deeper or something I had not already learned about Grand Central. Besides learning Vanderbilt was from Staten Island and received $6 million from the City of New York to build the underground tunnels, I really didn’t get much from the podcast. I enjoy history, and I really tried to enjoy it but this podcast just could not keep my interest. Honestly, podcasts that simply regurgitate facts bore me to death, and had they been more animated and lively, I probably would have been more receptive to the podcast.

The William J. Wilgus Papers (1895-1947) finding aid organizes its content using taxonomy. The key terms attached to this document allows for researchers to connect and understand the relation between relevant persons, entities, subject topics, and physical evidence/artifacts. The actual content, itself, is organized in a very long, detailed outline, using main topics, subtopics, and a combination of capital Roman numerals, Arabic numerals, and, capital and lowercase letters. As the outline progresses, general information about his professional career evolves into his personal essays of “military reorganization, transportation, and war preparedness” (William J. Wilgus Papers, 1895-1947, p.4).  If a researcher decided  to write a research paper about Wilgus or Grand Central Terminal, he/she could easily use this finding aid to locate additional sources not located in the “Stacks” or “References” sections in a library, or, could use the key terms or subjects within the finding aid to conduct academic database searches.

Joyia Williams

Professor Almeida

LIB 2205/ARCH 2205

17 June 2016

New York Times. (1932, June 30). Commuter Service Called Inefficient. New York Times. p. 32

The New York Times (NYT) reports that New York Central Railroad is proposing a forty percent (40%) increase on its current commuter fare at a Public Service and Transit Commissions hearing, but consulting engineer John C. Brackenridge asserts that the proposed fare hike is completely unnecessary on the basis of resource mismanagement. Brackenridge alleges that NY Central uses more railcars than necessary to transport passengers to/from Westchester County, subsequently, requiring more manpower and electricity usage (p. 32). NYT mentions that Brackenridge sources his testimony by collecting his own “proper adjustment of car mileage to commuter traffic” (para. 3.), and utilizing “his own ‘liberal’ allowances for labor and material costs” (para. 3). Brackenridge’s findings conclude that NY Central earns enough profit from current commuter fare, and to approve any fare hike would be unjust to the passenger.

Though this is not a current source, this article would be a reliable source because NYT is a highly-respected newspaper, and,  is relevant to GCT’s demise. This article appears to be objective because there’s no indication of a hidden agenda from the writer, and the contradictory findings come from a professional hired directly by GCT. Also, the consulting engineer could’ve easily accepted a bribe from GCT and recommended the commuter passenger fare hike but yet he chose to make his own findings and do his job honestly.  would consider the source scholarly because only professional familar the  could peer review this source, and include it in an academic database.

This article exposes Grand Central Terminal’s “ dirty laundry” for those researchers looking to uncover GCT’s possible role in its own demise. Portraying GCT in an negative light, the article makes readers a little more inquisitive and even suspicious of GCT records/bookkeeping, its true financial status and the Commodore’s role in price gouging, if any.

Prior to today’s visit to Grand Central Terminal (GCT), I learned many things I wasn’t aware of. First, I was shocked to learn that though Vanderbilt Hall has been restored back to pristine condition, currently, there still remains a homeless population that calls GCT’s lower level home. Though we didn’t get the opportunity visit the lower level, I can only imagine what that it looks like once the afternoon/evening rush hour dies down. It’s really disheartening to know that a landmark of such grandeur and high regard still encompasses the despair it once tried to get rid of. I would assume living there is a better and safer option than living on the streets or in a homeless shelter. I think Metro-North could possibly eliminate this problem by offering them entry-level employment to those willing to work. I don’t know (shrugs); that actually might be a terrible idea. It’s just a possibility I thought of. Secondly, the symbolism behind Coutan’s statue design made me chuckle inside because it made me question whether a woman’s wisdom/logic might have saved GCT from all these issues and the drama surrounding them. Jaqueline Onassis and her efforts are proof of that, and they could have named more than a foyer in her honor. Thirdly, I found it interesting how the neighboring Yale Club (YC) and its architects had to get architectural design approval from Warren and Wetmore in order to secure its location. I guess that goes to show how much clout the Commodore really had, and that architectural autonomy is worth giving up for prime real estate. If you closely look at the YC’s logo, Vanderbilt’s influence becomes very obvious; YC’s logo bears an uncanny resemblance to GCT’s logo.

Grand Central: How A Train Station Transformed America By Sam Roberts

Contents

Prologue: The Accidental Terminal

Rails vs. Rivers

The Commodore

The Depot

The Station

The Engineer

Terminal City

All Aboard

Gateway to a Continent

Saving Grand Central

The Restoration

The Characters

Commutation

Secrets of Grand Central

How It Works

Since 2001: A Space Odyssey

Epilogue: The Second Century

The New York Times’ urban affairs correspondent Sam Roberts (2013) affirms his book’s stance on Grand Central Terminal in the quote stated below:

This book is more about transportation. It’s about the expansion of the city of New York into a metropolis and the aggregation of metropolitan government, which mirrored the ruthless consolidation of corporate America and the nation’s railroads. The terminal was a product of local politics, bold architecture, brutal flexing of corporate muscle, and visionary engineering” (p. 17).

I believe Roberts’ book would be vital in my research because it provides historical information about the transition from water to railroad travel, the shift from steam-powered locomotives to electrification, and the driver behind Grand Central Terminal, Cornelius Vanderbuilt. Additionally, the popularization of the “red carpet treatment”, its impact on Park Avenue, urban renewal, and office building development during the Roaring Twenties, GCT’s birth, collapse, preservation, and restoration, the iconic cameos in film/television/media, its current progression as a commuter railroad, GCT employees that help keep it running at optimal performance, and a handful of little known secrets are discussed in depth.

Works Cited

Roberts, Sam (2013). Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America.

New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing.

If I were to ask a non-New Yorker what places come to mind when they think of New York City, he/she would probably say, “Times Square, Broadway, 34^th Street, etc …. “, or some other place that has been overly glamorized within the media. I, too, am guilty of the same thing because such aforementioned places allow us to indulge in the excesses of entertainment, socialization, and other hedonistic pleasures we desire to fulfill in our daily lives. Oddly enough, Grand Central Terminal (GCT) would probably be mentioned among the last few named (if it was even remembered at all) due to the increase of commercial airline travel. And honestly, when visiting NYC, do you know anyone with “Visit Grand Central” on their tourist “to-do” list? But to a true New Yorker, GCT is probably the most vital entry point into Manhattan, and the massive overcrowding that is encountered during the morning and evening rush hours on the Grand Central 42^nd Street subway platform proves its necessity for commuter traveling today. Or maybe if the 9/11 Grand Central “terrorist attack” of 1976 had been as fatal or highly publicized as the 9/11 World Trade Center “terrorist attack” of 2001, it might have had its own memorial museum. But let’s face it, people don’t just “go” to GCT; they simply pass through it in coffee-induced stupors. And for these reasons, I would love to get to know and understand GCT on a more personal basis.