Grand Central Station – exterior views- c.1904

This is the photo of Grand central station.

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Although the video was mostly of experts discussing Grand Central and not about how it was physically formed like the documentary on Penn Station, I actually enjoyed how the men spoke about GCT. It was great hearing them reference facts that we learned from our tours (like the lowest basement floor N42, the operation control center, and the oyster bar) and getting more information about them. For example, we were given a glimpse of the lowest basement floor in all of Manhattan. The video also brought into perspective how Grand Central Terminal was different than Penn Station. Someone mentioned that what makes GCT so special is that it is a “constellation of three different buildings” whereas Penn Station was a standalone building. Grand Central is a “choreography of connection” with shops, transportation, and a place for the community to bustle about, not just a building for trains to arrive and depart at. I love those descriptions of Grand Central Terminal and it really just reiterates how important this monument is for our community.

I did not know that watching a documentation on the rise of Penn Station would cause me to feel so connected to the station. Alexander Cassatt’s vision of a seamless ride without the need of a ferry was so far-fetched and daunting yet he managed to build a station and the tunnels into New York City. In the video, we saw how sandhogs, the workers who risked their health and lives, created the tunnel in the Hudson River. When they mentioned that it took them 6 hours to place the ring segments but after experience, it took them 90 minutes, it made me think of how proud the workers must have been when they finally got the hang of it. The Penn Station monument itself was an amazing building and I’m sure made New Yorkers feel like their city was truly something special.

Four years of construction, fifty years of living, only to be destroyed because of money. Watching the complete destruction of Penn Station was so heartbreaking. It was destroyed because not enough people realized how important it was until it was torn down. Yes, it acts as a martyr for Grand Central Terminal and other buildings that were at risk of being destroyed but it didn’t need to be if enough people petitioned against it. There is no other monument like Penn Station in New York City and I feel so much regret that I was not able to see it in its glory.

In regards to the archives, what I first noticed is that not many of the employees in the MTA building know of its existence. My experience in the archive alone was amazing, due to the fact that I had the chance to handle photos that were not only beautiful but older than myself and were in superb condition. I also looked over expense logs for GCT, in these logs you could find minor repairs/modifications.

Found two sources at the archive:

1. Watson, E. Correspondence land. 1965 – 1976.

I found this source interesting because I saw that watson had interesting ideas for a change in brooklyn and some maps of brooklyn neighborhoods.

1.  NY Central System. Grand central terminal. 1964 – 1968.

This source showed interesting moment at GCT but i found it really interesting that the book was in really great condition for how old it was.

The museum visit taught me a lot, and has allowed me to look at public transportation much differently.

in this photo, It shows a fact that really intrigued, which was that the first woman to drive a bus for the mta, got behind the wheel for the first time in 1973. A tremendous fact.

This photo is of multiple photos of city hall train station and it reminds me of gustivino tiles and to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were actually gustivino tiles.

I find the generations of turnstiles extremely interesting. To see where it started from and to where it is now, is quite incredible.

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.

Transit museum reflection 

A  picture of the main concourse which was jam packed everywhere. I thought it was crowded now but seeing the picture I can’t imagine being in a place where it is that crowded. I enjoyed seeing the brochure for Grand Central Terminal as well, it was interesting to read. 

        The highlight of that day for me was definitely the Transit museum. I really, really enjoyed the trains. I began to design in my head what the next trains should look like, my favorite train was the one that they had running in 1927. I  liked it because it had more two seats. I think that they should remove some poles because when you have a child in a stroller it is hard to maneuver on the trains with all the poles. 

    I tried to read every advertisement, most were very comical, and would not be allowed on the trains in 2016. Also although the costs of MTA keeps rising I understand it is for a reason because when the MTA almost went bankrupt because the car fare was 5 cents but it cost 10 cents for each rider. The one thing that I really disliked was the maps. I was getting a little annoyed because I am I’m so used to the color of the lines of the train. Over all the transit museum was a great experience and I would definitely go back.

      The first source that I sought which I requested was a picture of GCT being heavily packed, according to the panflit it states that “Thousands watch orbital space flight projected by CBS into giant screen” I learned that at a time where not a lot of people owned a TV this was fascinating. I Am surprised that Grand Central Terminal does not still have a large screen their in 2016.

      The second source depicts Grand Central Station in its construction, I enjoying seeing the clock that is outside. I wonder what happened to it.

The two questions I would ask is what happened to the giant screen in Grand Central Terminal? How come they took it out? on what grounds?

My second question would be when will they make a new train?

Grand Central Terminal, ca. 1964-1968; Metro North Collection, GCT/NYC-PAM/01; New

       York Transit Museum

Grand Central Station, 08/20/1910; Subway Construction Photograph Collection, 1995. 72.3,     

      R1S5A_7135; New York Transit Museum

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The william wilgus papers were jus information and history of his life. The history and biographic information was based on his educational to hos career in engineering and lead him to become a civil engineer. The papers were just records of information that he recorded through his career. Also these papers weren’t just his pApers; it was also other writers as well.One of the intresting papers that stood out to me was the Private consulting practice in which these were records of engineer reports, scarpbooks, notes, drawings,blueprints; in which we saw at the archive visit. I can not recall of those record we seen at the archive visit were Wilgus but i did recall seeing alot of records of engineer reports and blueprints and etc. Especially the engineer reports were intresting because it was pages of reconstruction on certain parts of gran central station after it was build. I think those archives were william wilgus because he was the engineer and in the consulting practice it states that all his records were in chronological order. I think its also helpful he recorded everything down especially at that time grand central was build because today people can also go back to his work and figure out what he did to begin building GCT.

Watching the video on Penn Station was gut wrenching. The reason I say that is because I seriously hate closed spaces and things that can explode, Going through Underground tunnels. I would always say to myself “how the dhsdhsfjd, did they make a tunnel underground”?? when I come to the realization that I am sometimes literally underwater It is not a good feeling because I also have a fear of drowning, however I really enjoyed the video but it was so fearful to watch, I honestly would never risk my life to make a tunnel but some people literally risked their lives just so we can have what we have today. It was very sad to watch the sand hogs working tireless and dangerously. Suffering awful deaths and the Bends which is a disease from air decompression

over all I really enjoyed this video because it answered my long pondering of the matter of how tunnels are made, it also showed the massive work and crazy idea that worked but almost didn’t. It is something that we still use today, and to think we would have made much more tunnels after that with the technology that we have today.

” Describe the reasons why Grand Central Terminal had a different outcome than Penn Station. In other words, why was Grand Central saved and not Penn Station? What forces caused the different outcomes?” I think it took the sad and painful destruction of Penn Station for people to realize they have to protect these buildings. A lot of the people did not want it to happen again, because a lot of people relied on the old penn Station and to their dismay it was taken down, and they feared the same outcome for other buildings the community loved.