Reflecting on what you learned on the tours of Grand Central Terminal and the information from the videos, answer the following question in a 200 word reflection be submitted by Thursday. 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?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewaSvAJAoZ4
I really enjoyed our third visit and second tour to GCT. I really enjoyed it because it provided congruent information along with our first tour with dan. Dans tour was a more inside tour and behind the scenes tour where as our second tour guide provided us with many important information about the outside. I enjoyed three major things during our second tour.
Firstly, when we were standing in pershing square which is also Park Ave, you see so many tall buildings, However, when you are standing on the corner of park ave and East 41st, you look in front of you, you see an amazing building, which is not so tall, with beautiful sculptures and a 14ft clock, and when you look to your left you see another not so tall building which is the New York Public Library which are both major tourist attractions with amazing architecture history.
Secondly when we were standing in Pershing Square, When our tour guide asked how tall do you think and the clock and sculpture was, I got it so wrong, although my guess was not stated aloud it was stated in my head. When he said the clock was 14 feet and the sculptures were 30 to 40 feet I was astonished. We were then able to look at the person who sculpt it, in the middle of working on it and then we can see the comparison because standing 7 stories below it, it doesn’t look so big.
Lastly, When we walked out of Grand Central Terminal and then to the left of us was Grand Central terminal I was like “What the heck” I was so confused, because we were in GCT but when we walked out of it we walked out of another building.
William J Wilgus was an extraordinary engineer Legends. He is most famous for engineering Grand Central Terminal in 1913 which took 10 years to build. He is known to be an “Engineering Legend” He accomplished many things that had not been before. Such as before Grand Central Terminal, the Grand Centrals before. Grand Central Depot and Grand Central station were built above ground, and were made of steam. However this was very inconvenient and put harmful fumes into the air. Wilgus collaborated with an electrical engineer named Frank Sprague and was able to build trains that ran on electricity, This also enabled it trains to be built underground because rationally you cannot have a steam train underground. It was also because of Wilgus ideas it allowed for the movement of trains to be below ground. His Brother in law May Reed was in the firm Reed and Stem a very successful architecture firm. When Wilgus returned back to New York from the west, his Engineer status continued to build up until becoming a chief Engineer. New York City was growing along with the number of trains. Unfortunately, sometimes with America it takes a horrible accident for things to change. In 1902 two trains collided because I believe one or both of the trains could not see the signal due to the smoke, this ended with the lost of 17 lives. This made the removal of the Grand Central Station which operated above ground with steam trains to what is now Grand Central Terminal which operates below ground and with electricity. One of the smart things that William Wilgus was able to due in order to help with the finances of Grand Central Terminal was the idea of using the land and real estate above the trains and leasing them out. I can imagine now the lease amount to have a sky rise above Grand Central Terminal
The MTA Archival visit was extremely thought provoking because of how much there was to see! The MTA archives were filled with some amazing primary sources of GCT that depicted various times of and around the terminal. Looking at the sources, and knowing how GCT is today, gave me an interesting perspective on not just GCT, but also about how archives preserve a moment in time for future generations to look back at. I’m sure when the photographs that we saw were taken, no one thought much about the pictures, because they were still current and life probably seemed “boring” and dull. However, those same photographs of the terminal being built, and the surrounding areas of Bryant Park, and Times Square are priceless to us because of how unequivocally different that time is to this.
At the archive we were fortunate to meet with Haley, who accommodated us and was our archive proctor. She brought us some pretty interesting primary sources from the Metro North Collection, and also gave us some insightful information about finding aids (kind of like metadata- data about the sources, like what agency the source was organized by, the type of material, the date of the source, etc.), and about different materials that we looked at (cyanotype, etchings, gelatin coated).
There were two sources that I found extremely interesting. Unfortunately, the photograph that I really wanted to use as a source of GCT being built, I was unable to get. However, the other source was a wartime pamphlet:
Title: “Wartime Guide to Grand Central Terminal”
Creator/Publisher: NY Central System
Year: 1940
This source was extremely descriptive as well as intended as a visual aid. The source was in pamphlet format (a double gated pamphlet) and was intended as wartime paraphernalia most likely intended for to motivate troops and bring business to the terminal. It was published in 1940, which means that it was created during World War II.
The source is interesting because it shows the extent that GCT went in order to bring business, even in the time of warfare. To me it shows that GCT was able to become a center even in the face of war. This source would be vital in research for the uses of GCT, one of the uses also being a place where troops were being transported.
For further research:
What other uses of GCT arise over different periods of time? What use is being put to GCT today?
How did WWII effect the railroad business?
How did GCT cope with changing technological advances?
The GCT walking tour last Thursday was extremely interesting, since we were able to experience the terminal through the eyes of an architectural enthusiast. The main focal point of last Thursday, wasn’t just the GCT building itself, but more of GCT and its surrounding buildings that made up Terminal City. Understanding the background information around a topic is crucial in understanding the topic itself, and I feel like understanding not just GCT but the surrounding era, the economy of the time, the surrounding buildings, and how they ended up becoming part of and the inspiration to something as grand as Terminal City is just as vital as actually understanding the GCT building and its own unique history.
What I found really interesting was the architectural similarities of GCT (especially the Pershing Square Viaduct) to Parisian architect (Alexander III Bridge). I really enjoyed how Tony (tour guide), explained how the love of Paris inspired Wilgus to bring Parisian elements into GCT. For me, it kind of shows how there are roots of Europe in our “New World” city. Yet for all our “New World” charm, we were still able to create our own statement with GCT.
Our visit to the archives was extremely interesting and one hour was not enough to browse through its offerings! Haley brought out files of photographs from the beginning of construction until the end of it (1913). She explained why the photographs differed–the blue, unclear photographs were made of a different, cheaper material (iron) and clearer ones could be made from platinum. We also got to see pamphlets and brochures from the time that gave us an idea of what was important enough to attract guests. What really caught my attention were the blueprints. There was one blueprint in particular that showed grand central terminal and all the buildings surrounding it. As Haley eloquently stated, this brings us back to the idea that the architects, engineers, and visionaries were not just creating a building but were creating a neighborhood which we consider “Terminal City.”
I also learned more about archival procedures. For example, archives reside in the basement because of the lack of windows and less humidity and it’s also imperative to wear gloves when handling items such as photographs. Sunlight, humidity, and the oil from our fingertips could damage these artifacts. Also, because we are using this for academic purposes and much of the artifacts were dated between 1923 and 1977 without copyright notice, our class is able to freely use the artifacts from the archive. This is called “fair use.” Haley also explained what the numbers on the various folders mean. An example is using “2010.20.26.10” 2010 is the year the artifact was given to the archive, 20 is the sub series number, 26 is the folder, and 10 is the collection of items that come along in that selection.
Overall, I really enjoyed our visit to the archives and hope to go back there again. There’s so much information stored in that basement and I feel like we just barely scratched the surface in the short hour we were there.
Some sources I took particular interest in are as follows:
From “The Gateway to A Continent. Grand Central Zone” Taken from WikiMedia Commons
“The Gateway to A Continent. Grand Central Zone” was published by New York in 1939. It is a pictorial spread that depicts beautiful illustrations of Grand Central Terminal and the surrounding buildings. I thought it was interesting because of the details pictures and also because it emphasized that the creating of Grand Central Terminal was the rebirth of New York City. As quoted from this source, it is a “new horizon of steel and stone” and GCT and the surrounding buildings create a “city within a city.”
“Landmarks Preservation” written by John Pyke, Jr., is a great read that argues why landmarks should be preserved, the history of landmark preservation, the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the criteria for becoming a landmark/the rules. With Grand Central Terminal being a landmark and there having been a heavy dispute over keeping the building intact, I think this primary source would be excellent to use to understand the struggle over making it a landmark.
Some questions for further research to consider regarding archives and Grand Central Terminal are as follows:
On June 16th afternoon, we visited Grand Central Terminal again. This time, with a professional architecture tour guide, we explore the neighborhood. At the end of the tour, we were standing on 45th street between Park avenue and Vanderbilt avenue. We were surrounded by two buildings: Helmsley Building and MetLife building.
What I found interesting was the expansion joints in the middle of streets as shown in the picture below.
Those joints are usually used for the structure of a bridge. Yes we were technically standing on a huge bridge. The guide explained that these were the bridges above the park avenue train tunnels, which used to be open to the grand as shown in the picture below.
Photo@ Douglas Feiden, Rising Above the Rails at Hudson Yards, The Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323368704578592141407884714
Visiting the NYC Transit Museum and the Archives was a great experience and definitely one I found Interesting. Firstly, it was amazing looking through old photographs of the city back in the early 1900’s, particularly Bryant Park and Times Square. In the Bryant Park photos, it was interesting to see the place wide and open as oppose to it being surrounded by buildings today. On the top right corner of one photo, you could see advertisements for the Barnum and Bailey circus and even more incredible what looked like a Wrigley’s spearmint gum ad, both of which are still around to this day. With Times Square, you could still see how it was a place that got crowded even back then. Also, The bottom of that one building where the New Years ball drops could still be seen. Lastly, out of the many more things we saw in those photos, the one thing that stood out in all of them was the clothing people wore.
Inside the Transit Museum, I enjoyed seeing how the subways and tunnels were made. The various photos and displays of the tools used painted a good picture of what it must have been like back then. Specifically, they had this one mock up of a wheelbarrow with actual rocks in it that weighed about half of what workers back then typically moved; The purpose of it was to try to lift it so you could see how much hard work was put in back then. Looking at the different variations of turnstiles over the years was cool too. Something new I learned was that back when they used tokens to pay for the subway, they had something called ‘slugs’ which was a term used to describe counterfeit tokens. By far, the thing that caught my attention the most was looking at and actually stepping into the old trains found on the lower level of the museum. From the outside, not much but the paint job and style of display changed over the years. The more interesting stuff was found inside. Things like old advertisements, signs, and fans were interesting to look at; the seats were what made the display amazing. What was funny about them was how they were more comfortable back then, with the cushioned seats and all, and how they slowly came to be the uncomfortable ones we have now.
New York Central System. (1970). Grand Central Terminal [Brochure]. New York, NY: Author. This pamphlet/brochure contains information about Grand Central Terminal such as a brief overview of its history, current events located there, and more. Meant for those visiting New York, specifically the Terminal, it shows old photographs of Grand Central dating back to circa 1970 along with short captions detailing the place’s significance.
The Gateway to a Continent. (1940). New York, NY: New York City Architects. A book containing information about various hotels in NYC during the 1940’s. Composed of brief description of each hotel including details such as, the location, nearby structures along with photographs and draws of them.
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