The Centennial of The “PALACE of DEPARTURE"...

The “Palace of Departure”, this is how the French writer and diplomat Paul Morand labeled the Terminal, whose monumentality, comfort and cleanliness are a source of admiration for foreign visitor.

The 42nd Street Facade by The Ecole des  Beaux - Arts  trained, Whitney Warren, who was responsible for the station's exterior decoration, is a piece of architectural bravura. The Architect saw the terminal as a triumphal gateway to the city and the facade, a stone facing on a metal frame, is remarkable for its use of a limited number of unusually large, boldly defined elements.

The layout of Grand Central terminal was revolutionary for its time. A system of ramps, which can be reached via the subway or from outside the station, helps prevent disorderly crowds, a common problem in others stations. 

The Main Concourse was originally used exclusively for long distance trains. It Vaulted Ceiling is decorated by the constellations: electric bulbs representing 2,500 stars joined by a gilt border to form the celestial figures. The original hall for suburban trains is on the lower level, along with the Oyster Bar, a landmark restaurant in New York, which has been there since the terminal was opened in 1913, known for its decor and seafood specialties.

Movie-makers have filmed some unforgettable farewell scenes and chases here. For example, Alfred Hitchcock for some sequences for North by Northwest, starring Gary Grant, and others movies like  "Spellbound" in 1945, "The Out Of Towners" in 1970,  "The Freshman" in 1990, "The Fisher King" in 1991, and most recently, "K-Pax" in 2001, "Friends With Benefits", "The Day After Tomorrow”, and "Madagascar", among others.

Grand Central Terminal’s (GCT) passengers figures reached a peak, in 1947, of 65 million, in others words more than 40 percent of the U.S. population at that time. 

In recent years the terminal almost suffered the Fate of Pennsylvania Station, which was demolished in 1963 to make way for the new Madison Square Garden.

In 1968, the Penn central Corporation, the railroad's new owners, planned to demolish Grand Central's 42-Street Facade and the waiting rooms to construct a 55-story tower designed by Martel Breuer. 

The terminal was saved by a high-profile led by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the architect Philip Johnson, and the station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

In the picture over, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, center left, television personality Bess Myerson, center right, and U.S. Representative Ed Koch, ( who died this morning ), walk outside New York's Grand Central Station in January 1975. Onassis-Kennedy and Myerson had just participated in a news conference to block construction of an office tower above the landmark station.

New York City Grand Central Terminal Jackie Kennedy plaque.

                      The Main Concourse of Grand Central terminal

According to the travel magazine based in New York City, Travel + Leisure, in its October 2011 survey, Grand Central Terminal is "the world's number six most visited tourist attraction", bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually.

The original terminal, commonly called Grand Central Station, was built in 1871 by “Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, the American industrialist and philanthropist, the patriarch of the one of the richest family on Americans history. The present building dates from the times of his grandson, William K. Vanderbilt, chairman of New York Central Railroad, which included three major rail networks operating out in Manhattan.

In 1903 a select group of architects were invited to submit designs for the New Grand Central Terminal in a competition. The winning submission was, from St. Paul firm of  Reed & Stem. Subsequent to the competition , New York architects Warren & Wetmore were asked to aid in the revision of the original design and presented the selection committee with their own proposal  for the terminal. In February 1904, Warrent & Wetmore and Reed & Stem entered an agreement to acts as The associate Architetcs of Grand Central Terminal. Construction would last ten years.

The new station officially opened to great fanfare at 12:01 am on Sunday  February 2, 1913, and more than 150,000 people flocked to Grand Central Terminal to marvel at the kind of opulence and grandeur usually reserved for grand European palaces or opera houses.

See the Secrets video of the Grand Central terminal, by Sam Roberts and Vijai Singh of New York Times....

The (GCT) is located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.