Celebrating Grand Central Terminal’s Centennial Anniversary

On February 1, I was honored to attend the Centennial Anniversary celebration of Grand Central Terminal (GCT), which I am proud is within my Senate District. Since its opening on February 2, 1913, GCT has served hundreds of millions of passengers and remains one of the City’s most treasured and iconic landmarks. At the time it was completed, GCT was the largest construction project in New York’s history – costing more than $2 billion in today’s dollars. Landmarked in 1967, GCT has faced near demolition on more than one occasion.  Thanks to the efforts of preservationists, forward-thinking elected officials and, in particular, the Municipal Art Society and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, GCT continues to serve the City and more than 750,000 daily visitors.

Today, at 100 years old, GCT is the largest train station in the world and home to the Metro North Rail Road, five subway lines and soon, the Long Island Rail Road through the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s East Side Access project. As we mark the 100 year anniversary, we must invest in maintaining GCT as one of the world’s premier train stations, not forgetting its history and importance to the infrastructure of the City of New York.  I will be introducing a resolution in the State Senate to mark this anniversary.