Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal is one of the world's great railroad stations and a Beaux-Arts masterpiece at the heart of Manhattan. Opened in 1913, its vast Main Concourse — crowned by a celestial ceiling of golden constellations — has welcomed generations of travelers beneath the largest network of platforms of any station on earth. Saved from demolition in a landmark preservation battle, it endures as both a working transit hub and a beloved civic monument, drawing millions who come simply to marvel at it.

Grand Central Terminal was built by the New York Central Railroad to replace an earlier station on the site, and to capitalize on a bold engineering idea: electrifying the trains and burying the tracks underground, which freed the land above to become the valuable real estate of Park Avenue. Designed by the firms Reed & Stem and Warren & Wetmore in a grand Beaux-Arts style, it opened in 1913 after a decade of construction.

The terminal was an instant landmark. Its Main Concourse, one of the largest interior public spaces in the world, is famous for the greenish ceiling mural of the zodiac and constellations — rendered, as sharp-eyed visitors noticed, backwards. Above the grand 42nd Street facade sits a sculpture of Mercury flanked by Hercules and Minerva, and a Tiffany-glass clock said to be the largest example of Tiffany glass in the world. Below ground, 44 platforms and 67 tracks make it the largest train station in the world by that measure.

By the 1960s the terminal had fallen into decline and, like the demolished Pennsylvania Station, faced the wrecking ball. A public campaign to save it — championed by figures including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — led to a landmark 1978 Supreme Court decision upholding New York's preservation law. Restored in the 1990s to its original splendor, Grand Central remains a bustling commuter hub and one of the most visited destinations in New York City.