Grand Central Terminal (English: grand central terminal, also translated as Grand Central Terminal, Chinese commonly known as Grand Central Station, Grand Central Terminal) is located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and is an underground railroad station where the Metropolitan Northern Railroad, New York Metro Line 7, Lexington Avenue Line (Line 4, 5, 6) and Line S meet. Covering an area of 48 acres (19 hectares), the station is an important transportation hub in the Greater New York area along with Penn Station and one of the busiest and most famous rail stations in the United States.
Grand Central Terminal is located at 89 42nd Street, 42nd Street and Park Avenue in New York City. In terms of the number of platforms, Grand Central Terminal is the largest railway station in the world for public building space, with 44 platforms and 56 stock lanes. The underground part of the station has 2 floors, the first basement floor has 30 stock lanes, and the second floor has 26 stock lanes. A total of 43 tracks are now used for passenger transport. The total number of rails adjacent to the platform and located in the yard exceeds 100.
The Grand Central Terminal was funded by the New York Central Railroad and officially opened in 1913; it replaced the previous station (built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1871). Since the completion of the station, many hotels, office buildings and mansions have sprung up on Park Avenue near the station, making it the most expensive area on Manhattan Island. In 1963, the huge Pan Am Building (now the MetLife Building) was built on the north side of Grand Central Terminal, which caused protests due to its completion and destruction of the scenery near Grand Central Terminal, but the trouble was not over, in 1968, the Penn Central Railroad had planned to demolish part of the waiting room on 42nd Street of Grand Central Terminal to build an office building, but due to the strong opposition of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at the time, Grand Central Terminal escaped the fate of reconstruction. In 1983, the Grand Central Station was included in the National Register of Historical relics protection. In 1992, the Grand Central Terminal began a complete renovation to cope with the growing commuter crowd.
The central hall is located in the very center of the station and is often crowded with people, where ticket booths and information desks are located. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, an American flag was hung in the lobby. The central lobby is often where people meet, and the four-sided clock on the information desk is the most noteworthy sign in the station, and the plates of these four clocks are made of opal and value between $10 million and $20 million. In the inquiry room, there is a secret passage to the underground.
Grand Central Market
Outside grand central terminal, facing the main entrance of 42nd Street, there is a Tiffany glass, the world's largest glass, lined with statues of Greek mythological deities such as Minerva, Hermes and Mercury, the world's largest group of statues, built by the French sculptor jules-felix coutan, 48 feet (14.6 meters) high, and the circumference of the bell is 13 feet (4 meters) long.
There are many walkways in the hall, and passengers can enter and exit different waiting platforms. Apple opened a directly operated Apple Store on the second floor of the lobby in November 2011.