Overview & visitor information
Grand Central Terminal opened in 1913 at 42nd Street and Park Avenue, replacing earlier rail stations on the site. Reed and Stem devised its circulation and Warren and Wetmore shaped its Beaux-Arts architecture, separating arriving and departing passengers across ramps, concourses and platforms rather than relying primarily on stairs.
The Main Concourse is defined by monumental arched windows, information booth clock and a blue-green ceiling painted with gilded constellations. Outside, Jules-Félix Coutan's sculptural group crowns the south façade around a Tiffany clock, while Park Avenue traffic passes around the building on elevated viaducts.
Tracks and platforms extend below ground for Metro-North commuter service, and a newer concourse beneath the terminal connects Long Island Rail Road trains to the East Side. Retail passages, dining rooms and the tiled whispering gallery make the complex a civic interior as well as a working transportation interchange.
