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Grand Central Terminal
DECEMBER 2005
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Grand Central has always been one of my favorite public places in New York. I'm drawn to locations that function in such a communitarian way. People are polite and cooperative and come together at the terminal in a peaceful, friendly way. It has a good feel. I've only been gone from New York for two years, and now that I'm not living there I really miss it. So working on this story was a pleasure.
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I thought going to Grand Central for a day wouldn't make me tired. After all, I was just going to a train station. But a policy change about ten years ago dictated that most of the benches be removed, so there were very few places to sit. The terminal is huge, and in order to get a good feel for it I needed to move around. I walked and walked up and down and in and out. By the end of the day I was absolutely exhausted.
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When I flew in from Boston and got off the plane at LaGuardia, everybody at the airport was standing around looking at the TV monitors. I went over to see what the news was, and discovered that the London subway had been bombed. So when I arrived at Grand Central, it was totally shut down. Army personnel and sniffing dogs patrolled the terminal, and the governor, mayor, and the head of the FBI were holding a big news conference.
It was fascinating to see the day unfold, but it was impossible for me to do any reporting. I wasn't allowed into the more secure parts of the terminal. So I ended up going back to Boston and returning to New York at a later time. The article was supposed to be about a normal day at Grand Central. The day of the London bombing was an exceptional day, but it reconfirmed for me that this place really is the center of New York. |
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