Grand Central Terminal on a moonlit night weeks before its 100th birthday. Photo, Craig Nelson, 2013.

Happy 100th Birthday Grand Central Terminal! We hope you know how much we at 106th Street love you. We also know you barely survived. Over fifty years ago, there were plans to demolish you and build something modern, tall, spectacular. Then came the long battle to save you from the wrecking ball. The battle between profits/”progress” and preservation was long and complicated. A hyperboloid, air rights, a bowling alley, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and a supreme court ruling over the constitutionality of your landmark status were all part of your near death experience. Lucky for you and all New Yorkers that preservationists kept on fighting the good fight…and won. We feel such pride every time we enter your doors or hustle upstairs from the trains. Outside, you are grand, stoic, solid. Inside, you are beautiful, warm, and complex. You work hard for the city while always looking fabulous–you send us places and take us home, provide a respite from our day, and are a perfect place to pick up something for dinner.  Above all, you are the heart of this great city, your pulse shooting us uptown, downtown, across town, and out of town.

Since the 106thstreeters spend so much time at Grand Central–catching the 6 train, picking up cheese and a baguette at Murray’s, meeting up at the clock, sipping a happy hour martini at Grand Central Oyster Bar, or splurging on a fancy one at Campbell Apartment (just a few of our favorite GCT things)–we’ve been taking lots of photos in the last couple of weeks in anticipation of your big day. Cheers! And here’s to the next 100.