A Grand Birthday. On February 1, 1913, the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad opened the Beaux-Arts style Reed and Stem/Warren and Wetmore designed Grand Central Terminal to the public. Its immense 48 acre footprint was larger than either of the previous two intercity train stations on the site, the flow of its passageways carefully deigned to facilitate the flow of the tens of millions of commuters and tourists between the platforms and shops and other modes of transit who walk through per year. There were various factors that led to this building being saved and restored including the preservation efforts of Jane Jacobs generally and Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis and other on this specific project, but perhaps none more so than the destruction of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Penn Station across town and the reaction of the public leading to laws protecting the preservation of historic landmarks. On February 1, 2013, present day owner and operator Metropolitan Transit Authority and MTA Metro-North Railroad kicked off a year of celebrating the 100th birthday of the grand structure and the restoration projects that allowed it to be the 'grand' structure that it is at 111 years old on February 2, 2024.
