One of my favorite cities to visit is New York City. I guess that’s obvious from the number of photos of New York that I’ve posted on my website through the years. I’ve visited the city many times and have spent hours wandering with my camera.
And one of my favorite places to visit in NYC is Grand Central, especially during the morning or evening rush. It’s a great place to feel the energy of a big city, and it's the subject of my featured gallery for April. On an average weekday, more than 750,000 people pass through Grand Central, a number that grows to more than a million on holidays. That’s why people often describe a busy place as being “like Grand Central Station.” The station has 44 train platforms, more than any other train station in the world, and the constant arrivals and departures of trains keep people flowing through the terminal.
Standing in the middle of Grand Central’s main concourse around 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. on a weekday will put you in the middle of a few hundred thousand people rushing to or from work. And standing on one of the balconies on the east or west side of the main concourse provides an elevated view of the constant flow of people. It’s impressive.
I have dozens of photos of the main concourse. But there’s more to Grand Central than the main concourse. There are ramps, stairs, escalators, corridors, hallways, waiting areas, dining areas … all enclosed by the century-old architecture that makes the place so photogenic, both inside and out.
By the way, the correct name of this site is Grand Central Terminal, although people refer to it as Grand Central Station — the name of the facility on the site before Grand Central Terminal was completed in 1913, and the name of the U.S. Post Office station next door.
All photos and text © Pat D. Hemlepp. All rights reserved.