Grand Central Station (erected 1903-1913) was built by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the railroad entrepreneur. He wanted to make trains respectable. He did, and in the process revolutionized travel. The façade was designed by Whitney Warren of the architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore who also designed the old Biltmore Hotel. Reed and Stem of St. Paul, Minn., worked on the rest of the building with Warren and Wetmore. The 70-story Met Life building, formerly the Pan Am building, is likely the most detested midtown skyscraper, but it is popular with its tenants because of its convenient location over the former north shed of Grand Central Terminal. The brutal 1965 design is by Walter Gropius. Originally, a heliport for large helicopters to take passengers to and from city airports was put on the roof. Then, a seven-minute flight to Kennedy Airport in an eight-passenger helicopter cost $7. The service closed in 1968 because it was not profitable. In 1977, the service controversially reopened. However, three months later, as passengers were about to board, the landing gear of a large, 30-passenger helicopter collapsed and one of its rotor blades broke off. Four people were killed on the heliport, and a pedestrian perished on the street below. Helicopter service will never be resumed.
St. Paul
(b. ? Tarsusus – d. circa Rome 67)
was an apostle to the Gentiles and martyr. In the beginning Paul, a Jew, persecuted Christians. He was part of the mob that stoned St. Stephen. Afterwards, he had a vision that he was to bring the word of Christ to the gentiles. Because of his conversion, he developed many Jewish enemies. He became a traveling missionary and preacher, and traveled to Arabia. Later, he traveled with Barnabus to Cypress and Asia Minor. With Timothy and Luke, he made a second mission. While on a third mission, he was imprisoned and taken to Rome, where Nero had him beheaded at Tre Fontane. He is buried outside Roman walls where the Basilica of St. Paul now stands.
Warren and Wetmore
(early 20th century)
was an architectural firm that designed many important New York buildings. Whitney Warren (b.1864 – d. NY 1943) a partner, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. He was founder of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and a Director. Warren resigned from the firm in 1931.Charles D. Wetmore (b. 1867 Elmira, NY – d. NY 1941) studied at Harvard, was a graduate of Harvard Law and trained as an architect in New York. He was a member of the Knickerbocker, Racquet and Tennis, University, Harvard and Meadowbrook clubs. They first won a design competition for the New York Yacht Club (1899-1900). They famously designed Grand Central Terminal (1903-13) and the adjoining Biltmore hotel, in collaboration with the firm Reed and Stem. Alan H Stem (of Reed and Stem) sued Warren and Wetmore (after his partner Reed died) and won a $500,000 judgment because Warren and Wetmore tried to defraud him out of money for work his firm had done at Grand Central. The firm also built the Con Edison Building, the Helmsley Building and the St. James Theatre. Other commissions include the New York Central office building, the Chelsea docks, and the Ritz-Carlton, Biltmore, Commodore, and Ambassador hotels. After World War I, they rebuilt the historic Louvain Library in Belgium, which was destroyed by the Germans during WWI. The dedication of the building in 1928 was controversial because Warren insisted on including an inscription that blamed the Germans for destroying the building 'Furore Teutonica Diruta; Dono Americano Restituta' (destroyed by German fury; restored by American generosity).
Cornelius Vanderbilt
(b. 1794 NYC – d. NYC 1877)
was a Knickerbocker farm-born boy who became a railroad magnate. At age 16, with a boat financed by his mother, he began to ferry freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan. He purchased more boats, and when the War of 1812 broke out, he was able to prosper from his war contracts. In 1814, he obtained a government contract to supply transportation for the six forts in New York Bay for three months. The profits enabled him to buy a schooner, the Dorad. By 1817, he was worth $10,000.His nickname 'Commodore' came because he was in charge of the largest schooner on the Hudson River. In a famous 1824 Supreme Court decision, Gibbons vs. Ogden (Ogden was Vanderbilt's partner), the court overturned a navigation monopoly New York State had granted Robert Fulton (the steamship inventor) and Robert Livingston, his partner. With his new lower and legal prices, Vanderbilt gained control of shipping business along the Hudson River. He cut the fares of men going to the Gold Rush in California by building a cheap land route through Nicaragua. Afterwards he 'retired,' and took his family for a European cruise on his yacht, the North Star. He was welcomed in Europe like a conquering hero. In Russia, the Grand Duke Constantine visited him on his yacht. In Austria-controlled Italy, it was feared that his yacht was the precursor of an attack. He was shadowed by the government. He competed in the Atlantic trade with Cunard. Vanderbilt sold his steamships and entered the railroad business. He quickly became involved in the bitter stock wars over control of the rail lines. A particular enemy was Jay Gould. By 1867, he had gained control of the New York Central Railroad. In every transportation market Vanderbilt entered, he cut prices to gain market share. During the financial panic of 1873, he announced that the New York Central would pay its dividends, and he began building Grand Central Terminal (station not begun until 1903) which gave employment to thousands of men. New York City picked up part of the cost of building his track. By 1875, his New York Central Railroad controlled the route between New York and Chicago. He was never a society figure. Vanderbilt was considered crude, in part because his main interest in life was his business empire. When he was asked if the railroads should be run for the public benefit, he famously said, 'The public be damned.' At his death, he left a fortune of $100 million.
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1) Grand Central Map [32]
