Listening to the audio made exploring Grand Central all the more valuable. As New Yorkers, we walk around and about landmarks that are famous and valued all over the world, without really knowing much about them or even observing them. The information that I learned from the audio tour really added value to my visit and helped me add to my true New Yorker knowledge. I had visited Grand Central Terminal once before and recently, too; between work appointments, my mom and I were around Grand Central and she asked me when was the last time I had been there. Admitting that I’ve only seen it in Gossip Girl, my mom insisted that we walk through the Main Concourse on our way to our next meeting. Being in Grand Central Terminal for a longer period of time and with the help of the kind audio tour voice, I noticed and learned many things about this legendary place. Here are some of my notes:
- Oh, look! There’s a fish on the ceiling, that my zodiac sign! There must be more to the lights on the ceiling.
- The question is, how were those lights changed out? Well, people actually got themselves up there and changed them with long-lasting LEDs. That must simply be part of maintaining such a complex and prized landmark. – Learned from Audio
- Window Audio: It was very loud when I listened to the information about the windows. I learned that they open because there must have been ventilation before air conditioners. I also learned that they were (obviously) designed to let in light and then if I look I might notice… oh I didn’t hear that last part. And then I saw someone walking in the window. Let me listen to that again. So it turns out that each window has five passageways that connect different buildings on the sides of Grand Central Terminal. And this was all thought of in 1903???
- In the midst of all of the people that simply didn’t stop walking for a second, quickly in straight lines or in diagonals or rapidly around tourists, there was a beautiful couple. A woman wearing an exquisite white lace dress and nude Christian Louboutin heels that you couldn’t take your eyes off, next to a tall handsome man wearing a clean-cut luxurious suit. They stood out of the crowd and at the same time blended in with the grandiose setting that was once filled with movie stars.
A true story:
For me, living in America means opportunity, education, higher standard of living, and being far away from great-grandma, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. So, time spent with these people is sacred. Being in Bulgaria for a year was a great opportunity for me to spend time with them and every day I wish I had spent another moment with them. I am most lucky to have health. My family is healthy and I wake up every day feeling grateful for this. When something is wrong, I remind myself that I am the luckiest person because everyone is healthy. And one day, on Tuesday to be exact, I wake up and the first thing I learn is that my healthy, active, loving grandpa has passed. So sudden and so abrupt, that it is still hard to believe.
After a long morning, filled with details and feelings I don’t wish upon anyone, I decide there is no way I am going to Grand Central today. Sharing this is my dad, he reminded me how much grandpa loved New York City and how happy he would be if I used this opportunity to explore a wonderful place. I agreed and it was the best way I could have spent that afternoon. I walked around and listened to the audio and distracted myself from my reality. I learned new things and realized how massive Grand Central actually is. And after listening to the tour, I returned the audio and sat on the steps in the Main Concourse.
Roughly, the population of San Fransisco walks through this place every single day. Those are about 750,000 people, lives, stories, loved ones, with pets, children, problems, and adventures. And walking around the precise clock on the information desk made me think that not one of these people can run away from time. Everyone is battling against the clock. Will you be late to work or to class? Should you run to catch the train? When will your coffee cool so that you could drink it and do you have time to run to the bathroom before you’re late?
Grand Central Terminal is a microcosm. It has created a place where the fight against the clock is illustrated in full detail. Observing the people running around the Main Concourse and catching segments of conversations, I thought about how every single person in this grand place has a story and a train to catch, theoretically. I tried to imagine different stories that people have and where they are headed to. I wanted to tell every grandpa that his grandchildren love him. I wondered what each person wanted to tell the world and what message they would send to the world in this moment of their lives.
I felt very grateful that all of the coincidences and planned events in my life have led me to a moment in which I found a place to escape in the heart of New York City. Grand Central Terminal is a wonderful place for movies and stories and poems that want to catch a glimpse of life while its happening. Grand Central Terminal is a place that New Yorkers could escape and imagine they are in a Gatsby movie or in Bulgaria or just wherever they want to be.
View from the steps.
Ellen Stoyanov
