3 ms·
The room behind the clock made me think of the movie Hugo. See, for example http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp273/monochorme/monochrome/MBandF/Huge-movie-20.
by scott_s 10y ago
The room behind the clock made me think of the movie Hugo. See, for example http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp273/monochorme/monochrome/MBandF/Huge-movie-20.jpg http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp273/monochorme/monochro.... I wonder if that was deliberate on Scorsese's part, or if it's just convergent evolution. (Large train terminals will tend to have large clocks, and clocks that size will inevitably have some room behind them. And hidden rooms are always cool.)
And there's tennis courts in Grand Central?! I'm more surprised by the fact that there are operating tennis courts than I am by them being used for skiing in the past.
Grand Central is magnificent. I try not to take it for granted when I go into the city.
- wolfgang42 10y agoAs you say, any clock is going to have room behind it. The clip from Hugo actually reminds me more of the inside of Westminster Tower[1], though in the movie they put the clockworks right behind the face instead of in a separate room. I'm not particularly convinced that it's a hidden room, per se; the article just says "a secret door" which could well mean a perfectly ordinary door that they haven't labeled. 1: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rear_of_a_clock_face_-_geograph.org.uk_-_407777.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rear_of_a_clock_face...
- Nav_Panel 10y ago> And there's tennis courts in Grand Central?! Indeed! And you can book them yourself, if you're willing to pay $200-300/hour: http://www.vanderbilttennisclub.com/pages/index.cfm?siteid=16509 http://www.vanderbilttennisclub.com/pages/index.cfm?siteid=1...
- ascagnel_ 10y agoIt's kind of sad that Grand Central is such a beautiful building, while Penn Station has been relegated to a literal basement, with a sometimes-dangerous track layout that dates to the early 1900s.
- scott_s 10y agoFor more on that, see a submission from September of 2016: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12612602 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12612602, and in particular, the thread under this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12613236 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12613236
- greglindahl 10y agoPenn Station (both Amtrak and LIRR) is moving across the street to the Post Office building. It looks like it's going to be pretty beautiful when they're done: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/nyregion/penn-station-new-york-andrew-cuomo.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/nyregion/penn-station-new...
- ascagnel_ 10y agoSadly, while the building may be nice, the original track layout will remain (although I'm not sure it's feasible at this point to rework it). Some tracks, especially 5-8, seem to have fewer exits and it can take five or more minutes to get off of the platform during busy times.