Wandering around inside Grand Central station late on Saturday night, I noticed that the place is loaded with clocks. I might have noticed this before, but it's hard to pay close attention in swarming crowds. When it's late, the terminal is (relatively) empty. The peace and quiet is wonderful. And you can see things. Like clocks.
I'm sure I did not capture every clock in Grand Central.
As you can see, they run on time.
Which makes me wonder.
Who's got the job of going around and setting all the clocks forward one hour for Daylight Savings Time?
Nothing so romantic. It's just an automatic "
master clock."
I like the one in the Chrysler Building's lobby...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newyorkdailyphoto.com/nydppress/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/BackInTime.jpg
Wonderful post, I thank you. I love trains and Grand Central could be the greatest railroad station in the world. Take that Harry Potter. I do miss that upstate Amtrak service now goes through Penn Station and the insane rush to board any train there once the track number has been posted is truly a Zombie like experience. Boarding a train at Grand Central is a much more civilized affair, a very “North by Northwest” vibe. Speaking of a ”North by Northwest” vibe, as a day trip break from the city, taking the Metro North train to Cold Spring and sitting on the left side of the train for the Hudson river view never grows old. Psst, did I just see Roger O. Thornhill (ROT) wearing shades?
ReplyDeleteInteresting-- don't forget the two-sided wooden clock that was recently moved from somewhere else in the terminal (I don't remember where) to the lower level.
ReplyDeleteTimeless.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that a Hugo Cabret was behind and tending those clocks.
Fun post, Jeremiah!
ReplyDeleteLoved this!
ReplyDeleteThe big clock in the middle of he rotunda is always a couple of minutes ahead, deliberately, so people can make their trains in time.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful clocks, beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteWith Crazy Eddie, I recommend Metro North. East of the Hudson, the route I know, is a trip into history, including NYC's, even as you get far north of the city. Whether viewing the decaying ruins of a huge facility for another era's "mentally ill" or pasture and farm lands, you retrace the paths, first carved by Native Americans, along which farmers delivered food and milk to the city, and along which the the city's denizens made us of the country,for all sorts of "asylum," including (more happily than mental hospitals) summer retreats from the city's heat and clamor. And you can't help but wonder, who built these tricks through such difficult terrain, including marshland? And so much more.
The trip helps me understand how my great grandmother, born in Cold Spring in the 1840's, found herself growing up in NYC, where she died in the 1930's. I wonder what she thought of Grand Central Station. (I don't wonder too much. How could she not have thought it very grand?)
Beautiful stuff. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI saw something on television that thold of a man who goes up into the clock facing out on 42nd Street and Park Avenue periodically to do maintenance. He has a lively view.
Awesome. I love Grand Central. I'm not joking when I say the grand concourse brings tears to my eyes every time I'm there.
ReplyDeleteI rode Metro-North to and from college from 1996-2000, so I got to see GCT emerge from its dingy slumber and regain its place as one of the world's most elegant, amazing train stations.