You did more than anyone I've spoken to at the MTA. I work on 45th and asked on the main concourse how to get to the street from there and no one knew.
Many of the new skyscrapers being built on Madison will have entrances to this station (341 Madison and 415 Madison). In fact, this station will further spur the massive torrent of new supertowers that are already planned for this area (175 Park, 350 Park, etc.). No US city is building anywhere near the amount of new office space that NY is.
What a valuable video! I travel to midtown Manhattan several times a year from Vermont, and in the past would use the legacy GCN (Grand Central North) entrances to access the Hudson or Harlem lines (the latter via NW/NE passageways). Now I can see what my new pathway will be (and more efficient) via the Madison Concourse at the 383 Madison entrance - and also which street-level elevator to use if luggage warrants it. Great resource for me to plan ahead! Thank you!
I was visiting NYC from L.A. this past week and already used Grand Central Madison to access the LIRR to Jamaica Station to catch the AirTrain to JFK. Even using this station the first time, navigating it was easy, but your video showed more options to access that I haven't explored yet. Thanks for the walk-through, AK!
Informative video especially for the first time New York and Grand Central Station visitors , still such a maze so it could be quite an adventure lol😅Thank you anyway for this enjoyable and comprahendsive tour on those corridors of the station A K 🙂👍!!!
Wow - what a fantastic job on the video! I'm even more impressed that you walked up and down all those stairs with nary an out of breath sound. Amazing complexity - I've done GCM twice and I now understand it a little better. Agree 1000% about your comments re: seats and walkways. I have a hard time walking/standing and actually had to sit on an occupied police vehicle that was on the mezzanine to catch my breath. It is safe to say, that unless I am transferring to MNR or suddenly have a need to be in the GCT area, I will not be using this terminal. Penn station is so accessible compared to this. I can literally hop off the subway and onto the LIRR in less than 3 minutes at Penn. Great engineering but very poor planning and foresight for general use. $11billion could have been used for more worthy causes and they simply could have set up an express bus route/lanes between Penn and GCT area instead of building all this.
It’s so beautiful and fun when you do your video at grand central because I do go to grand central a lot these days now so hopefully I can see you at grand central.
There is in fact an entrance on 45th where that construction was where you turned around and gave up. Unless it is currently covered by construction, it is further down that block across from Carmina Shoemaker. I haven't used it but I spent a while researching for entrances into Grand Central with maps and google today for my own reference. If you had walked another 20ish feet you would have seen it.
Thank you for your, as always, excellent and informative tour. However, this station is the most confusing place I've ever seen. Are all the railroad stations in New York City this complicated? I'd get lost; and even if I didn't, I'd be so worn out just getting to the train, I'd turn around and go home again as the station doesn't appear to be very elderly friendly (I'm in my late 70s) in lacking places to sit down and rest. Just a few miles from my home in New Hampshire is a railroad station where I could get a train for New York (changing in Boston), but after seeing this I'd have to do some serious research and thinking before ever making the attempt.
I agree with you in that the station can be very confusing if you don't know where to go! Penn Station can be confusing too, and both Penn Station and the Grand Central complex don't really have much seating.
I couldn't agree more. Look, I've lived in NYC (almost) all my life, have visited GC many times, and for the last 20 years or so have taken the LIRR into Penn Station. I work at a place which has the Lexington Ave. line at its doorstep, and now with the opening of this new terminal thought it would be a BREEZE to get to and from work. Just take the subway up to GC on my way home, down from GC on my way into work. But FOR THE LIFE OF ME I can't figure out a simple way to get from the subway to the LIRR tracks. It's diabolical. If I get out at 42nd St. then it's a long, arduous trek to the LIRR. So I tried getting out at 51st St and using the NORTH entrance on 48th St. I found one just east of Park but it was just as long to wind through the passageways to get to the tracks. I hear of an elevator, maybe at 48th and Madison, that takes you down but can't find it, I was hoping this video would show where it is but haven't been able to find even that. GC Madison/LIRR is gorgeous but is, at least from the perspective of people using the subways, in the middle of nowhere. I know they're building an entrance further East (@Lexington) but that won't be ready for two years. The MTA should just tell people that the best way to get down to the station is at 47th & Madison and they all wouldn't take the subway to 42nd and expect to see the trains right in front of them when they get out. Sorry to rant, this has just been a frustrating experience.
There’s an elevator entrance to the N end of LI RR station located on N side of E48th between Park and Madison. Thanks for teaching me about the NE and NW passageway entrances in GCS and how they connect.
Thanks to your very complete video the new Grand Central Madison train terminal has no more secret for us to hide. Thank you so much AK for this very useful video.
This was quite an adventure! You've received excellent feedbacks on your comments section from your timed video, and I'm glad you mentioned the beneficial points in this video. 😎👍 17:47 The Grand Central North Passageways look sad compared to Grand Central Madison. There's a lot of information to absorb here, but I admire your dedication to provide helpful information to commuters and tourists! Thank you for making this dedicated informative video, AK! 🤗
Much appreciated! I was already somewhat familiar with the passageways but I really wanted to see them for myself and create a helpful video while I was at it
Wow, I'm glad I'll never have to negotiate all that! 😮😅. But yeah, when you arrived at Track 303/304 platform 34:14 there's an elevator sign up to the right, and you needed to do a 180° turn. Not sure where that elevator went though...😛
Astonishing amount of underground passageways, with no ads, no shops, no passengers, no trains. Yet on weekdays the LIRR is running half again as many trains as they did before GCT Madison opened, to move only 70% of the passenger miles as in 2019. (this according to MTA figures from the September meeting) They are running more train miles than ever before, and more trains are on order. There's your answer on whether East Side Access was worth the money. It is possible to "make lemonade" out of East Side Access though, by extending the new line south from Grand Central Madison to a new underground station under West Street in the Financial District, with intermediate stops. The winged "Train Hall" by star architect Santiago Calatrava has been there about 15 years but still no regional/commuter trains anywhere near there. There are a lot of options for regional/commuter connections there - a possible West Side Line under West Side Highway, a Line to Jersey City connecting all the commuter lines extending north, west and south of there, and a connection the the Atlantic Avenue Line in Brooklyn, which would also enable a direct trip to Kennedy and the LIRR at Jamaica. A ten-minute high-capacity ferry ride from a Northeast Corridor connection at Jersey City would also save a lot of passengers a lot of time.
PATH, which is one of two commuter lines to New Jersey, runs to the Oculus. And yes, ridership is down, but it will rebound, just as it has before. Right now, I am just happy the New Haven Line is no longer standing room only even during off-peak.
What ! Dude that 44th st elevator. I walked right by it not knowing it existed. Took 20 min walk to LIRR platform 204. it would be scary to walk in those really quiet secret passageways tho - and I’ve been taking subway since tokens were 25 cents in the 70s.
Yes there should be seating on the LIRR area so people could wait to board trains but I think the thinking is when the station hours are open the homeless will sit there.
I like walking through a whole bunch of concourses too. I've visited the Philly Septa concourse and the DC Capitol Tunnel concourse, also the Charlotte NC Overstreet Mall Concourse.
That last elevator you took into Grand Central Madison at 44th may be part of the passageway to the old MTA headquarters building (formerly Equitable Trust). The structure has been demolished and is being rebuilt which is why the elevator probably looked so beat up. That whole Grand Central Madison concourse is going to feed the new pack of supertalls in that district, anchored by One Vanderbilt. And, it’s hopeful that the shuttered Roosevelt Hotel gets reopened as it historically had its own passageway from GCT.
That's interesting about the last elevator. I was wondering why such a beat up looking elevator exterior lead into the new Grand Central Madison Concourse.
I’m a native New Yorker and this Video needs to be shown to the head of the MTA. All the things that you pointed out as problems need to be addressed. It’s absurd that the layout of this station was set up this way. You would be exhausted before you would even start your day at work and forget if you have luggage . The handicapped and elderly can forget it. The lack of seating is to keep the homeless out and if you get mugged in one of those long corridors good luck getting to an exit. A billion dollar disaster that makes NYC a laughing stock in the transportation world.
So, there are no elevators from the platform to the street, but there are elevators from the platforms to the Mezzanine. From the Mezzanine you can take another elevator to the concourse. Then, I think there is an elevator from the concourse to 47th and Madison Ave.
Carry a small flashlight in your bag. (You can get little ones) Sounds crazy…I know. But I was in a subway station in Toronto and there was some construction going on. The workers accidentally turned off ALL of the electricity. Even the safety lights didn’t come on. It was the darkest I have ever seen. No light at all. I was on the escalator going up when it happened and the escalator stopped abruptly. Tossing me forward. Luckily I was holding the railing. Everyone screamed. The lights came back back on. And that’s the day I started carrying a tiny flashlight in my bag.
Very informative video! Like a true native New Yorker finding the easiest routes and shortcuts 💡 🚶 Thanks for sharing this AK, hope not to get confused however along with you 😂
I’m glad you included Grand Central North in this walkthrough. The passages were part of the baggage movement infrastructure built to accommodate intercity traffic for New York Central trains. These led to and from the baggage and express building which was demolished to make way for the PanAm/MetLife building. They were refurbished in 1999 to accommodate those workplaces north of GCT. And, they could use a little love. But, they were worked into the planning for Grand Central Madison. You aptly showed the interface at One Vanderbilt, and there will be a similar upgrade when the Grand Hyatt/Commodore Hotel is demolished .
There are so many passageways at Grand Central, hopefully they can renovate the ones at Grand Central North now that they should be getting more traffic from LIRR customers.
37:34 yes you're right, should have thought requires seating in some capacity in a waiting area. But that's typically train station for you. 40:50 48th street? Where you're at, there is no street. Haha😁Ur corrected.
They Should’ve Spent 11 Billion On A New Line Convenient For People Living In Areas That Are Not Close To Transit Stations Providing A Way To Get To Places Without Riding Bus With Delays,For Example (Mill basin,Whitestone Queens All To Little Neck Border,And Throggs Neck Bronx) That Would Be A Better Way That MTA Spend The 11Billion Instead Of Building Grand Central Madison.
It’s not fun to drive to JFK from Connecticut, especially to drive back from JFK after a return flight. I am hoping to be able to take a Metro-north train and switch to LIRR to get to Jamaica station. It would be great to know how to get from a platform of main Grand Central Terminal to GC Madison using elevators. For a person with luggage. Would not want to climb stairs up with my suitcase.
Can it get any harder??? The 1st time I took Grand Central Madison, I was lost forever, but I familiarized myself the 2nd time around, taking only 1 main route. All the other tributary passages will be ignored, for the sake of my sanity!
That's all good. Yadda yadda yadda. Where's the coffee shop at? - I would say it is worth from the standpoint that it created union jobs and future generations of NY-er's can benefit now that it is done. That price tag though! 11 Billion . And no where to sit? Someone got scammed!
The closed access you encountered at @27:18 went into the (now-demolished) Union Carbide Building at 270 Park Ave. This is building is being rebuilt and will be occupied by JP Morgan.
According to their map, the elevator from mezzanine and platforms is between 47th and 46th. By the waiting room and customer service desk - and I bet you can ask them! Continuing to the street via elevator - either a right (like you did to 48th) or left to 44th. 44th is by Vanderbuilt. As a person who NEEDS to use elevators most of the time, it really stinks that people who don't actually need to use them are going to flood what looks like two elevators to the street. Looking at the map a bit more, there looks like there is another elevator right across from the waiting room at 47th. Nothing at 46th. Also by Vanderbuilt. My experience from the 4 elevators at 72nd st subway, it really stinks waiting with a crowd of people who don't need the elevators but don't have a choice at 72nd. They should always build elevators and escalators together.
And watching you walk by the elevators sometimes - I think, plus you missed the blue wheelchairs on the map - it shows me that lots of people aren't even aware of the elevators. So that might be good. That is how it works at Penn.
To a degree, yes. The Oyster Bar is an original tenant when GCT was opened in 1913. It’s between the ramps and faces towards the Dining Concourse (which was originally GCT’s concourse servicing New York Central’s suburban trains.)
The fact that there is no signage at all for that direct link to MNR behind the main 15 story escalators is a failure of epic proportions. That really should be a more utalized connection especially considering they plan to merge MNR and LIRR ticketing to allow direct connections.
Homeless people have many many channels to house themselves under the tax payers' dime. During the high of pandemic lockdowns, everyone was in the parks doing their exercise, pull ups, monkey bars, trackn field and so on. I met many of the homeless people, mostly young dudes who took advantage of the free hotel shelters at the time. A lot of them are still in the hotels today, and also many of them have moved out to their free apartments in Brooklyn and Queens allocated by the city. They were even invited me over, asked me if I wanted to rent a living room out from them. Let me tell you, a lot of them choose to be homeless!!
I think it’s worth it, Amtrak is planning on fixing the east river tunnels to Penn Station which will reduce the amount of service to Penn station but the opening of Grand Central allows the Lirr to maintain almost the same level service of into Manhattan pre-Grand Central Madison while Amtrak fixes the East river tunnels! The commuters from the East Bronx via Penn Station Access (This project is only possible because Grand Central Madison opened up some slots at Penn station formally used by the Lirr) gain just as much if not more benefits than some Long Island commuters with 4 new train stations some of which are underserved by direct subway access, quicker commutes & time savings of at-least 50 minutes compared to alleged “20 minutes time saved each way” for Long Island commuters using Grand Central Madison that work on the East side of Manhattan.
If you have a metro north station I promise it’s still downstate just not in the city 🤣 if you don’t believe me call for an auto insurance quote down state is double/triple the rest of the state. I have to drive 5.5-6 hours minim to get to nyc from where I live upstate 😂 I really wish metro north would be extended throughout upstate NY though it would be so nice.
Seating is setting up beds for homeless people. That passage way is not to harbor people. When you are traveling do you want to sit and just wait in an empty area that is far form the train, no food or beverage service. It worth it!! Building a massive transit center like that which has been plagued with so many delays because of numerous reasons dnt you expect the cost of the original project to go up??? The price of food have increased so many times from 2011 and 2021 anyone with sense would think that the cost of building materials would go up too.
All jokes aside, man...we definitely know how to lure these bad guys in, son...LOL! Next thing you know, a ruckus starts in a certain chat forum & THEN...all is revealed somehow...and yes, I'll be back on the @MTV forums even if certain females don't like it that (didn't I say don't fall for my looks or personality? That's where certain ppl. get it twisted...once you get 2 know me, you won't like me that much, I promise you) much & BTW Hanna, the Paramount studios aren't too far from here or Bryant Park...you don't even need to take the shuttle from here, just walk outside to 42nd or 44th Street to Broadway & 7th in Times Square & you'll be there in no time at all...back to this grand terminal, first time I tried to find the Madison Concourse, I was confused...it was due to some signage that leads to one of the exits & then when you go back the same way you came, you'll end up at the point you started at, like a confusing path in the Phantasy Star & Zelda dungeons...best way to get to the LIRR around here goes like this: either the direct entrance at 47th & Madison or better yet, go downstairs directly to the food court [where Tracks 101 to 115 for Metro-North are] & use the new set of stairs that goes directly to the doors of the new concourse...they are to your left coming from the ramps & the Oyster restaurant...and the rest is very easy...know where to go & how to get there...that's the ultimate secret to the labyrinth that is Grand Central Terminal...anyways, I am out for now...peace & love, everybody!
Thanks!
No problem!
You are probably the first one who has taken a video tour through any of the Grand Central North passageways. Strong work!!
It's quite a complicated area to navigate if you don't know your way around!
You did more than anyone I've spoken to at the MTA. I work on 45th and asked on the main concourse how to get to the street from there and no one knew.
Many of the new skyscrapers being built on Madison will have entrances to this station (341 Madison and 415 Madison). In fact, this station will further spur the massive torrent of new supertowers that are already planned for this area (175 Park, 350 Park, etc.). No US city is building anywhere near the amount of new office space that NY is.
I can already see the new skyscrapers with entrances to the new LIRR station. It's an exciting time in NYC history to see them being constructed!
@@ActionKid I agree. You're the man, AK. Your work is top-notch!
What a valuable video! I travel to midtown Manhattan several times a year from Vermont, and in the past would use the legacy GCN (Grand Central North) entrances to access the Hudson or Harlem lines (the latter via NW/NE passageways). Now I can see what my new pathway will be (and more efficient) via the Madison Concourse at the 383 Madison entrance - and also which street-level elevator to use if luggage warrants it. Great resource for me to plan ahead! Thank you!
You're welcome! I'm so happy you find this video useful!
I was visiting NYC from L.A. this past week and already used Grand Central Madison to access the LIRR to Jamaica Station to catch the AirTrain to JFK. Even using this station the first time, navigating it was easy, but your video showed more options to access that I haven't explored yet. Thanks for the walk-through, AK!
I used to get my shoe shine in Grand Central North in the early 2000's. Now Grand Central North needs a big shine job!!!
Action kid you r amazing bro!thank you for your amazing videos
😅
So glad I caught ur live , i normally miss it cause I’m in uk
I love your videos action kid they help me a lot cause I'm taking a trip to NYC soon i need to figure out where I'm going
Imagine getting a personal tour with Actionkid!
@@michaelchin3550 that would be awesome :)
Safe trip 🙏🏽
Informative video especially for the first time New York and Grand Central Station visitors , still such a maze so it could be quite an adventure lol😅Thank you anyway for this enjoyable and comprahendsive tour on those corridors of the station A K 🙂👍!!!
You're welcome, it can be a maze for sure!
Wow - what a fantastic job on the video! I'm even more impressed that you walked up and down all those stairs with nary an out of breath sound. Amazing complexity - I've done GCM twice and I now understand it a little better. Agree 1000% about your comments re: seats and walkways. I have a hard time walking/standing and actually had to sit on an occupied police vehicle that was on the mezzanine to catch my breath. It is safe to say, that unless I am transferring to MNR or suddenly have a need to be in the GCT area, I will not be using this terminal. Penn station is so accessible compared to this. I can literally hop off the subway and onto the LIRR in less than 3 minutes at Penn. Great engineering but very poor planning and foresight for general use. $11billion could have been used for more worthy causes and they simply could have set up an express bus route/lanes between Penn and GCT area instead of building all this.
It’s so beautiful and fun when you do your video at grand central because I do go to grand central a lot these days now so hopefully I can see you at grand central.
That was awesome! Thanks for the tour. You’re the best!😊
There is in fact an entrance on 45th where that construction was where you turned around and gave up. Unless it is currently covered by construction, it is further down that block across from Carmina Shoemaker. I haven't used it but I spent a while researching for entrances into Grand Central with maps and google today for my own reference. If you had walked another 20ish feet you would have seen it.
Thank you for your, as always, excellent and informative tour. However, this station is the most confusing place I've ever seen. Are all the railroad stations in New York City this complicated? I'd get lost; and even if I didn't, I'd be so worn out just getting to the train, I'd turn around and go home again as the station doesn't appear to be very elderly friendly (I'm in my late 70s) in lacking places to sit down and rest. Just a few miles from my home in New Hampshire is a railroad station where I could get a train for New York (changing in Boston), but after seeing this I'd have to do some serious research and thinking before ever making the attempt.
I agree with you in that the station can be very confusing if you don't know where to go! Penn Station can be confusing too, and both Penn Station and the Grand Central complex don't really have much seating.
I couldn't agree more. Look, I've lived in NYC (almost) all my life, have visited GC many times, and for the last 20 years or so have taken the LIRR into Penn Station. I work at a place which has the Lexington Ave. line at its doorstep, and now with the opening of this new terminal thought it would be a BREEZE to get to and from work. Just take the subway up to GC on my way home, down from GC on my way into work. But FOR THE LIFE OF ME I can't figure out a simple way to get from the subway to the LIRR tracks. It's diabolical. If I get out at 42nd St. then it's a long, arduous trek to the LIRR. So I tried getting out at 51st St and using the NORTH entrance on 48th St. I found one just east of Park but it was just as long to wind through the passageways to get to the tracks. I hear of an elevator, maybe at 48th and Madison, that takes you down but can't find it, I was hoping this video would show where it is but haven't been able to find even that. GC Madison/LIRR is gorgeous but is, at least from the perspective of people using the subways, in the middle of nowhere. I know they're building an entrance further East (@Lexington) but that won't be ready for two years. The MTA should just tell people that the best way to get down to the station is at 47th & Madison and they all wouldn't take the subway to 42nd and expect to see the trains right in front of them when they get out. Sorry to rant, this has just been a frustrating experience.
Thank you, Action Kid! This really reveals the vast scope of the Grand Central complex.
You're welcome! Grand Central became much more vast with the opening of the LIRR station.
Oh so the makeover is complete on Grand Central. The next time that I'm up in the City, I gotta check it out!
Thanks for making this. You have done the exploring for me. tx tx tx tx .....❤🎉😊
In thirty years there will be some lights out in the long escalator area and some missing ceiling tiles. Right??
There’s an elevator entrance to the N end of LI RR station located on N side of E48th between Park and Madison. Thanks for teaching me about the NE and NW passageway entrances in GCS and how they connect.
That's the one he showed at 45:30
Thanks to your very complete video the new Grand Central Madison train terminal has no more secret for us to hide. Thank you so much AK for this very useful video.
You're welcome, glad you enjoyed the video!
It's great that there's a lot of options for lirr riders now. and THANK YOU Action Kid, this is REALLY helpful
You're welcome! It can be quite confusing but well worth researching to save time in the future with directions
That was a lot of fun to watch Action kid.
This was quite an adventure! You've received excellent feedbacks on your comments section from your timed video, and I'm glad you mentioned the beneficial points in this video. 😎👍 17:47 The Grand Central North Passageways look sad compared to Grand Central Madison. There's a lot of information to absorb here, but I admire your dedication to provide helpful information to commuters and tourists! Thank you for making this dedicated informative video, AK! 🤗
Much appreciated! I was already somewhat familiar with the passageways but I really wanted to see them for myself and create a helpful video while I was at it
Wow, I'm glad I'll never have to negotiate all that! 😮😅. But yeah, when you arrived at Track 303/304 platform 34:14 there's an elevator sign up to the right, and you needed to do a 180° turn. Not sure where that elevator went though...😛
Astonishing amount of underground passageways, with no ads, no shops, no passengers, no trains. Yet on weekdays the LIRR is running half again as many trains as they did before GCT Madison opened, to move only 70% of the passenger miles as in 2019. (this according to MTA figures from the September meeting) They are running more train miles than ever before, and more trains are on order. There's your answer on whether East Side Access was worth the money.
It is possible to "make lemonade" out of East Side Access though, by extending the new line south from Grand Central Madison to a new underground station under West Street in the Financial District, with intermediate stops. The winged "Train Hall" by star architect Santiago Calatrava has been there about 15 years but still no regional/commuter trains anywhere near there. There are a lot of options for regional/commuter connections there - a possible West Side Line under West Side Highway, a Line to Jersey City connecting all the commuter lines extending north, west and south of there, and a connection the the Atlantic Avenue Line in Brooklyn, which would also enable a direct trip to Kennedy and the LIRR at Jamaica. A ten-minute high-capacity ferry ride from a Northeast Corridor connection at Jersey City would also save a lot of passengers a lot of time.
PATH, which is one of two commuter lines to New Jersey, runs to the Oculus. And yes, ridership is down, but it will rebound, just as it has before. Right now, I am just happy the New Haven Line is no longer standing room only even during off-peak.
Nicely blended with the old as is per usual in Manhattan, some areas could use a little maintenance
Absolutely, Grand Central North can certainly use some maintenance.
4:33 - Do the train-track to the LIRR run under Madison Ave., not Park Ave. with the train-tracks of Metro-North?
The LIRR tracks and mezzanines are directly below Park Ave. It’s the access concourse which is offset west to run under Madison.
The 4 colors of thousands of tiles that cover the escalator bank finishes. Imagine 100 boxes of tiles for each color.
What ! Dude that 44th st elevator. I walked right by it not knowing it existed. Took 20 min walk to LIRR platform 204. it would be scary to walk in those really quiet secret passageways tho - and I’ve been taking subway since tokens were 25 cents in the 70s.
Yes there should be seating on the LIRR area so people could wait to board trains but I think the thinking is when the station hours are open the homeless will sit there.
PS thank you for showing us 270 Park avenue project which s one of my favorite skyscrapers going up, and I am closely watching it's progress!
The upper level on that elevator is the 47 st crosspasssage but it’s behind the construction wall that’s been closed since nov. 2021. It’s keyed out
What a friggin' marble maze! Yikes! Amazing though - the entire overall is mind-boggling. 👍
Absolutely
I like walking through a whole bunch of concourses too. I've visited the Philly Septa concourse and the DC Capitol Tunnel concourse, also the Charlotte NC Overstreet Mall Concourse.
It's amazing how you can find your way along all those lonely, subterranean passage ways...
That last elevator you took into Grand Central Madison at 44th may be part of the passageway to the old MTA headquarters building (formerly Equitable Trust). The structure has been demolished and is being rebuilt which is why the elevator probably looked so beat up.
That whole Grand Central Madison concourse is going to feed the new pack of supertalls in that district, anchored by One Vanderbilt. And, it’s hopeful that the shuttered Roosevelt Hotel gets reopened as it historically had its own passageway from GCT.
That's interesting about the last elevator. I was wondering why such a beat up looking elevator exterior lead into the new Grand Central Madison Concourse.
I’m a native New Yorker and this Video needs to be shown to the head of the MTA. All the things that you pointed out as problems need to be addressed. It’s absurd that the layout of this station was set up this way. You would be exhausted before you would even start your day at work and forget if you have luggage . The handicapped and elderly can forget it. The lack of seating is to keep the homeless out and if you get mugged in one of those long corridors good luck getting to an exit. A billion dollar disaster that makes NYC a laughing stock in the transportation world.
Thank you 😊
Hopefully they will be elevators straight to the platform to the LIRR
So, there are no elevators from the platform to the street, but there are elevators from the platforms to the Mezzanine. From the Mezzanine you can take another elevator to the concourse. Then, I think there is an elevator from the concourse to 47th and Madison Ave.
Carry a small flashlight in your bag. (You can get little ones) Sounds crazy…I know. But I was in a subway station in Toronto and there was some construction going on. The workers accidentally turned off ALL of the electricity. Even the safety lights didn’t come on. It was the darkest I have ever seen. No light at all. I was on the escalator going up when it happened and the escalator stopped abruptly. Tossing me forward. Luckily I was holding the railing. Everyone screamed. The lights came back back on. And that’s the day I started carrying a tiny flashlight in my bag.
P.S. yes, you can use your phone. But will it be fully charged? Not mine usually..ha, ha.
Very good tip! It's always handy to have a flashlight on your person for emergencies and practical uses.
Thanks! Excellent!
Very informative video! Like a true native New Yorker finding the easiest routes and shortcuts 💡 🚶
Thanks for sharing this AK, hope not to get confused however along with you 😂
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed discovering the new station and entrances!
Hello. from Bangkok. Thailand.
I’m glad you included Grand Central North in this walkthrough. The passages were part of the baggage movement infrastructure built to accommodate intercity traffic for New York Central trains. These led to and from the baggage and express building which was demolished to make way for the PanAm/MetLife building.
They were refurbished in 1999 to accommodate those workplaces north of GCT. And, they could use a little love. But, they were worked into the planning for Grand Central Madison.
You aptly showed the interface at One Vanderbilt, and there will be a similar upgrade when the Grand Hyatt/Commodore Hotel is demolished .
There are so many passageways at Grand Central, hopefully they can renovate the ones at Grand Central North now that they should be getting more traffic from LIRR customers.
Thinking about this those passage ways are like the Labyrinth - one might almost expect to come across the Minotaur down there...
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful video. Greeting from IRAN🇮🇷⚘❤🙏
37:34 yes you're right, should have thought requires seating in some capacity in a waiting area. But that's typically train station for you.
40:50 48th street? Where you're at, there is no street. Haha😁Ur corrected.
Merci pour cette video
DAMN! what a situation they have created...more warrens and tunnels in that building with this addition...dizzy just watching this
I take this station every time I come in to the city. I was curious about all these secret places.
I am now more confused than before I watched this video. Lol
Che bello sarebbe vivere a New York!
They Should’ve Spent 11 Billion On A New Line Convenient For People Living In Areas That Are Not Close To Transit Stations Providing A Way To Get To Places Without Riding Bus With Delays,For Example (Mill basin,Whitestone Queens All To Little Neck Border,And Throggs Neck Bronx) That Would Be A Better Way That MTA Spend The 11Billion Instead Of Building Grand Central Madison.
Would be nice to compare travel times between GCM and 51st st station vs the 42nd st 4 5 and 6 platforms.
That might be an interesting comparison!
You can get a real workout on those stairs
It’s not fun to drive to JFK from Connecticut, especially to drive back from JFK after a return flight. I am hoping to be able to take a Metro-north train and switch to LIRR to get to Jamaica station. It would be great to know how to get from a platform of main Grand Central Terminal to GC Madison using elevators. For a person with luggage. Would not want to climb stairs up with my suitcase.
Hi 👋
Can it get any harder??? The 1st time I took Grand Central Madison, I was lost forever, but I familiarized myself the 2nd time around, taking only 1 main route. All the other tributary passages will be ignored, for the sake of my sanity!
It’s fen 7th dude 👊😎
This underground adventure is so much better than the "Goonies"!!!
That's all good. Yadda yadda yadda. Where's the coffee shop at? - I would say it is worth from the standpoint that it created union jobs and future generations of NY-er's can benefit now that it is done. That price tag though! 11 Billion . And no where to sit? Someone got scammed!
No seating is obviously to prevent people from hanging out down there
The closed access you encountered at @27:18 went into the (now-demolished) Union Carbide Building at 270 Park Ave. This is building is being rebuilt and will be occupied by JP Morgan.
According to their map, the elevator from mezzanine and platforms is between 47th and 46th. By the waiting room and customer service desk - and I bet you can ask them!
Continuing to the street via elevator - either a right (like you did to 48th) or left to 44th. 44th is by Vanderbuilt.
As a person who NEEDS to use elevators most of the time, it really stinks that people who don't actually need to use them are going to flood what looks like two elevators to the street.
Looking at the map a bit more, there looks like there is another elevator right across from the waiting room at 47th. Nothing at 46th. Also by Vanderbuilt.
My experience from the 4 elevators at 72nd st subway, it really stinks waiting with a crowd of people who don't need the elevators but don't have a choice at 72nd. They should always build elevators and escalators together.
And watching you walk by the elevators sometimes - I think, plus you missed the blue wheelchairs on the map - it shows me that lots of people aren't even aware of the elevators. So that might be good. That is how it works at Penn.
Reminds me of a movie set but I can't recall which one.
Hi 👋 action kid
10:08 GCT Dining Concourse . .. This is where the famous Oyster Bar is?
To a degree, yes. The Oyster Bar is an original tenant when GCT was opened in 1913. It’s between the ramps and faces towards the Dining Concourse (which was originally GCT’s concourse servicing New York Central’s suburban trains.)
The fact that there is no signage at all for that direct link to MNR behind the main 15 story escalators is a failure of epic proportions. That really should be a more utalized connection especially considering they plan to merge MNR and LIRR ticketing to allow direct connections.
I like your video’s
I love it , but they really need to upgrade the entire subway in the CBD and make it world class .
Great job as always however just watching you walk from station-to-station made me tired. I use a walker.
Hi.Ak
Kenneth,When are going to be the Apole of the Big Aople and The Big Havanna Magic City?
AK, would you call this new station a boondoggle?
Fun
there is an entrance inside the building you missed on madison and 43rd
Such long and deserted corridors!
They spent $11 BILLION and meanwhile homeless people freezing in the streets… DISGUSTING.
💯 🙏
Welcome to Capitalism
Haven't seen hardly any of that on AK's videos .. not sure what you're watching.
Homeless people have many many channels to house themselves under the tax payers' dime. During the high of pandemic lockdowns, everyone was in the parks doing their exercise, pull ups, monkey bars, trackn field and so on. I met many of the homeless people, mostly young dudes who took advantage of the free hotel shelters at the time. A lot of them are still in the hotels today, and also many of them have moved out to their free apartments in Brooklyn and Queens allocated by the city. They were even invited me over, asked me if I wanted to rent a living room out from them. Let me tell you, a lot of them choose to be homeless!!
I think it’s worth it, Amtrak is planning on fixing the east river tunnels to Penn Station which will reduce the amount of service to Penn station but the opening of Grand Central allows the Lirr to maintain almost the same level service of into Manhattan pre-Grand Central Madison while Amtrak fixes the East river tunnels! The commuters from the East Bronx via Penn Station Access (This project is only possible because Grand Central Madison opened up some slots at Penn station formally used by the Lirr) gain just as much if not more benefits than some Long Island commuters with 4 new train stations some of which are underserved by direct subway access, quicker commutes & time savings of at-least 50 minutes compared to alleged “20 minutes time saved each way” for Long Island commuters using Grand Central Madison that work on the East side of Manhattan.
❤️🗽❤️👍
If you have a metro north station I promise it’s still downstate just not in the city 🤣 if you don’t believe me call for an auto insurance quote down state is double/triple the rest of the state. I have to drive 5.5-6 hours minim to get to nyc from where I live upstate 😂 I really wish metro north would be extended throughout upstate NY though it would be so nice.
Love your videos however you're complaining too much The construction is on going.
Seating is setting up beds for homeless people. That passage way is not to harbor people. When you are traveling do you want to sit and just wait in an empty area that is far form the train, no food or beverage service. It worth it!! Building a massive transit center like that which has been plagued with so many delays because of numerous reasons dnt you expect the cost of the original project to go up??? The price of food have increased so many times from 2011 and 2021 anyone with sense would think that the cost of building materials would go up too.
Escalator down, stairs up?
Move to the right on the escalator people! We used to all understand this, what the hell happened?!?
Where is everybody???
All jokes aside, man...we definitely know how to lure these bad guys in, son...LOL! Next thing you know, a ruckus starts in a certain chat forum & THEN...all is revealed somehow...and yes, I'll be back on the @MTV forums even if certain females don't like it that (didn't I say don't fall for my looks or personality? That's where certain ppl. get it twisted...once you get 2 know me, you won't like me that much, I promise you) much & BTW Hanna, the Paramount studios aren't too far from here or Bryant Park...you don't even need to take the shuttle from here, just walk outside to 42nd or 44th Street to Broadway & 7th in Times Square & you'll be there in no time at all...back to this grand terminal, first time I tried to find the Madison Concourse, I was confused...it was due to some signage that leads to one of the exits & then when you go back the same way you came, you'll end up at the point you started at, like a confusing path in the Phantasy Star & Zelda dungeons...best way to get to the LIRR around here goes like this: either the direct entrance at 47th & Madison or better yet, go downstairs directly to the food court [where Tracks 101 to 115 for Metro-North are] & use the new set of stairs that goes directly to the doors of the new concourse...they are to your left coming from the ramps & the Oyster restaurant...and the rest is very easy...know where to go & how to get there...that's the ultimate secret to the labyrinth that is Grand Central Terminal...anyways, I am out for now...peace & love, everybody!