Grand Central Terminal Awaits Its Entrance

Commuters will soon have a new way to access New York’s Grand Central Terminal. (And by the way, “terminal" is the correct word—Grand Central Station refers to the nearby post office, as well as a previous rail station on the site. It also sometimes refers to a subway station at the same site.) The project is part of the larger East Side Access plan that will allow Long Island Railroad Trains to enter Grand Central. It will also be available to Metro-North riders.
The plan is expected to cost 6.3 billion and will add four two-train platforms. The new connection should shorten travel time for commuters going to Manhattan’s East Side.
A new entrance is being constructed on East 47th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. It will be inside the lobby of 245 Park Avenue and is set to open in September 2011. The new entrance will feature an escalator from the street to the 47th Street cross passageway, and a staircase from the street to the platform shared by Tracks 11 and 13. At the moment, the end of the 47th Street cross passageway has no outlet.
Ground was broken this past Monday for the $14 million entrance. The new platforms should be completed by the end of 2016.
Going by number of platforms, Grand Central Terminal is the largest railway station in the world. The original Grand Central opened in 1871.

Ready, Set, Shop: Holiday Markets Spring Up All Over

At no time more than the holidays does New York seem like both a big city and a small town. The department-store windows along Fifth Avenue beckon—but so do any manner of little holiday markets that spring up around the city.
Down on Union Square, for instance, you can find the Union Square Market, offering more than 100 small shops selling jewelry, crafts, food and decorations. The emphasis is on fair-trade, organic, recycled and sustainable goods; it’s open every day through December 24th at Union Square Park, Broadway and 14th Street.
Moving uptown, check out the Grand Central Holiday Fair in Grand Central Station. An unlikely seeming place, yes, but it houses an impressive array of vendors, offering really great crafts and gifts. It’s also open every day through December 24 in Vanderbilt Hall, and--bonus! It’s inside.
While you’re at Grand Central (unless you're off to the 8:01 to Greenwich) stop by the Holiday Laser Light Show, on display every half hour from 11am to 9pm in the Main Concourse. Plus—All Aboard! The Model Train Show is also in full gear, offered by the Transit Museum, and complete with a train layout that includes models of subway cars and a Metro North Train. The layout runs from Grand Central Station to the North Pole, with a dizzying array of stops, from gas stations (?) to Santa’s Workshop.

There's No Place Like a Train for the Holidays: Get on Board for "A Christmas Carol"

So you still haven’t decided where to put Uncle Mel at the Thanksgiving table, but never mind--wire your brain to skip ahead, because big Christmas movie releases wait for no relative.
This Friday–Sunday (Oct. 30-Nov.1) Disney’s “Christmas Carol” Train pulls into New York’s Grand Central Station, the last stop on its 40-stop tour across the country. (Track 37; 9 am -7 pm, Fri and Sat; 9 am-4 pm on Sun.) The occasion? The upcoming release of Disney’s big holiday movie "A Christmas Carol.”
The tour started in Los Angeles’ Union Station last May (no, really), and spent the summer and early fall traveling across the country, covering more than 16,000 miles of track and touching in points from Santa Fe to St. Louis, Oklahoma City to Omaha.
Each train car (yes, they will remain stationery) showcases a different aspect of the film’s production, and activities galore are on board for guests of all ages; you can check out objects from the Charles Dickens Museum in London; wander through digital galleries; and even be serenaded by holiday carolers. And yes, you can also(no surprise) catch a glimpse of a pivotal scene (so we’re told) in the 3-D film.
The walk-through takes about an hour; lines are expected to be long; but--on the upside—the tour is free, and no reservations are needed.
So get into the holiday spirit--even if you’re still several holidays behind.