Security Sensors Are Everywhere
You may not think you’re going through airport-level security when you casually waltz into Grand Central, but sensors at every street entrance are secretly sizing you up. They act like sniffing dogs, hard wired to recognize security threats. Then there’s the fact that most of the building actually requires key-card access, such as the Operation Control Center (OCC) and electrical control rooms that act as the mission control base for all train and electric rail activity across the Metro North train network. (The former is shown here.) What happens when there’s a potential security breach? An urgent meeting of police and terminal directors in the Situation Room, a board room set just above the OCC.
There Are Hidden Love Letters in the Main Concourse's Celestial Ceiling
When the terminal first opened, the main concourse sported a different version of the current celestial ceiling: It was more heroic and formal, in darker shades of green and gold. It’s commonly known that the original ceiling became so tarnished and water damaged that artists had to repaint it in the 1940s. (A tiny rectangle of the original was left exposed, as shown above.) But what most people don’t know is that the mural was also modified slightly when it was refit, and among the additions are little love notes from the artists. In subtle spots, such as Taurus’s eye, you can spot tiny dark letters. They’re actually the names of babies born and spouses married during the ceiling’s yearlong reconstruction.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.