The Near-Death of Grand Central Terminal
June 19, 2014 2:12 PM   Subscribe

"[S]tock jobbers[,]... confidence men,... an impecunious transportation entity", politicos, judges, scoundrels and Jackie O.: the near-death of Grand Central Terminal, and how it foretold the 2008 financial crisis. [sl Harper's]
posted by killdevil (5 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 


The clown show never stops - I didn't quite realize that we'd been bailing out the bankers in exactly the same way since the sixties. And it was "fun" to see the familiar names crawl out of the woodwork towards the end of the article - ah, hello there, Rummy and Cheney and Rehnquist.

Seriously, this article should have carried a blood pressure warning. I mean, check out this footnote:

"The company also had the unmitigated chutzpah to argue that Grand Central’s aesthetic quality had been diminished because it was now “set against the backdrop and contrasting lines of the Pan Am Building, which appears to hang over the terminal and to dwarf it.” That’s right: the Penn Central actually argued that an awful building it had forced on the city so degraded Grand Central that the terminal could be partially or fully razed in favor of another awful building."
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:38 PM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]


I had never realised what the familiar feeling I had in Milano Centrale station was, and reading this just realised that it's like Grand Central (and, IMHO, unlike French, German and British stations).
posted by ambrosen at 2:45 PM on June 19, 2014


It's always the same assholes, isn't it?
posted by zachlipton at 2:53 PM on June 19, 2014 [3 favorites]


It's always the same assholes, isn't it?

Yes.
posted by mcstayinskool at 3:28 PM on June 19, 2014 [5 favorites]


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