Terminal City (Grand Central Terminal)

VERY dated article coinciding with the 100th anniversary of GCT in 2013.

https://untappedcities.com/2013/02/12/g ... inal-city/

For the past century, New York City has been graced by Warren & Wetmore’s Beaux Arts masterpiece. However, most people are unaware that Grand Central Terminal does not stand on its own. The original plans by Reed & Stem, along with William John Wilgus, called for an entire city to accompany their train station.
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Terminal City was to include a new home for the Metropolitan Opera and the National Academy of Design, as well as a 20 story post office building, office space, and hotels. While this vision was not realized, Terminal City did become a reality after many revisions. One of the most important aspects of the complex was its grand hotels, which complemented Grand Central both in design and purpose. We explore those hotels designed by Warren & Wetmore below.
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Hotels listed:

- Biltmore (had its own arrival station)
- Commodore (now the Grand Hyatt, gutted and rebuilt)
- Vanderbilt (apparently, Vanderbilt died after giving his life jacket to another on the Lusitania in 1915)
- Belmont (built by the guy who built the IRT and had a private subway entrance for his private car, Mineola)

Very interesting....

Additional comments

That proposal was the first to replace the Metropolitan opera on 7th Ave which was only 30 years old at the time. Apparently the opera community was never happy with that opera house. The opera house that got built was not a second proposal but a third!

The "Guy named Belmont" was August Belmont, who also gave his name to the racetrack. He also built the original Cape Cod Canal (1912 or so)

The Commodore Hotel was gutted and rebuilt by a developer named Trump who I would imagine we've heard of.