The untold secrets of Grand Central Terminal

New York

AN average of 750,000 people pass through New York's iconic Grand Central Terminal each day-but most of the 49-acre, 1913 Beaux Arts building has always remained off-limits to the general public. With the help of Cornelius Vanderbilt II's great-great-grand-niece, Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin, Grand Central Terminal director George Monasterio, and Grand Central's senior architect Mark Saulnier, Bloomberg got an inside look at the spaces (and secrets) you never knew to ask about.

Since most people lived and worked downtown from Grand Central Terminal when the building first opened more than 100 years ago, the monumental clock installed in the building's south-facing façade in 1913 was designed to be seen by pretty much everyone in town. But few have been able to peer through it from behind, up close. Getting here requires security clearance and more than a little know-how: A secret door in the tightly guarded Operations Control Center leads the way, followed by two somewhat precarious ladders. (So few people have been given access, the tradition is to Sharpie your name onto the wall if you do get in.)