Grand Central Tower

Grand Central Tower
Alternative names	175 Park Avenue
General information
Status	Never built
Location	Atop Grand Central Terminal, Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York City
Height	950 feet (290 meters)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Marcel Breuer

Grand Central Tower (also known as 175 Park Avenue) was a scrapped proposal by Penn Central to have a skyscraper built on top of the Grand Central Terminal in 1968. It was designed by Marcel Breuer, and would've been 950 feet (290 m) tall. The plan itself drew major opposition from the public and architects, especially from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, as it would've resulted in the destruction of the terminal. The plan was scrapped after it was settled in a court case in 1978, which meant Penn Central couldn't build the tower.

Previous proposals to replace Grand Central

During the 1950s and 60s, Grand Central Terminal declined in passenger traffic, especially with the rise of the Jet Age, and the construction of the Interstate Highway System.

In particular, the New York State Thruway, completed in 1954, was a direct competitor to all three of New York Central's commuter rail lines that ran into Grand Central. Around this time, passenger volumes had declined so dramatically that there were proposals to demolish and replace the station. The terminals owners, the New York Central Railroad, also began to decline, with them losing money and wanting to sell the property for its air rights

The most notable one being an 80-story futuristic structure known as the Hyperboloid, which was proposed in 1956 by I. M. Pei, along with the developer William Zeckendorf. Their later iteration of their design was the Hyperboloid, a 108-story wasp-waisted glass cylinder. The plans by Fellheimer & Wagner and I. M. Pei prompted 235 letters from American architects to Grand Central's railroad directors, urging them to save the terminal. Neither design was ultimately carried out, though had it been built it would've been the tallest building in the world.

In 1958, a modified proposal for a 50-story tower was approved, which would become known as the Pan Am Building when it was completed in 1963. The structure was built on the site of the former Grand Central Terminal Baggage Building, which was demolished to make way for its construction. Although the Pan Am Building's completion averted the terminal's imminent destruction, New York Central continued to decline, and in 1968 it merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central Railroad.

Landmark Status

The Pennsylvania Railroad had started demolishing Penn Station's original station building in 1963, and over the following years, it was replaced with the current Pennsylvania Station, above which was built Madison Square Garden. The demolition of Penn Station directly resulted in the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which made Grand Central Terminal a designated a New York City Landmark in August of 1967.

The tower as sketched from the southeast. It would demolish the 1913 facade for taxi drop-off areas.

Penn Central's 175 Park Avenue

In February 1968, six months after Grand Central Terminal was given landmark status, plans were announced for a tower over the terminal, to be designed by Marcel Breuer. With a proposed height of 950 feet (290 m), the tower would have stood 150 feet (46 m) taller than the Pan Am Building, and its footprint would have measured 309 by 152 feet (94 by 46 m), the same size as the Main Concourse.

The tower would have spared the Main Concourse, using the existing building's support structure and four huge trusses to cantilever over the concourse, but the catch was that the southern third of the 1913 facade and Vanderbilt Hall would be completely demolished to make way for elevator lobbies and a taxi drop-off area. The Pershing Square Viaduct would also be demolished to make way for a modern freeway.

The plans drew huge opposition from the public and from architects. The most prominent criticisms came from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who famously stated: 

Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe... this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won't all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes. — Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Court case and the preservation of Grand Central

In response to criticism, Penn Central modified the proposal in June 1969, decreasing the footprint of the proposed building and relocating it closer to the Pan Am Building. However, because of Grand Central's landmark status, the Landmarks Preservation Commission prohibited Penn Central from executing either of Breuer's two blueprints. The railroad sued the city, alleging a taking, and in January 1975, a judge for the New York Supreme Court invalidated the New York City landmark designation. Major personalities and the public held rallies to prevent the demolition of the terminal, and the Supreme Court's decision was overturned by an appeals court that December. The railroad's lawsuit against the city, Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1978. In a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city, holding that New York City's Landmarks Preservation Act did not constitute a "taking" of Penn Central's property under the Fifth Amendment. That final ruling prevented Penn Central from constructing the proposed tower.

Since then, Grand Central is a protected landmark, as well as one of the most iconic in New York City.

Gallery

• 
  Elevation of the tower on top of Grand Central Terminal
• 
  The tower and Grand Central head on
• 
  Renderings of the towers southeast side with an alternative taxi-drop off design.

References

1. Curbed: New York
2. The New York Times
3. Marcel Breuer Digital Archive