Comments on: James P. Carey, Grand Central’s Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

By: William Hays

William Hays — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:48:55 +0000

In reply to Emily. IIRC, the telephone center was on the east side of the upper level and the baggage room was on the west side.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 01:10:51 +0000

In reply to John Carey (brother of Chris). Yeah, I figured it closed sometime in the 70's - the NY Times obituary for J. Paul in 1973 says he retired from the haberdashery 3 years previous, and that his son J. Paul Jr. is now running it. That seems to imply it was still around even in 73.

By: John Carey (brother of Chris)

John Carey (brother of Chris) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:42:57 +0000

In reply to Chris Carey.

Actually JPCAREY Shop closed around 1971- 1972
Carey Transportation was sold to Greyhound in 1969
Barbershops and package check closed in the mid-1960s

By: Chris Carey

Chris Carey — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:37:40 +0000

In reply to Emily. Sometime around 1967. It may have been concurrent with the sale of Carey Transportation (the bus line) to Greyhound.

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:33:02 +0000

In reply to Chris Carey. Awesome to hear from you! Do you recall what year the haberdashery closed? I wasn't able to definitively figure that out.

By: Chris Carey

Chris Carey — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:30:56 +0000

That’s my great grandfather. I remember when they closed the haberdashery my siblings and I went to the shop and took anything we wanted. Needed bigger closets!

By: Jeremy K.

Jeremy K. — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:55:25 +0000

Great post. I’d be interested in seeing more you might come across on early businesses in the terminal. My grandmother seemed to think a relative of ours owned what might have been the first dry cleaner in GCT in the teens or ’20s, it would be way cool to substantiate it somehow.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:54:17 +0000

In reply to Jeff M.. I'd much rather the info be factually correct! Thanks for that, I've updated the caption :)

By: Jeff M.

Jeff M. — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:31:15 +0000

Emily, you are usually spot-on with everything, so I am loathe to point out an error…but you clearly made one in the caption for the JFK terminal photo. That could not possibly have been taken in 1948, since it shows Eero Saarinen’s wonderful TWA terminal that wasn’t even started until 1956 and opened in 1962. Plus, the Carey bus shown is a “new look” model that wasn’t introduced until 1959.

By: Al Cyone

Al Cyone — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:59:00 +0000

In reply to Emily. I'm honestly not sure about the actual location. I was just a kid then and it's been awhile since I've been at GCT to re-fresh my memory. I found a few oblique references on some online forums but I'll continue looking (I have great faith in Google). I remember my father using the service a few times so maybe an older sibling (or my 94-year-old mother!) remembers something.