Each of the steel silhouettes, suspended in mid-activity, stand as sentinels of the ever-changing landscape that surrounds them. From day to night, and season to season, their steadfast visage never fails to pique my curiosity. Who are these people, with their elongated heads and old-timey hats? What are they doing, and where would they be going with their packs, wagons, and walking sticks, if they were not frozen to time?

As the weather grows colder and the leaves transform into flecks of gold, the figures take on a larger-than-life, almost magical quality. Perhaps if you listen closely when the wind blows, you’ll hear them tell their story, a legend of a long-forgotten past amidst the rustle of the trees.

For the past 33 years, MTA Arts & Design (formerly Arts for Transit) has brought art installations to more than thirteen stations along the the Harlem Line. Although Workers and Travelers are two of the earlier works in the series, they clearly have stood the test of time, still bringing a little whimsy to the commute all these decades later.

Like public art in transit? Watch my presentation about public art in Stockholm’s Tunnelbana as part of Virtual Conversations 2022 by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art.

The fabled Tim Hortons, which had been promised for over a year but had never materialized by the time I had stopped commuting, now takes up the space upstairs where the MTAPD had an office, and where a row of black wire benches once were. I spent many hours waiting for trains, observing the wide array of people passing through, and writing this blog while sitting on those benches.

Sure, there were certainly aesthetic improvements. The new look being rolled out at Metro-North stations with the wood ceilings and the modern vibe is definitely better than what was previously there. There’s even some new, attractive art installed through the MTA Arts and Design program. It’s just not the place where everyone the convenience store operator knows your name anymore…

While in this reflective mood, come September it will also be a year since I last worked in the railroad industry. Covid was just another opportunity for my previous employer to do yet another “management” (anyone without a contract) reorganization. If anyone was ever curious why that place doesn’t seem to get a lot done, it’s because the company is almost constantly going through reorganizations—pretty much at least one company-wide every year, and that doesn’t include the additional departmental reorgs when yet another new face is hired near the top of the food chain. I saw some of the most intelligent people I’ve met, who truly believed in the mission of passenger rail, essentially driven out. The department I was in was an endless revolving door—I found a picture of the team that I took close to when I started, of the 25 people pictured only one remains employed there. Besides reorgs being largely ineffective (a Forbes survey found in companies that performed reorgs, more than half of the executives involved did not view the results favorably), constant reorgs make it nearly impossible for any practical long term planning—or basically why the dining cars that Boardman ordered became Anderson’s minimum axle-count cars several years later when they were finally rolling off the assembly line. Twenty-five dining cars at something like $2.3 million each sounds like a lot of wasted taxpayer dollars.

I keep in contact with a few people that remain, and was informed that there is yet another reorg looming. From LinkedIn statuses I see what appears to be a mass exodus of competent (and some incompetent, hah!) employees. And you know what I realized? I don’t miss it. By the end it seemed like an abusive relationship that I never would have left of my own volition. Thankfully, someone else made the decision for me, and I pursued employment at an engineering firm, as I had always found working with engineers to be what I enjoyed most there. The new job is mostly the same, except for the lack of trains.

When all is said and done, perhaps it was never about the trains after all. I just enjoyed learning about new projects, meeting new people, traveling, and capturing it all with my camera. Something that I’ll continue to do in both my personal and professional lives…

But I digress… my return to White Plains was more for research on new collection of stories, as opposed to pure nostalgia. A few upcoming articles I’ve been working on will highlight some of the changes that White Plains has experienced in the past 177 years since the railroad arrived, and two of the major factors that shaped this history—the railroad itself, and the “urban renewal” of the 70s and beyond. Expect those articles, coming soon!

Then again, the more things change, the more they stay the same…

183rd Street

Artist: Jose Ortiz

Title: Many Trails

Found in the mezzanine area of the station, the glassword at 183rd Street depicts scenes from the area, both from the past and present. The title of the piece derives from the symbol depicted on the first panel of the piece – it is the Mohican “Many Trails” symbol. The meaning behind the symbol is described as thus:

The design symbolizes the endurance, strength, and hope of a long-suffering, proud, and determined people. The curved shape represents the arms of a man raised in prayer. the circles represent many campfires. The lines represent the many trails taken from the time the Indians left their ancestral homes.

Some of the scenes depicted in the piece are the lands once inhabited by the Siwanoy Nation (a branch of the Mohicans) in the 1600s, the Croton Aqueduct, St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church, and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College.

  
 
  

176th Street

Artist: Juan Sanchez

Title: Reaching Out For Each Other

Originally designed with shaped bits of colored paper, Sanchez’s artwork features hands reaching out. Although the shapes are simple, they are easily recognizable, and add splashes of brilliant color to the platform and mezzanine areas of the station.

Translated from paper to faceted glass – at left, one of Sanchez’s original works, at right, the same art in glass installed at the station.

  
 
   
  
 

Mount Eden Avenue

Artist: Amir Bey

Title: The Procession of Folk #3

At Mount Eden Avenue you’ll find colorful faces rendered in faceted glass on both the platform and lower entrance areas to the station. While the ones on the platform are certainly nice, the lower ones really shine – passing light projects the colors of the glass onto the floor. Each face represents a specific individual, someone known to the artist, and symbolizes the uniqueness of each rider that passes by.

  
   
  

170th Street

Artist: Dina Bursztyn

Title: Views from Above

Next along the line is “Views from Above” – which like Mount Eden Avenue is located on the platform and also downstairs in the station’s entrances. Bursztyn makes a little play on how the stations at the end of the 4 line are all elevated, depicting plants and animals in a similar elevated perspective. The brilliant colors of the faceted glass echo the colors of the sky seen from the elevated platform during sunrises and sunsets.

  
 
   
  

167th Street

Artist: Carol Sun

Title: A Bronx Reflection

Last, but certainly not least, is “A Bronx Reflection” – definitely one of the more beautiful bits of glass on the 4 line, if not the most beautiful. Installed in the station’s lower passageway, twelve colorful panels reflect a vision of growing up in the Bronx. Featuring text in both English and Spanish, the piece depicts animals, plants, schools, shops, and churches – culminating with a view from a window, complete with a steaming mug of coffee. All of these are scenes plucked from the memories of the artist, a Chinese-American artist who grew up in the Bronx, and teaches art to high-schoolers there today.

 
  
   
 
  
   
 

That wraps up the glass art found on the 4 Line… There are plenty of other Arts for Transit pieces along the line, but I’m featuring my favorite medium. While mosaics and other such pieces are certainly lovely, faceted glass has a unique ability to transcend the wall on which it is placed. As the daylight changes and the sun’s rays reflect through the glass, colors are projected onto the platform, providing an ever changing view.

Arts for Transit is a wonderful program, and if you’re interested in some of the other things you might find at various MTA transit stations, they have an app that you can download documenting the various art along the way. Coming this fall, a second edition of the book “Along the Way: MTA Arts for Transit” will be hitting the shelves, which will contain a photo or two of mine as well.

Though we won’t be going as in-depth as my previous tours of Metro-North stations, I did think it would be fun to tour some of the above-ground sections of the NYC subway, focusing on the glass art found at various stations. When trains went back underground – I bailed – and when the art wasn’t glass in the windows or windscreens, I skipped it.

We’ll start our exploration on the 4 Line. If you’re interested in joining up via Metro-North, board a Bronx-bound 4 train to Woodlawn from Grand Central or Harlem-125th Street. We’ll be starting at Woodlawn – the end of the line – and working our way down.

Woodlawn

Artist: Josie Gonzalez Albright

Title: Children at Play

Situated at the very end of the 4 line in the Bronx, Woodlawn’s Arts for Transit piece is located below platform level by the entrance turnstiles. Surrounded by bold colors, children created from faceted glass play across multiple panels. The panels were designed by Josie Gonzalez Albright, a local painter that frequently depicts people in their everyday surroundings. The work was especially inspired by the abundance of park area that surrounds the station.

The subway station itself is most noteworthy for being a connection from Harlem to the Woodlawn Cemetery, the final resting place of icons like Miles Davis. It is also the absolute end of the 4 Line – the tracks end here with yellow bumping blocks.

 
  
  
 

Mosholu Parkway

Artist: Corinne Grondahl

Title: Metromorphosis / Birth of a Station

Bronx textile artist Corinne Grondahl’s bold Arts for Transit piece can be found at Mosholu Parkway station, on both sides of the platform. The work focuses on the passage of time, and changes over time, a concept derived from the original meaning of the word mosholu.

Artist Corinne Grondahl with her Arts for Transit work, photo by nyperson

 
  
   
 
 

Kingsbridge Road

Artist: Mario M. Muller

Title: Urban Motif

From afar one may see the laminated glass panels at Kingsbridge Road and think they depict simple silhouettes, but up close viewing reveals that the simple silhouettes are in fact made of elaborate, colorful brushstrokes. Designed by New York artist that now lives and works in LA, Mario M. Muller, Urban Motif shows the crowds that typically surround the station over the passage of time through both silhouettes and shadows.

 
  
 

Fordham Road

Artist: Moses Ros

Title: Patriasana / Wholesomeland

Bronx artist and architect Moses Ros is behind Fordham Road’s colorful Arts for Transit piece, located in the windows of the station’s mezzanine. Made of faceted and laminated glass arranged in between panels of regular windows, the piece allows you to see Fordham Road’s bustle, side by side with Ros’ artistic renditions of the wares one can purchase on the street.

 
  
  
 
 

That wraps up today’s exploration of the 4 line, next week we’ll be back with some photos of the attractive Arts for Transit pieces at 183rd Street, 176th Street, Mount Eden, 170th Street and 167th Street.

Some of Arts for Transit’s most successful installations are those that almost transcend the barrier between art and function, and those that interact with the space in which they are placed. While bronze sculptures hanging on the wall are certainly a lovely (though easily missed) addition to any station, the bronze chairs you’ll find at Pleasantville station become even more than that. They are attractive, but also functional, they interact with the people that use the station, and they begin a dialogue. People that spy them from the train might say, “what are those nice looking chairs, and why are they there?” And as the artists intended, they evoke the comforts and feelings of home, and the thought that to many regular commuters this station is their second home. When comparing Arts for Transit pieces, Pleasantville always seems to be the bar to which I compare, and is (at least in my opinion) one of the best embodiments of the program’s concept of enhancing the experience of travel.

In a similar vein to the Pleasantville piece, both of the newest Arts for Transit works on the Hudson Line seem to interact with the stations in which they’ve been placed, and thus the people that frequent them. Croton-Harmon’s artwork, a series of laminated glass panels by Brooklyn-based artist Corinne Ulmann, not only depict the changing of seasons, but seem to change on their own based upon the light that filters into the overpass. Several Hudson Line stations feature both faceted and laminated glass works in the overpasses, and I’ve always felt they’ve been successful as they’re never the same at all times. As sunlight passes through, colors are reflected onto the platforms and walkways and move as the sun crosses the sky. Thus the art is hardly static, it subtly changes due to season, time, and weather.

Metro North President Howard Permut speaks at Peekskill, with the station’s newest Arts for Transit piece in the background. [image credit]

Peekskill’s art, an installation of various painted steel pieces by Joy Taylor, also interacts with the station, and the sunlight. The large pieces cast shadows on the platform, but also highlight a play between new and old at the station. During Peekskill’s recent renovations, the station’s historical canopy was restored. This canopy runs parallel to the more modern one found on the station’s other platform, but both evoke a different feeling. The historical canopy is rounded, where the new is more angular, with squared edges. But with the artistic flourishes added to the modern canopy (the historical canopy was appropriately left without embellishments), the new canopy visually parallels the old. Not only does it create an interesting play between new and old, but it emphasizes the historical nature of the one canopy. That side of the platform is not bare, however. The fencing behind the old canopy carries the same flowery motif, but without compromising the part that is historical.

If you happen to get over to the Hudson Line, both pieces are certainly worth checking out, and make commuting on the Hudson Line a little bit more attractive than before.

 
 
   
  
   
 
   
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
   
  
 
  

And before I forget, Metro-North’s newest Arts for Transit will be at Fordham station on the Harlem Line. If you happen to be an artist, you still have a few days to reply to the Call for Artists. Submissions need to be postmarked by the 28th.

You may have seen this poster around… Pop Chart Lab brings the sky ceiling to life!

Arts for Transit, however, is not the first group to bring art into the Terminal. Long before the program was ever conceived, the Grand Central Art Galleries were established on the sixth floor of Grand Central. I was inspired to learn a little bit more about the galleries after purchasing an old New York Central dining car menu. The menu featured an example of the artwork one could find in the gallery, and the back contained a rather dated ad suggesting that businessmen take their wives on the trains and only pay half (which, if you are interested, I posted on the I Ride the Harlem Line facebook page).

On a dining car menu, 1953 – Grand Central Art Galleries. ((Menu from the author’s collection.))

Floor plan of the Grand Central Galleries. ((Floor plan from the Frick Art Reference Library, via the New York Art Resources Consortium.))

The Grand Central Art Galleries were established in 1923, and remained in the Terminal until 1958, when they moved to the nearby Biltmore Hotel. Long established in our collective consciousness is the concept that a dead artist is worth more than a living one, but this gallery’s intent was to sell the artworks of the living. Both artists and non-artists paid a membership fee, providing artworks (1 a year, for 3 years) and cash ($600 when the galleries opened), respectively.

A wide variety of artists were associated with the Grand Central Art Galleries over its many years, including some well-known faces in the art world like John Singer Sargent. Featured on the menu above was a painting by Frederick Judd Waugh, whose art frequently depicted ocean scenes. He was also known for designing ship camouflage with the US Navy during World War I.

Today Grand Central’s upper floors are off-limits to the general public… but if you’d like to see how the 6th floor looked back in the late 1920s, here are a few photos!

Photos of the Grand Central Galleries. ((All photos from the Frick Art Reference Library, via the New York Art Resources Consortium.))

  
  

The West Point Brass and Percussion Band also performed, which seemed quite appropriate. According to historical accounts of Grand Central’s opening, the first song to ever be played in the Terminal was the Star Spangled Banner, which was not yet our national anthem at that time, on the east balcony. The band’s placement right below the east balcony as they played the song seemed rather appropriate, and probably the closest we’d get to reenacting what happened on February 2nd, 1913, at 12:01 AM. Also a fitting mirror was a presentation of a key to Mr. Permut by members of the Vanderbilt family – similar to the presentation of keys to Terminal Manager Miles Bronson one hundred years ago.

The only unfortunate thing to note is that much of the celebration was focused on the VIPs, as opposed to the lowly commuters that actually use Grand Central. (And for the record, no, running this blog did not qualify me as a VIP – I asked and was rejected. An “actual” member of the “press” granted me a pass in their stead. Thanks Steve!) VIP guests to the event got a special program and booklet, which are visible here:

Program for the Grand Central rededication.

Two poems were written about Grand Central by poet Billy Collins. The long poem was illustrated in one booklet, and the short poem appears on this "Poetry in Motion" poster. The posters were not handed out at the event, but have been sighted on trains.

The text on the inside of the booklet was the longer poem that was read by Billy Collins during the ceremony. The shorter poem, which he also read, appears in the program, and on trains thanks to Poetry in Motion and Arts for Transit.

Billy Collins speaks at the Rededication Ceremony

If you’re not familiar with Collins, he is a New York native that was both New York State Poet Laureate, and Poet Laureate of the United States… which in the poetry world is kind of a big deal. While I’m sure plenty of poems have been written about Grand Central, Collins’ poems may be the most high profile written about our lovely Terminal.

Well, Cornelius Vanderbilt is supposed to be here…

As of right now, I have little to say about the Transit Museum’s show “Grand by Design.” Unfortunately, a hundred years wasn’t quite enough to finish up the exhibition, and it seemed that things were missing. The fact that Cornelius Vanderbilt was not mentioned or pictured seemed like a mistake of monumental proportion. Apparently it turned out that Mr. Vanderbilt was supposed to be on that nice blank spot we’re all pointing to in the photo above. I was also disappointed that there was no mention of William Kissam Vanderbilt either – he was really the only Vanderbilt that had a direct influence on the construction of Grand Central. (If the Vanderbilts are still confusing you, it means you haven’t yet read this.) But in all honesty, I may have just been depressed that Anderson Cooper did not attend the event – he is a Vanderbilt, after all.

Another event that happened on Friday regarded the new United States Postal Service stamp, picturing Grand Central, illustrated by Dan Cosgrove. If you were one of the hundreds of people that failed to get the Grand Central centennial cover and stamp on Friday, you can purchase them directly online. Word was that within fifteen minutes they ran out of envelopes for the stamps. The whole purpose of the event was to get the stamp on the special envelope and get it postmarked… so I feel bad for all the people that waited in that line to get just the stamp, which could be purchased at any post office. If you’re looking to grab the covers with the February 1 date stamp online, the USPS site offers two versions for purchase, one with a color postmark for $21.10, or a regular first day stamp for $20.39.

Back on topic, the entire event was a big birthday bash for Grand Central. And no birthday celebration would be complete without a little music…
 
Sarah Charness played the electric violin, and later Melissa Manchester sang. Manchester also shouted “I love you, gorgeous!” at the sky ceiling, which might be cute, had I not been thinking about this.

…and a little bit of cake…

I hope you all like this photo, I dropped my piece of cake on the floor while taking it. And yes, only the VIPs got delicious cake.

The gorgeous cake was made by Eric Bedoucha of Financier Patisserie – a delicious confection modeled after the Information Booth’s clock. It was supposedly saved for the VIP dinner to be hosted at the Oyster Bar that night… which in itself is another mirror to actual events, as the first VIP dinner happened February 1st 1913 at 8 PM.

That about sums it up for the Centennial. With the ceremony past, I figured I’d leave off with a quick recap of all fifteen articles I wrote about Grand Central over the past hundred days.

• On the Hunt for Grand Central’s Acorns – Hidden throughout the Terminal are hundreds of acorns, the symbol of the Vanderbilt family.
• Celebrating Grand Central Terminal’s Centennial: The 100 for 100 Project – An introduction to our 100 historical photos per day project.
• The Hoax in the Information Booth – You may be able to buy an Apple in Grand Central Terminal today, but one fruit seller got scammed into thinking he could sell apples from the Info Booth in 1929.
• Grand Central Theatre and the Other Sky Ceiling – There is actually a lesser known sky ceiling in Grand Central, a leftover of the 242 seat theater that once called Grand Central home.
• Grand Central’s Biltmore Room – the “Kissing Gallery” – Yes, there were actually rules regarding kissing and public displays of affection in Grand Central Terminal!
• A visit to the secret library inside Grand Central Terminal – Not only does Grand Central have a library hidden inside, it also possesses a prized historical artifact.
• The life of a Grand Central commuter – Photos from the Farm Security Administration – Photographers of the FSA didn’t just capture farms, they captured everyday life… including a commuter from Westport that traveled to Grand Central daily.
• The Mystery of Grand Central’s Suburban Concourse – Photographic evidence I discovered seems to show that Grand Central’s lower level track numbers were changed at some point in history.
• New York’s Other Great Station – Photos of Penn Station, and musings on its influence over Grand Central.
• James P. Carey, Grand Central’s Entrepreneur Extraordinaire A profile and some history regarding James Carey, Grand Central’s barber with a keen sense for business.
• Sending Postcards from Grand Central – A collection of over 30 postcards of the Terminal from the past hundred years.
• The Coolest Place in Grand Central: The Clock Tower – Some history and photos about the clock and sculpture on Grand Central’s facade.
• A Hundred Years of the Oyster Bar, Grand Central Terminal Restaurant – An interesting look at the history, and menus, of the Oyster Bar restaurant, Grand Central’s longest established tenant.
• Recap of the Grand Central 100 for 100 project – The 100 historical Grand Central photos we featured over the course of 100 days.
• Happy 100th, Grand Central Terminal – an infographic featuring a timeline of Grand Central, and 10 interesting facts about the Terminal you probably didn’t know.

Happy Birthday, Grand Central!

As is customary around the end of the year, let’s take a look back at what was most popular on the site this year, based on the number of reads… presenting the top 15 posts of 2012:

Starting off our countdown at number 15 is a photographic look at the old Milwaukee Road Depot in Minneapolis. Completed in 1899, the old station was renovated and turned into a hotel. An old train shed now offers an ice skating rink. This is one of a few posts on the blog about Minneapolis this year, from my visit there in April. Some of the other stuff from Minneapolis included the Stone Arch Bridge, a former railroad bridge converted to pedestrian use, riding around on the Hiawatha Line, the old and new Minnehaha Station, and the classical music playing Lake Street – Midtown station.

14th most viewed for the year is our Hudson Line tour to Yonkers. The nicely restored brick station at Yonkers, built by the New York Central, is definitely one of the gems of the Hudson Line.

There are plenty of hoaxes and tall tales related to Grand Central Terminal, but only one of them made our top fifteen list this year. Coming in at number 13 is the 1929 hoax in the Information Booth. As the story goes, a tricky scammer convinced a fruit seller that the railroad was planning on selling space in the information booth, and that prime space could be turned into a fruit stand. Of course, it was a complete lie, and the scammer skipped town with a nice wad of cash. Amusingly, you can buy apple in the Terminal today – either in Grand Central Market, or in the figurative sense, the Apple store in the main concourse.

Another Grand Central themed post comes in at number 12 on our countdown – featuring the sky ceiling that nobody really knows about. This painting can be found inside Grande Harvest Wines – it is the last surviving remnant of the 242-seat newsreel theater that was once in Grand Central Terminal.

Our tour of New Haven Line station Mamaroneck makes the list at number 11. Mamaroneck has a lovely old station that was undergoing a transformation into a restaurant called the Club Car – we managed to get a sneak preview of the place, and shared it along with the station tour.

The Hudson Line tour of Tarrytown station also makes the list, likely for our coverage of the new and most wonderful Arts for Transit piece by Holly Sears. The 1898 Richardsonian Romanesque-style station at Tarrytown was built by architectural firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, who are most known for their stations on the Boston and Albany railroad.

Ninth most popular for the year was my first foray into 3D modeling, and 3D printing. I decided I would try to model the Harlem Line’s Brewster station from historical photos – basically how it looked when it was first built. The interesting journey  was featured in various places around the internet, including the TinkerCad Blog, Shapeways Blog, Adafruit and Wired.

One of the more memorable things I got to do this year was to have a brief chat with Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut. Having been with Metro-North since its inception, the man has a pretty interesting viewpoint regarding the history of the Harlem Line. We talked about Metro-North’s formation from ConRail, Millerton, and other admirable rail systems, among other things.

Before touring the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines, I wrote a brief introduction to the West of Hudson lines, which was the seventh most viewed post on the site this year. The intro included a few maps, time tables, and a look back on the damage Hurricane Irene wrought on the Port Jervis line.

Sixth on our top 15 countdown is a trip to Metro-North’s Operations Control Center. This is the workplace for the railroad’s Rail Traffic Controllers – one of the most stressful and possibly thankless jobs at Metro-North. The current OCC is certainly high tech, but we also got a glimpse of the old OCC, and an ad for one of the New York Central’s historical towers in Grand Central – which looked quite archaic in comparison!

One of the most memorable shots of Hurricane Sandy was this capture of a boat resting on the Hudson Line’s tracks in Ossining, which I couldn’t help but turn into an image macro. In other news, whoever happens to own that boat is probably a big asshole, as it seems to be named after a Nazi warship. I guess the owner never realized his boat would end up on the front page of several newspapers – or top 5 in our countdown.

Fourth most popular for the year was our April Fool’s prank about Harlem Line service getting restored up to Millerton, complete with two fake timetables and a fake ticket. Rumor has it, some folks in Metro-North’s customer service department hate me even more than they did before after this trick!

Coming in at third most popular is the Grand Central 100 for 100 project, featuring 100 historical photos of the Terminal in the hundred days leading up to its centennial. By now we’re more than halfway through, so if you aren’t following the project on Facebook, you totally should be!

It appears that everybody loves Dobbs Ferry station, as our tour was the number two most read post on the site for 2012. Featuring another Richardsonian Romanesque station by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, Dobbs Ferry also has a nice location right on the Hudson River’s waterfront.

Everybody seems to say that the cat is the internet’s unofficial mascot, and it certainly seems that is true! By far, the number one most read post on the site was about Sadie the Subway Cat, of the New York Transit Museum. In addition to our March photo session with the popular feline, we updated you on Sadie’s subsequent retirement, and a humorous update on her new life outside the museum.

That just about wraps up 2012 – I’m definitely looking forward to bringing you new things in 2013… everybody have a Happy New Year!

Today’s tour of the Hudson Line takes us to one of Metro-North’s newer stations – the second newest on the line after Yankees-E 153rd Street, Cortlandt. Located a little over 38 miles from Grand Central, Cortlandt is in the upper, unelectrified portion of Metro-North’s Hudson Line, and situated between Croton-Harmon and Peekskill. Historically, there were two stations in this area – Crugers and Montrose – both of which were closed in favor of the new Cortlandt station. Space is always a critical issue at many Metro-North stations, especially when it comes to parking. Many stations have almost endless waiting lists for a parking permit. Cortlandt was one of the few places on the upper Hudson Line where there was room for expansion, and more room for parking. Especially built to replace Montrose and Crugers, the new station was opened in June of 1996.

Local timetables to Montrose and Crugers, and Hudson Line timetables from 1996. Note that Montrose and Crugers were there at the beginning of the year, but by midyear were replaced with Cortlandt. Thanks to Doug Dray, Otto Vondrak, and Bob Mortell for these timetables.

Although the parking situation was much improved at Cortlandt, Metro-North looked to expand even more, and in 2009 began a massive improvement project to the station. A new 720 car parking lot was built on the west side of the tracks, almost doubling parking capacity. Other improvements included a heated waiting room including a concession area, new canopies, and a new elevator. The New York State Department of Transportation improved the intersection between the station and Route 9A, which was also considered part of the project. The new road had lighted sidewalks built especially for those using the train to get to the nearby Veterans Hospital.

Pre-construction rendering of the improvements at Cortlandt

 
Cortlandt before and during construction. Before photo by Tom Panettiere, construction photo by George Kimmerling.

 
Aerial views of Cortlandt station, before and after the expansion. Note the new, larger station building, and the massive new parking lot on the west side of the tracks.

The MTA had a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony after the renovations to Cortlandt station were complete back in February, attended by both Metro-North president Howard Permut and MTA Chairman Joe Lhota. In his statements at the ceremony, Permut said “[Cortlandt] will address current and future needs of the railroad and the communities it serves,” which is actually quite true – especially the future part. Though most don’t attribute foresight as a quality generously abound in the MTA, whoever came up with the upgrades for Cortlandt was certainly thinking about future expansion. A blocked off stairwell to nowhere, gated off with a sign that says “Authorized Personnel Only” looks like a perfect spot for a third platform to be constructed – at some point in the future if ever needed (if electrification further north ever happens?).

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Cortlandt station.

Included in the original construction of the station was an Arts for Transit piece titled Three Statues (A Short History of the Lower Hudson Valley), by Robert Taplin. Three seven-foot tall statues stand beside the station, each representative of a historical group of people that were common in this area. On the left, a wealthy Dutch landowner. In the middle, a laborer from the early nineteenth century. And on the right, a Native American figure. The figures look out over the long shape of the Hudson River, rendered in stone.

That’s about it for today’s tour – next week we’ll head back south on the Hudson Line to another station in the Bronx. There are only four more stations left to be featured on the Hudson Line, after which my camera may go hibernate for the winter (except for the part where I go ride Alaska Railroad’s winter train)!

 
  
 
  
   
  
   
  
 
 
  
   
   
  
   
 

MTA preliminary design sketch of what Yankees-E 153rd Street station would look like. The completed station is very true to this rendering.

Timetables highlighting the new Yankees-E 153rd Street station. Hudson Line timetable from the collection of Bob Mortell.

While I generally like to feature history in our station tours, Yankees-E 153rd Street is a new station, thus I figured it would be interesting to instead check out the construction of the station. This is Metro-North’s newest station in New York (Fairfield Metro is the newest station, located in Connecticut). Historically, the New York Central offered special game day service to the old Yankee Stadium, but it required taking a train to Melrose, and either walking or taking a bus to the stadium itself. Now the stadium is just a short walk away – making Yankee Stadium extremely well connected with public transit (a subway station also services the stadium).

Flickr user Interloafer wonderfully documented the construction of Yankees-E 153rd Street station, even capturing the first train to service the station, and a shot of the first game day service. The below photos are from his collection:

  
  
 
  
 

While Yankees – E 153rd Street is designated as a Hudson Line stop, it is unique in that Harlem and New Haven Line trains service it on special game days. Using the wye at Mott Haven, trains from those two lines can move onto the Hudson Line, allowing passengers a one-seat ride to games and events. On non game days, the station is regularly accessible by trains on the Hudson Line.

An important part of the new station complex is the elevated and enclosed walkway that stretches from the station proper towards Yankee Stadium. An Arts for Transit piece was installed in this walkway, consisting of eleven mosaic panels, each measuring eighteen feet wide, and six and a half feet tall. The work is titled The Home of the Stars, and is by artist Ellen Harvey. Each panel displays a progression of time, from the sunset to the stars in the evening sky.

 
  
   
  
   
 

The Home of the Stars, an Arts for Transit piece by Ellen Harvey. Photographs of each individual panel from the artist’s website.

In the station proper, things look a bit different than at most other Metro-North stations. The rounded advertisement boards on the platform, and the large overhead dome in the mezzanine seem to resemble an airport more than a train station. This is also the only Metro-North station where you’ll find single person entry gates. On game days, you’ll need to hand in your ticket to get through these gates, in case there was not time to collect your fare on the train. The remainder of the station resembles the typical Metro-North station, complete with island platforms, wire benches, and blue trash bins.

Anyways, here are the photos I took at Yankees – E 153rd Street station… hopefully everyone out there is okay and has survived Sandy!