![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I went to Trader Joes to grab some lunch. This is a picture from halfway through one of the two lines that feed into the main line for the cashiers. When I was finally through I couldn’t see the cashier I was told to go and didn’t move fast enough, so a lady sniped my spot.
Me most of the time: Yeah, I can handle cities. I’m not from NYC but I grew up right near there. The NYC I grew up with was a lot meaner, grittier, more cuthroat than today's NYC.
Me actually in NYC: Help, mean lady stole my cashier!
Since getting food had taken so long, by the time I ate it was getting decently late. So, I decided to change my plans for the rest of the day. I was near Grand Central Station, so I hopped over there. Last time I was there, the ceiling was dark with one light blue spot, like bright sunlight was hitting it. It was the test patch to see if the mural on the ceiling could be restored and if it was still even there.
Today's Grand Central
The train station I remember was a lot different. This article talks about how the ceiling had "half-inch-thick layer of residue from cigarettes, diesel fumes, steel dust, and lead" over the mural and that stone work. Also, "Before the renovation, the Main Concourse was a bit dim, largely because blackout paint was applied to the windows during World War II." Yeah, the windows just weren't cleaned for decades, that was the state of it. That's the train station I remember. Dim light, murals and stone work hidden under decades of grime, the main walkways clear only because during rush hours the sheer mass of people would wear away the dirt leaving only the corners still covered.
From the article, a more familiar site:
Walking into the main concourse today:
The building is amazing with grand stairways and walkways, elaborate stone and metalwork doorways to plain concrete train and subway platforms. There are amazing contrasts and fantastic shots are possible, but I couldn't stay long. I looked over and saw the train to where I grew up, the train my Dad rode on his commute, and nearly fucking lost it. I hadn't been back east since my parents passed. Grand Central is not a place to have a sudden break down so I exited down into the dining hall.
I considered going back to my hometown since I was in the area and likely wont be again, but I knew there was no good outcome. Either I'd feel nothing or I'd be very not okay, and very not okay alone in public. As I know from experience, being emotional in public without someone to act as a buffer can lead to bad shit.
Then I went back up to the main hall and decided I should go. However, being an idiot I decided to leave by going into and through the Met Life Building and then through the Leona Helmsly Building (it's still really called that? amazing):
I walked my Dad's commute to his office building. It's a weird commute. Outside of cutting through two other buildings, you start on on a wide street with massive, recognizable buildings... and then turn down a narrow cross street where most of the sidewalk is subway grating. Just, thin metal mesh over a portal to hell or something that stretches the entire length of the sidewalk and the lion's share of the width. Underneath the trains are making noise, up on the street the metal is making noise as you walk and it moves a bit, and subway exhaust just blows up at you from under your feet. I used to hate having to walk over that, especially at rush hour as a kid because I couldn't see where I was going, I was just being pulled over something that didn't feel solid enough to be walked on, and also there was all the sounds, vibrations and the gross, warm air.
I found the building he worked at, looked over at the buildings I used to look down on from his office, and then decided it was time to head back to my hotel for the night.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-01 04:23 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 06:12 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 04:09 am (UTC)From: