Navigating New York: Grand Central Station

Some fortuitous circumstances had led me to the Grand Central Station and I welcomed it.

I had been meaning to go visit anyway, at some point, to check out the market section and take pictures of the Main Concourse and the Booth Clock. This historic, world-famous landmark, featured in so many American films, is not only a major transportation hub, but is also a shopping, dining, and cultural destination. It has a variety of shops, restaurants and cafes, and a full calendar of events under one roof. Too bad my boys weren’t with me.

When my train arrived at the Grand Central Station, I walked away from the track at Lexington Passage and headed to the entrance of the Grand Central Market. It is not a very big market, with less than 20 vendors, but the variety of goods more than make up for its small size. There were fresh produce, European-style delis, a cheese shop, an artisanal bakery, a Middle Eastern pastry shop, a seafood monger, a spice store, a sushi bar, a soup and sandwich stall, a coffee bean roaster, and a chocolatier! Food heaven indeed! I tasted some samples but didn’t eat there. I was determined to find the S Line. The food adventure would have to wait till my next visit.

I headed to the Main Concourse to take photos of the famous zodiac ceiling painted in gold leaf that has 2,500 stars, 59 of them illuminated by LEDs, as well as the iconic golden Information Booth Clock that has everyone saying, “Meet me at the clock!” 

I found a station staff and asked for directions to the S Line. On the way there, I passed by the Whispering Gallery known to create an acoustic phenomenon – two people talk against the walls of opposite sides of the gallery and hear each other perfectly – probably due to the low ceramic arches the feature Guastavino tiles. But since I do not have a friend with me, I couldn’t test if this indeed works.

I found the tracks for the S Line which just runs exclusively from Grand Central to Times Square and back. Unfortunately, it required me to buy another ticket. Since I did not have cash (I know, I know, I never learn), I encountered some challenges. None of the machines would take my credit card. It worked the two previous times but not this time.

My guess was that one could only “trick” the machine a couple of times or so. You see, for credit card payments, the machines ask you for a zip code for some reason. And since we are not U.S. residents, we do not have one.

The first time, I entered my Canadian postal code, and it went through. The second time, it didn’t work, so I entered a random 5-digit number for a postal code, and it worked. This time around, the machine couldn’t be fooled. Luckily, there was this friendly guy whose job was to direct passengers to the machines, make sure everyone fell in line and waited for their turn, and helped those who were having trouble with the machines, which was what I was.

At first, he tried to buy the ticket for me with my card and when he asked for my postal code, I said, "That’s my problem…I am not from the States." He entered his own code, and it still didn’t work. I told him the machines simply hate me (or I was just being true to my nature; I seem to have the knack for making machines stop working or go wonky after I touch them). He ended up unlocking the gate to the S track for me and told me it’s free of charge. I thanked him profusely and ran to catch the train that was about to leave.

In less than 10 minutes, I was back in Times Square. I called my boys again to give them an update. My husband said they just left the museum and were walking to a bakery for a quick bite to eat. Then he said they would like to stop at the LEGO Store for a few minutes before meeting me at the hotel, after which, we will load our luggage into the car and drive to New Jersey for the next leg of our journey.

I know my husband so well. A trip to a LEGO Store never takes “a few minutes.” I was more than sure that I had plenty of time for a mini exploration of my own.

Since it was close to dinner time and I was getting hungry myself, I decided to resume my quest for Ippudo ramen. So instead of going back to the hotel, I walked to West 51^st Street.