It honestly doesn't fit me at all but I
have this love of history that came to bloom while I was studying for
my degree. New York is filled with history of every kind from how
Wall Street got its name to the secret galleries at Saint Augustine
Church where escaped slaves could listen to church services without
being seen. What really fascinates me are the abandoned stations and
tunnels of the New York underworld. The MTA is in no way thrilled
with people wandering around these abandoned or never used portions
of New York's subway system but my friend Stacy does just that
for a hobby. She told me the following story about one of her favorite spots of the New York underworld.
About four blocks north of Grand
Central Terminal and 200' below the Waldorf Astoria Hotel is one of
the greatest secrets of the city's modern history. President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt was paralyzed from the waist down from polio and was
convinced that allowing the public see him in a wheelchair would end
his political career. When he traveled to the northeast he rode in a
specially built armored train which included a car carrying his
Peirce Arrow limousine. This train would stop short of Grand Central, beneath the Waldorf, where Roosevelt would exit onto the platform already in his limo, drive into the freight elevator, and secretly enter the city.
On March 29, 1945 the secret train was sitting at the secret siding when Roosevelt died in Georgia. The armored Pullman car that carried his limo hasn't moved from that spot since.
On March 29, 1945 the secret train was sitting at the secret siding when Roosevelt died in Georgia. The armored Pullman car that carried his limo hasn't moved from that spot since.
Locked brass doors on the 49th
street side of the Waldorf, which open to a staircase leading down to
the platform, are the only above ground evidence of this secret
station. The neighboring doors to the elevator itself have been
welded shut for years so it's a topic of debate as to whether this
elevator opened onto 49th Street only or also into the
original Waldorf ballroom. To me the later seems to defeat the whole
purpose of the secret siding far below. Seriously, how can you keep secret
the arrival of the president's armored limousine in the ballroom?
The official designation of this hidden
siding is track 61 but it was known to station workers only as the
Roosevelt platform. Until just a few years ago officials from the FDR
Museum and the MTA denied the very existence of the platform or the ghost train sheltered there and to this day the spur isn't shown on any maps of the subway
system.
But for those who know the secrets of this underworld there is always a way in, another more secluded entrance, or an even more secret tunnel.
But for those who know the secrets of this underworld there is always a way in, another more secluded entrance, or an even more secret tunnel.
I think maybe it would be a totally awesome
spot to celebrate New Years Eve. But I suppose I'll never know that will I?
