# Grand Central–42nd St

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**Borough:** Manhattan  
**URL:** https://standing-on-history.com/grand-central

A piano factory, a animated zebra, and a conveyor belt that never was.

## 1. A piano maker helped build the 7 train tunnel.

William Steinway, of Steinway & Sons, funded the East River tunnel to connect workers to his Queens piano factory.

**Why it matters:** The factory still stands, but the closest subway today is the N/W, not the 7.

**Source:** Smith, Laura Lee. "Company Town - Steinway & Sons." Steinway World-Class Pianos, Stienway, www.steinway.com/news/features/Company-Town#:~:text=Between%201870%20and%201871%2C%20William,the%20area%20would%20soon%20follow. Accessed 22 July 2025., Burks, Edward C. "The Ill‐Starred History Of an Old Subway Tunnel." New York Times, 2 Sept. 1973, p. 71.

## 2. In the movie Madagascar, Central Park Zoo's animals escape through Grand Central.

On their way to find the Zebra Marty, the other zoo animals get off the 4/5/6 at this station to catch him in Grand Central Terminal.

**Why it matters:** If this subway station didn't exist, the whole plot of the franchise "Madagascar" would have been completly different!

**Source:** "DreamWorks Madagascar | Escape From New York | Madagascar Movie Clip." YouTube, YouTube, 10 Sept. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zubwhbiUS9o.

## 3. In the 1950s, the city floated a wild idea: replace the shuttle with a moving sidewalk.

It never happened, but for a moment, subway travel almost became a conveyor belt. Another shortcut lost to time.

**Why it matters:** Another shortcut lost to time.

**Source:** "New York City Transit Authority: Annual Report 1953-1954 : NYCTA : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive, 30 June 1954, archive.org/details/nyctaannualreport1954/NYCTA-annual-report-1935-1954/page/n27/mode/2up., Morris, John E. Subway: The Curiosities, Secrets, and Unofficial History of the New York City Transit System. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020. p.160