Grand Central Terminal celebrates 100th

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NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- New York City's Grand Central Terminal was celebrating its 100th birthday with a rededication ceremony and other festivities, officials said.

The historic building on 42nd Street in Manhattan officially opened Feb. 1, 1913, and was heralded for its technological wonders and modern luxury.

The New York Times ran a special eight-page section at the time in praise of the new station.

One article pointed out its modern conveniences.

"If hair gets out of curl in a damp day's journey the woman passenger may go to the women's hair-dressing parlor in the Grand Central Terminal, a magnificent apartment with walls and ceiling of Carrara glass, where not but her own sex will see while she has her hair dressed in the very latest style," it read.

The anniversary festivities were to include music from the Celia Cruz Bronx High School Choir and electric violinist Sarah Charness, the building's website said. Actress Cynthia Nixon, preservationist Caroline Kennedy and New York Mets baseball player Keith Hernandez are also scheduled to be on hand, among others.

The Times also noted separately another landmark railway building in New York celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

The New York, Westchester & Boston Railway's administration building on East 180th Street in the Bronx -- 10 miles north of Grand Central -- got a $66.6 million renovation on its centenary.

The renovation project included rehabilitating the existing building, including a ramp in the plaza, installing an elevator, improving pedestrian walkways and platforms, and putting a large clock above the entrance to the building.

The railroad went out of business in 1937 and the distinctive building is now a subway entrance.