One Vanderbilt is a new 73 Story or 93 story (depending upon marketing) Supertall skyscraper and as of 2023 forth tallest building in New York City by height (including spires and architectural details, but not antenna masts). The only buildings taller are One World Trade Center (the Freedom Tower) and two of the new residential, pencil skyscrapers along 57 Street (Billionaires’ Row). This building has only 73 floors, compared to 102 at the now lower Empire State Building because each floor has 15 foot to 24 foot tall ceilings.
The reason this tall building is relevant to the SubwayNut is that to receive approval from New York City to build a building twice as big as the floor area allowed under New York City Zoning rules, the developer SL Green had to provide $220 Million in Transit and pedestrian improvements in the area. These improvements include the new 3 underground levels Transit Concourse, a new pedestrian plaza in the middle of Vanderbilt Avenue between 42 and 43 Streets, and a large (still ongoing in Fall 2023) renovation to the main subway station. This renovation includes improvements to pedestrian flow (the widening of the mezzanine, reopening closed entrances, removing columns) at the main Lexington Avenue Line, 4,5,6 subway station. This page concerns just the Transit Concourse with the improvements to other parts of Grand Central discussed on their respective web pages.
The One Vanderbilt Transit Concourse gets its own page because of how it ties together access to the 42 Street Shuttle, the Main Concourse Level of Grand Central Terminal, and a direct entrance to the Long Island Rail Road’s Madison concourse. The transit improvements opened starting in December 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the entrance to the Madison Concourse opening along with the new Long Island Rail Road station in 2023.
Passengers entering at street level can enter via two different entrances near at either NE corner of 42 Street and Vanderbilt Avenue or the SE corner of 43 Street. Each of these entrances has two sets of entrances doors, either directly along Vanderbuilt Avenue or away from the corners closer to Madison Avenue on each respective street. These are on either side of the non-public main entrance to the lobby for One Vanderbilt’s tenants, which also have revolving doors to each of the subway entrances, so tenants don’t have to go outside to reach their offices. The entrances are integrated architecturally with the lobby of One Vanderbilt.
Passengers enter to an extremely tall, 60 to 110 foot in places sloped ceiling with glass walls to the outside. The entrance doors for transit are under golden signage that says “Grand Central Terminal” on the awnings with Metro North Railroad, and Long Island Rail Road (yes the LIRR has a space between rail and road, Metro North does not) written in gold along with the subway bullets above the doors into the station. From each corner entrance stairs and an elevator lead down to the first basement level for the Transit Concourse. The entrance from 42 Street has a bank of 3 escalators that cuts through the first basement level and continues directly to the following underground basement level.
The first level B1, is the core of One Vanderbilt’s Transit Concourse. In the middle of the concourse passengers can enter directly from Metro-North’s main concourse this arrives to the One Vanderbilt level in front of a couple shops. Passengers must pass through doors to make this connection. At the southern end of this level is the only entrance to the Summit, One Vanderbilt’s observation deck experience. By the entrance to the Summit, doors lead out to the mezzanine and entrance area above the end of the Shuttle platform. The entrance to the 42 Street Shuttle feels like you are on a balcony overlooking the staircases up to this fare control area.
Level B2, is accessed by two staircases down from B1 and is main subway entrance level. At the southern end doors lead into this level within fare control from the 42 Street shuttle, just beyond the bumper block at the end of Track 4. These lead down a short ADA accessible passageway to arrive by another set of doors that lead to the 4,5,6,7 main station mezzanine. From here One Vanderbilt has its own bank of turnstiles. After passing through these turnstiles passages are at the base of the escalators directly up to the NW corner of 42 Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, a staircase up to level B1 and the lower landing of the elevator from 42 Street.
Level B2 is the lowest full level, at its northern end two escalators and a staircase lead down to an entrance to southern corner of the Long Island Rail Road’s Madison Concourse. These entrances provide the fastest connection for the New York City Subway (although there are still two blocks to walk underground before reaching the southernmost bank of escalators down to the mezzanine to actually reach the LIRR platforms). A balcony level, along these stairs and escalators, leads to an elevator with four floors. This elevator’s lowest landing is B3 for the Madison Concourse, followed by this level, before continuing up to level B1, and then street level by the exit doors to 43 Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.
Photos 1-21: September 3, 2023; 22-36: September 5, 2023;
