Grand Central Terminal in the context of "Midtown Manhattan"

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, spanning the entire breadth of Midtown Manhattan, from Turtle Bay at the East River, to Hell's Kitchen at the Hudson River on the West Side. The street has several major landmarks, including (from east to west) the headquarters of the United Nations, the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library Main Branch, Times Square, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The street is known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square, and as such is also the name of the region of the theater district (and, at times, the red-light district) near that intersection. The street also has a section of off-Broadway theaters known as Theatre Row.

A railway platform is an area in a train station alongside a railway track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms.

Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan hosts 44 platforms, more than any other rail station in the world. The world's longest station platform is at Hubballi Junction in India at 1,507 metres (4,944 ft). The Appalachian Trail station or Benson station in the United States, at the other extreme, has a platform which is only long enough for a single bench.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status, and regulating them after designation. It is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation. As of July 1, 2020, the LPC has designated more than 37,800 landmark properties in all five boroughs. Most of these are concentrated in historic districts, although there are over a thousand individual landmarks, as well as numerous interior and scenic landmarks.

Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. first organized a preservation committee in 1961, and the following year, created the LPC. The LPC's power was greatly strengthened after the Landmarks Law was passed in April 1965, one and a half years after the destruction of Pennsylvania Station. The LPC has been involved in several prominent preservation decisions, including that of Grand Central Terminal. By 1990, the LPC was cited by David Dinkins as having preserved New York City's municipal identity and enhanced the market perception of a number of neighborhoods.

The Grand Central Palace was an exhibition hall in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The name was used for two structures, both located on Lexington Avenue near Grand Central Terminal.

The original structure was a six-story structure built in 1893 between 43rd and 44th Streets. It was demolished during the construction of Grand Central Terminal, and a new 13-story structure was constructed between 46th and 47th Streets. The second Grand Central Palace was designed by Grand Central Terminal architects Warren and Wetmore and Reed and Stem in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, and had almost twice as much room as the original structure. The Palace served as New York's main exposition hall from 1911 until 1953, when the exhibition space was replaced by office space for the Internal Revenue Service. The building was demolished starting in 1964. Throughout its history, the Grand Central Palace hosted auto, boat, flower and trade shows, though parts of the Palace were used as office space. The first Palace was also used as a temporary railroad terminal during the construction of Grand Central Terminal in the 1900s.

The Harlem Line is an 82-mile (132 km) commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower 53 miles (85 km) from Grand Central Terminal to Southeast, in Putnam County, is electrified with a third rail and has at least two tracks. The section north of Southeast is a non-electrified single-track line served by diesel locomotives. Before the renaming of the line in 1983, it eventually became the Harlem Division of the New York Central Railroad. The diesel trains usually run as a shuttle on the northern end of the line, except for rush-hour express trains in the peak direction (two to Grand Central in the morning, two from Grand Central in the evening).

With 38 stations, the Harlem Line has the most of any Metro-North main line. Its northern terminal, Wassaic, is the northernmost station in the system. It is the only Metro-North line used exclusively by that carrier (no use by Amtrak, though CSX services freight customers as far north as Mount Vernon) and the only one that uses the entirety of existing track. It is colored blue on Metro-North timetables and system maps, and stations on the line have blue trim. The blue color-coding appears to have started with timetables issued by predecessor New York Central for the then-Harlem Division as far back as 1965.

The New Haven Line is a 72.7 mi (117.0 km) commuter rail line operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. states of New York and Connecticut. Running from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York City, the New Haven Line joins the Harlem Line in Mount Vernon, New York, and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven Line carried 32.07 million passengers in 2024. The busiest intermediate station is Stamford, with 8.4 million passengers, or 21% of the line's ridership.

The line was originally part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, forming the southern leg of the New Haven's main line. It is colored red on Metro-North timetables and system maps, and stations on the line have red trim. The red color-coding is a nod to the red paint used in the New Haven's paint scheme for much of the last decade of its history. The section from Grand Central to the New York–Connecticut border is owned by Metro-North and the section from the state line to New Haven is owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT). From west to east in Connecticut, three branches split off: the New Canaan Branch, Danbury Branch, and Waterbury Branch, all owned by CTDOT.