(rshsdepot) Second eagle is at Grand Central Terminal

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

Eagle comes home to roost atop Grand Central 
By CAREN HALBFINGER 
THE JOURNAL NEWS 
(Original publication: April 29, 2004) 

NEW YORK ? A brown bald eagle now stands sentry outside the southwest entrance to Grand Central Terminal. 

Unlike the uniformed National Guard troops or police officers who patrol inside the 1913 landmark building, this eagle won't move from its post. 

"I like how it looks," said Jed Richardson, 70, a retired teacher from Hartsdale, who looked up toward the Chrysler Building and noticed the bird facing south, its white head pointing to an array of American flags waving in the breeze. 

Frank Ritter, a photographer from Poughkeepsie, shot pictures of the eagle yesterday at noon, and thought it looked great with the terminal as its backdrop. 

"I like it with the columns behind it," Ritter said. "It's very strong. This time of day, you can see the light bouncing off the top of its wings." 

At 5 a.m. yesterday, this two-ton, cast-iron statue was set into place on a granite base above the intersection of Vanderbilt Avenue and 42nd Street, on the Park Avenue viaduct. In a way, it was a homecoming nearly a century in the making for the big bird. 

The eagle's first roost was an aerie near the top of Grand Central Station, the railroad depot that preceded the terminal and was torn down in 1910 to make way for the Beaux Arts beauty. The eagle was one of at least 10 that perched atop the towers on the roof of the station. After the building was demolished, the flock scattered, finding new perches on estates and in back yards on Long Island, Westchester and Putnam counties. One is at the Philipse Manor train station in Sleepy Hollow. 

A gift to Metro-North Railroad from the Capuchin Seminary, this eagle had graced the Garrison estate of former U.S. Rep. Hamilton Fish, which the seminary bought. After the railroad acquired it in 2001, Metro-North restored the eagle and then let it languish in the Croton-Harmon railroad yard for more than two years. 

"We hope this decorative link to our past will be enjoyed by all who see it for years to come," Metro-North President Peter Cannito said in a written statement. 

Although the eagle stands alone, another member of the original flock is perched above the Market entrance to Grand Central, on Lexington Avenue at 43rd Street. It was installed in 1997. 

The railroad and its parent company, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, first wanted to place the eagle indoors on the balcony at Michael Jordan's Steak House. But its 12-foot wingspan would have taken up too much space, so that idea fizzled. 

Eagle aficionado David Morrison, a Plainview, N.Y., resident who has catalogued the whereabouts of the remaining eagles, suggested it go to the National Zoo, which begged off. Then he seized on Yonkers, the city where he grew up, as a fitting home. 

"I don't think it belongs at Grand Central," Morrison said. "So be it.'' 

Yonkers city officials were eager to accept the statue, and hoped to place it at the train station near the waterfront, which is being revitalized. But those efforts were politely rebuffed by the railroad. 

"I'm glad they put it here because the waterfront is lagging," said Al D'Angelo, 45, a banker from Yonkers who saw the statue yesterday for the first time. "It looks very nice." 



Send e-mail to Caren Halbfinger 
 
 


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #904
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org