100th Birthday Celebration, Grand Central Style

A birthday or anniversary is always a good cause for celebration in your location. Last Friday February 1, Grand Central Station in New York City celebrated it’s BIG 100th Birthday.

The full day of festivities included a rededication ceremony, special promotions, speakers and lots of performances. The celebration was a combination of local and vintage elements.

• Key Ceremony, part of the morning’s main event, was with the Vanderbilt Family, the original builders and owners of the station.
• Local speakers included Cynthia Nixon (NYC resident and former Sex & the City actress), Caroline Kennedy, Melissa Manchester (my baby takes the mornin’ train ;) ) and NY Mets’ Keith Hernandez.
• Local performances included The Celia Cruz Bronx High School Choir, Knicks City Dancers, State, Island’s Susan E. Wagner High School Jazz Band.
• The opening of a 6-week-long multimedia installation about Grand Central’s 100 years.
• 1913 pricing from many station restaurants and shops, which seemed to be many people’s favorite part of the day.

The 1913 pricing promotions, many drawing HUGE lines, included…

• 19¢ ea. shrimp, 13¢ ea. mussels, 13¢ ea. clams at Pescatore
• 10¢ for a side of french fries at Tri Tip Grill *From 11am-3pm
• 5¢ small drip hot coffee at Financier Patisserie *Starting at 12 pm. Limit one per customer
• 10¢ shoe shine at Leather Spa
• 10¢ nylon watch straps from Central Watch *Limited to first 500 customers. Limit one per customer
• 25¢ piece of Legendary Fudge at Li-Lac Chocolates *Limit one per customer
• 19¢ slice of cheesecake at the Oyster Bar & Restaurant *Dine-in only
• 10¢ for bambini scoop of gelato or sorbet at Ciao Bella *Limit one per customer
• $2 for 100% silk scarves (unisex) at TOTO
• 6¢ loaf of rye bread at Zaro’s Bakery * Shuttle Passage and Grand Central Market locations only. Limit one per customer
• 75¢ Adirondack cocktail at Michael Jordan’s The Steak House N.Y.C.
• 5¢ 1lb box of pasta with purchase of a Ceriello Sauce at Ceriello Fine Foods *until 4pm

In the station several times throughout the day, it was SUPER busy, even more so than usual.

You may not be turning 100, but there are some great ideas here you could incorporate to make your birthday or anniversary celebration local and traffic driving.