New York City is full of interesting eateries that have been around for decades, centuries, even! In this collection, we'll give you the inside scoop on where to grab a bite. Here's our guide to New York's historical restaurants.

Trade and banking energized New York in the early 1800s, drawing new businesses and people. Growth fueled prosperity. And prosperity fueled more growth. Railroads were a vital part of this dynamic cycle—both a response to and catalyst for the city’s expansion. This story originally appeared in the Grand by Design virtual exhibition here.

Grand Central Station (as Grand Central Terminal was known between 1900 and its 1913 expansion), January 27, 1901. Grand Central Station included a stop on the city's first subway line. The IRT's inaugural line provided service from City Hall to Grand Central along today's Lexington Avenue Line (4/5/6), with the present-day 42nd Street Shuttle tracks connecting to the west side tracks of the Broadway—Seventh Avenue Line.

A minister straight out of the midwest by way of New York's Union Theological Seminary and East Harlem's Presbyterian church, socialist leader who fought against union corruption, and candidate for office for three decades, Norman Thomas, was a favorite of The Forward newspaper.

The Chrysler Building, the Empire State, 30 Rock, and other skyscrapers adorn the skyline. At street level the solitude of the Public Library, and the glitz of Fifth Avenue. And underground, Grand Central Terminal ushers commuters in and out of the city. Take a walk amongst the sights of Midtown East.

Grand Central Terminal, 1914.

In the closing decades of the 19th century, New York underwent a profound physical and cultural transformation. Fueled by the wealth of the exploding financial and manufacturing sectors, the city rapidly evolved into a world-class metropolis. The bold ambitions of civic and business leaders, architects, and engineers of the era manifested in landmarks such as the vast Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the stately U.S. Custom House, the towering Municipal Building, and the original terminus of New York City’s first official subway line—the ornate City Hall stop. The sweeping interior spaces common to all of these structures, and hundreds of others, depended upon a venerable Mediterranean building technology adapted to contemporary American construction: arched tile ceilings—or vaults—that were not only self-supporting but could also bear the weight of floors or roofs above them. These vaults were designed and built by a single New York firm, founded by Spanish immigrant Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908) and later headed by his son Rafael Jr. (1872-1950). The Guastavinos’ patented system for building domes and vaults involved multiple layers of thin ceramic tiles bonded with quick-drying mortar. The resulting structures were not only exceptionally strong, but also lightweight, easy to build, and inherently beautiful, thanks to intricate patterns of exposed tile that formed finished, decorative surfaces. Guastavino vaults figured prominently in more than 1,000 projects across the nation, including 200 in Manhattan alone. During its 73-year history, the Guastavino Company helped build some of the most impressive interior spaces in America—veritable palaces for the people. This list based on MCNY's exhibition Palaces for the People, contains many of Guastavino's masterpieces in the five boroughs, both those that remain and those that have been lost to the wrecking ball.

John Williams Campbell was born in Brooklyn in 1880 into a well-to-do family. His father was treasurer of the Credit Clearing House, a credit bureau for merchandise wholesalers. At the age of 18, Campbell joined his father at the firm and moved up the ranks, becoming a senior executive seven years later. By the 1920s Campbell was making millions as president of the Credit Clearing House and served on the board of the New York Central Railroad. This story is adapted from a Museum of the City of New York blog, which can be viewed here.

Behind the majestic design and décor of Grand Central Terminal is a triumph of engineering and ingenuity. Grand Central didn’t just do things better than other train terminals. It did them differently. It pioneered new approaches to organizing space. It invented new technologies. And it overcame the daunting challenge of building a vast, durable, efficient train station—much of it buried deep underground—in the bustling center of the nation’s busiest city. More and more people were riding more and more trains. Grand Central needed additional tracks…and efficient ways for passengers to reach those tracks. With little space to spread out, the station dug down. Engineers created a vast underground structure: four tracks in the Park Avenue tunnel and a 123-track train shed designed to support heavy locomotives plus the weight of the buildings overhead. A series of crossovers let trains reach any platform from any track. Inside the station, meanwhile, pedestrian ramps took passengers swiftly from level to level. The design also included a centralized hot water heating system—the largest of its kind at the time—with four miles of pipe serving the station and surrounding buildings.

William Wilgus, New York Central Railroad's largely self-taught chief engineer, was the mastermind behind Grand Central Terminal's innovative engineering technology. With the plan for electrification and the sinking of the railroad tracks below grade, while building the new modern terminal, Wilgus also convinced railroad officials to commercialize the air above the new street-level decking. In leasing the area above the tracks to developers, the Railroad could increase its profits and create a bustling business district that surrounded, supported, and benefited from Grand Central Terminal. Terminal City, as it was called, began to develop even before GCT was complete in 1913. Between 1909 when the Grand Central Post Office opened and the early 1930s when the Depression largely halted construction, the neighborhood boomed with hotels, apartment hotels, private clubs, and office buildings. Many of these structures were designed by Warren & Wetmore, one of the two architectural firms that created Grand Central. Most of the best-known hotels of Terminal City, including the Biltmore, Roosevelt, and the Commodore, were constructed by the mid 1910s, while the office buildings, including the Graybar and New York Central Buildings, were largely completed in the 1920s. This walk does not propose to be a complete list of all Terminal City development. It does not include any post-World War II constructions and it concerns itself ONLY with some of the Terminal City structures that are still extant. Some of the buildings will be easily recognizable, while others, though technically the same structure, bear no resemblance to their former selves. So lace up some comfortable shoes and let's get exploring.

Here at Urban Archive, we often focus our stories on the city streets and the public-facing architecture of the city. However, being stuck inside our apartments has given us a new appreciation of interior so we thought we'd take a look at some of New York's finest interiors over the years. This story looks at the portals by which millions of people have entered and exited New York. These transportation hubs were (and in some cases still are) the first sight many have had of New York.

Blind performers on 42nd Street outside of Grand Central Terminal, undated.

With so many of us staying indoors these days, it is helpful to remember the glories of New York City’s public landscape, past and present. Here are a few examples to remind you of treasured sites we look forward to visiting again, appreciating in person, and sharing with others!

The "Air Lines Knot-Hole Club," pictured here, was "to kibitz the erection of the world's largest airline terminal." The word "kibitz" is Yiddish for "spectator," though particularly one who might offer poor advice. The "knot holes," (perhaps referring to imperfections in wood grain) are viewing holes that allowed inspectors and other curious members of the public to check out what's going on beyond the construction fence. In 2013, an iteration of these "knot holes" became a local law, stating that "every 25 feet, fences must have 12-inch by 12-inch viewing panels." However, the Airlines Terminal Building, completed in 1939, most likely placed them as an advertising gimmick to excite inquisitive New Yorkers.

GRAND CENTRAL DEPOT Railroads brought people, profits…and pollution. Residents complained. So in 1854 the city banned soot-belching steam engines below 42nd Street, keeping them far from New York’s populated heart. Trains arriving from the north unhitched their engines at 42nd and towed passenger cars the last few miles downtown by horse. Despite these restrictions, the Hudson, New Haven, and Harlem Railroads were eager to expand. To coordinate their services (and save money) they agreed to share a new transit hub. With 42nd Street the southern limit for steam engines, it was the logical station location.Grand Central Depot opened in 1871. Three towers represented the three participating railroads. Thirty years later, a new Annex doubled the Depot’s size. But double wasn’t enough. Rail traffic had quadrupled.

The New York Preservation Archive Project is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and celebrating the history of historic preservation in New York City. The Archive Project is devoted to celebrating neglected narratives of New York historic preservation using the archives that hold these stories. This collection includes a selection of historic sites that became flashpoints of the city's preservation movement(s). For more information, visit: www.nypap.org/phd-category/places/

Grand Central Terminal Interior. For the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station, Guastavino Jr. devised a series of vaults of cream-colored tile to create a space that was both intimate and expansive. The vaults endured the ultimate test in 1997 when a fire ravaged the popular restaurant. Thousands of tiles delaminated from the ceiling and had to be replaced, but engineers cited the results of the Guastavino Company’s fire tests of a century earlier to prove that the basic structure was still sound. The bar reopened only 12 weeks after the fire.

Grand Central Terminal, ca. 1975. Here is a case in which distinguished architecture and a brilliant engineering solution were wedded to produce one of the fabulous railroad terminals of our times. Grand Central was always a place one was proud to show to out-of -town visitors until the mean clutter of shops and splays ruined its once magnificent interior scale. Nonetheless, the exterior windows, with their great expanses of glass and steel, represent the best of Parisian Beaux Arts Architecture.

Between 1954 and 1957, the Municipal Art Society surveyed historic buildings in all five boroughs to create a database of potential landmarks to preserve. Local residents and MAS staff compiled individual sheets devoted to about 200 buildings. Each sheet outlined the building’s date, location, and style and provided a description and a small photograph. This is the list of Manhattan buildings.

Grand Central Terminal, Park Avenue Viaduct and the Grand Central station of the Third Avenue El, 1920.

We delve deep into the ghost stories, murder plots, and haunted location lists to bring you the most thorough collection of New York City's spookiest spots! Check out the historic photographs of the city's most haunted sites, from Psycho-esque mansions to abandoned lunatic asylums. How many have you visited? Proceed at your own risk!💀💀💀

15 Vanderbilt Avenue ca. 1923 John Campbell leased 15 Vanderbilt Avenue (known widely as the Campbell Apartment) from William Kissam Vanderbilt in the same year that this photo was taken: 1923. Campbell, a member of the New York Central's board of directors wanted an opulent office, and he got one. Located at the southwest corner of Grand Central, it was at 3,500 square feet, the largest ground floor office space in Manhattan. Nor was Campbell content with size alone, he hired architect Augustus Allen to decorate the space. Allen, known for his luxury architecture, had worked for many a robber baron before and knew his way around opulence. He reimagined the room inspired by 13th-century Florentine architecture. Allen added leaded windows, wood detailing, and hand-painted ceilings. The centerpiece of the office was an enormous faux fireplace. Nor was the apartment reserved for business, Campell would hold music recitals and other social events in it as well. It is said that the Persian rug he installed was worth 300,000$ at the time. Upon Campbell's death in 1957, the apartment was used for less glamorous activities. Initially used as signalman's office, the Metro-North Commuter Railroad police took ownership of the space. Under them, it served a number of functions, including gun storage and office space. At one point, the wine cellars were even used as a prison. Needless to say, the space was well worn and like much of the city in rather shabby shape. In 1999, however, it was given a new use: a luxurious cocktail bar. Several costly renovations in the past decades have restored it to its former glory and is now a bar called The Campbell.

There’s no place like Grand Central. The sheer scale and elegance of the main concourse transforms the daily commute into a complex choreography as commuters and tourists negotiate through the hallways, overheard conversations turn into mysterious plots of other people’s dramas, and what can be mundane becomes a unique experience. Grand Central has seen a steady tide of humanity for the past 100 years, becoming a beloved New York landmark.

The Public Design Commission (PDC) was established as the Municipal Art Commission by the New York City Charter in 1898 (following the consolidation of NYC). The Commission was tasked with the oversight of all public artworks and monuments, but its purview quickly expanded to include public structures and open spaces. Renamed in 2008, the PDC reviews the design of permanent works of architecture, landscape architecture, and art proposed on or over City-owned property. Projects are submitted by City agencies and include the construction, renovation, or restoration of buildings; the creation or rehabilitation of parks, playgrounds, and plazas; installation of lighting and other streetscape elements; signage; and the installation and conservation of artwork, including monuments and memorials. The Commission also acts as caretaker and curator of the City’s public art collection, which is located throughout the city’s public buildings and open spaces, and maintains an extensive archive documenting the history of New York City's public works. The PDC Archive maintains a collection of projects reviewed by the Commission since 1902, documenting more than 7,000 sites throughout New York City and providing a unique view into the history of the City’s public works. The designs that have been reviewed by the PDC throughout its over 120-year history are representative of the policies and focus of Mayoral administrations while simultaneously following historical trends in public design, public health, and artistic and cultural movements in the city and country at large. The following examples illustrate the breadth of projects under the PDC's purview, from large scale developments to streetscape fixtures that often go unnoticed. For an in-depth history of the Public Design Commission, see Michele H. Bogart’s book, "The Politics of Urban Beauty."

In the late 1930s and 1940s, a plane ticket from New York to Europe cost the equivalent of five-thousand dollars. Airfare was a privilege of the wealthy and the Airline Terminal Building was built to accommodate them. The Airline Terminal Building saw its cornerstone laid by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia on April 22nd, 1940. The building served multiple airline companies, including American, Eastern TWA, United, and PanAm. The terminal provided a convenient Midtown hub for passengers to purchase tickets, have their bags checked, dine, and watch the news in a 600-seat theater before being transported by bus to the airport to catch their flight. The building opened on January 26, 1941, ferrying passengers to the New York Municipal Airport. Initially, it brought passengers to Newark, which the same year, as well as Idlewild when it opened seven years later. This sleek, 5-story Art Deco structure was designed by architect John Peterkin in what was then called the modern-classical style. Its stark, symmetric facade faced Grand Central across 42nd Street. Above the door of the building was a mural depicting a map of the planet, projecting its role as was the gateway to the world. Inside, a blue dome raised over gold painted walls, offering an atmosphere that was reminiscent of "Arabian Nights," according to the New York Times. However, after Newark and Idlewild airports opened, buses pulling traffic through grid-locked Midtown stopped seeming like an amenity. A sister terminal opened on First Avenue between 37th and 38th street near the Midtown-Queens tunnel in 1954. The original Airline Terminal Building began to just offer ticketing services. Declining in value and usage, the terminal was shuttered in 1978 to make way for a corporate headquarters.

In the late 1930s and 1940s, a plane ticket from New York to Europe cost the equivalent of five-thousand dollars. Airfare was a privilege of the wealthy and the Airline Terminal Building was built to accommodate them.