PRESIDENT FDR’s SECRET TRAIN CAR BELOW THE WALDORF ASTORIA Yesterday we posted about the Waldorf Astoria hotel and referenced the secret train car and platform under the Waldorf-Astoria that used to belong to President Franklin D. Roosevelt!! Following requests for more details, here's more info one of our favorite secrets of NYC: We recently obtained access to the secret platform which President FDR used to access a private elevator that would take him directly to the hotel's grand ballroom. The president had polio and was in a wheelchair – this method of entry allowed him to hide his disability from the public. The train car, which still sits on the track, was customized for the president; featuring a suspension system design to prevent lateral motion when the president sat in his wheelchair, an iron-clad bulletproof exterior, and steel plates under the roof that could be lowered and used as a gun turret. The elevator, Track 61, and the train car all remain under the Waldorf and although cannot be accessed to the public, are sometimes visible from trains leaving Grand Central Terminal. #grandcentralhistory #nyctransit #fdr #americanhistory #secretsofny #secretsofnyc #waldorf #waldorfastoria #skyscraper #artdeco #midtown #skyline #nyhistory #hospitalityrealestate #hospitatliy #nyhistory #midtown #parkave #grandcentral #grandcentralterminal #grandcentralhistory #grandcentralrr #nyc #brooklyn #newyorkcity #skyscrapers #architecture #realestate #urbanism #nycurbanism (at Waldorf Astoria New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/B27hsehn3cH/?igshid=vihx230ca3gd
