Friday, October 31, 2025 – HAVE AN HOUR TO KILL, TAKE IN A MOVIE IN GRAND CENTRAL

By admin

Did You Know
There Was a Movie Theatre in
Grand Central for 30 Years?

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2025

6SQFT

&

UNTAPPED NEW YORK

Issue #1565

Grand Central Terminal is one of New York City’s most beloved landmarks, and over the years this historic transportation hub has stood the test of time. While the majority of the structure has remained intact, the businesses inside the station have seen their fair share of changes since first opening in 1871. But one of the station’s more notable and less widely known tenants includes a special movie theatre designed specifically for travelers. 

The Grand Central Theatre first opened in 1937, and showed short films curated specifically for commuters including news reels, documentaries and cartoons. The theatre housed approximately 242 seats and operated for three decades before being gutted and replaced by a retail location. It is now home to the Grande Harvest Wine shop located next to Track 17. The space was also previously occupied by a photo shop.

Installed inside the theater was an early version of stadium-style seating, as well as an illuminated clock that clearly displayed the time for busy travelers. The rear of the theatre was kept clear to allow for standing room, and also had a small bar for patrons looking to wet their whistle while they waited

FROM UNTAPPED NEW YORK

Grand Central Terminal once had a movie theater and remnants of it can be seen in the train hub today. Grand Central Theatre, which opened in 1937 (possibly earlier), showed newsreels, shorts, and cartoons. The 242-seat theater operated for three decades and then was gutted for retail. Today it’s Central Cellars wine shop next to Track 17. Previous tenants were the Grande Harvest Wine store and a photo shop. Renovations to the terminal in the 1990s revealed the ceiling, that stylistically matches the one in the main terminal, along with other historical details and ornamentations.

The first film to screen at the theater was the MGM film Servant of the People: The Story of the Constitution of the United States–one supposes Americans were a little more high-brow back then. According to the website, I Ride the Harlem Line, the theater was advertised as the “most intimate theatre in America” and was open every day until midnight.

Another fun tidbit is that the theater was designed by Tony Sarg, the same person who created the first balloons for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, including Felix the Cat! According to Johnny, a knowledgable employee at Central Cellars, Sarg was also running this movie theater and using all of his creative earnings to support it. “You might call him America’s first lifestyle guru,” Johnny told us in an interview. “He did covers for the Saturday Evening Post. He invented the balloons for Macy’s Parade…He did textile patterns and place settings…he was a marionette builder.”

Johnny believes the theater extended into what is now Grand Central Market, and that the area where the wine shop is now was both a bar and a place to screen newsreels. You can still find the projection box in the wine store today. “It’s not the HVAC system,” he told us. The mural is likely the last remaining from the movie theater, but there would have originally been more. “He caught the color perfectly,” Johnny describes, comparing it to Grand Central’s main terminal ceiling, but adds “It’s not intended to be the same as it is out there. It’s kind of like a fantasy space scene.”

Image via The Harlem Line

Renovations that took place in the 1990s revealed a ceiling mural similar to the one found in the main terminal. The mural was painted by artist Tony Sarg, who’s also responsible for designing the very first balloon ever to be included in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. In addition to the starry adornments, Sarg also painted illustrated maps, that, according to the Times, had no political significance.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM ROCKEFELLER CENTER

Credits

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UNTAPPED NEW YORK

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