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The opening of a new terminal at New York’s Grand Central Station last week was marred after a stone plaque quoting artist Georgia O’Keeffe was found to have misspelled her name.
City officials who oversaw the massively delayed construction of the LIRR terminal have apologized for the mistake and assured New Yorkers that a new plaque is in the works.
“You can’t paint New York as it is, but as it feels,” read the plaque, which attributed the 1928 quote not to O’Keeffe but to ‘O’Keefe’.
The Long Island Rail Road terminus finally opened last Wednesday after more than a decade of delays and a total cost of about $11 billion, more than triple initial forecasts. It became the most expensive rail project in the world, per track mile installed.
The opening of a new terminal at Grand Central Station was marred after a stone plaque with a typo misspelling the name of artist Georgia O’Keeffe was revealed. O’Keeffe is spelled with two F’s, not one
O’Keeffe was an American painter famous for creating close-up depictions of flowers and Manhattan landscapes.
“Clearly we screwed this up and they’re fixing it,” said Tim Minton, an MTA spokesman. Bloomberg.
O’Keeffe was an American painter famous for creating close-up depictions of flowers and skyscapes in Manhattan. The plaque at Grand Central notes below the quote that he made himself in “reaction to criticism of his series of skyscraper paintings.”
The New Mexico-based Georgia O’Keeffe museum, where she eventually died in 1986, was quick to point out the mishap, sharing news about the misspelling on Instagram, saying, “Don’t take spell check for granite!”
The artist’s quote is etched into a marble wall in the new terminal, along with other quotes from New York City greats, including Toni Morrison and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The opening on January 25 was attended by Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber. On the day a train began its maiden journey to the new terminal from Queens, it stopped 21 minutes later at Grand Central on Manhattan’s east side.
Historically, the Long Island Rail Road train did not stop until Pennsylvania Station on the west side.
Initially, service to the new terminal, officially named Grand Central Madison, will only be available from the Jamaica LIRR station in Queens, with trains coming and going every half hour. Full service to Long Island will not be implemented for at least three weeks, officials said.
Construction of the tunnel providing access to the East Side began in 2001 and the project was initially estimated to be completed in 2009.
Construction of the tunnel providing access to the East Side began in 2001 and the project was initially estimated to be completed in 2009.
The new terminal attached to New York’s Grand Central Station (pictured) failed the spell check. The new terminal, officially named Grand Central Madison, will initially only have service from the Jamaica LIRR station in Queens.
Construction of the East Side Access project began in 2001 and was initially estimated to be completed in 2009. Hochul celebrated the occasion last week, having previously promised to take place in December.
“This has been a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement,” he said during a news conference that day. “There were so many obstacles, challenges and detours along the way,” she added, acknowledging the ten-year delay.
“I’m literally talking about something that started under eight of my predecessor governors,” he added. “People lived and died without seeing this come to fruition, until now, until this very moment.”
The tracks, which connect to the tunnels under the East River, were started in the 1960s but remained unfinished for decades, according to the New York Times.
Edward Hand, 66, of Brentwood on Long Island, attended the opening last week. ‘I’m excited to ride the train. I have always been a train buff,” he told the Times. “But as I’ve always said, it was proposed 50 years ago and it’s 50 years overdue.”