Underneath

That handsome building, which still exists, but not in that form, is the post office adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. When train travel was the main form of long-distance travel, every major railroad terminal (and quite a few minor stations) had post offices nearby, because the mail was delivered from one city to another by train. The General Post Office for New York is adjacent to Penn Station, making this post office small and secondary by comparison. The more ornate part on the right is the original building, the part on the left is an annex built almost simultaneously as office space and eventually used for as operations expansion space.

Grand Central has a huge train yard, covering pretty much everything for the two long blocks from Lexington to Madison Avenues and from 43rd Street to 50th Street. So here’s a view of what would be the Post Office’s basement if it had a basement:

Who doesn’t like having an electric train set in the basement?

In the 1990s, the building was modified. The facades seen above remain, but an office tower was conducted up through the middle of the site. Fortunately, the adjacent streets are narrow, and if you don’t look up you still see just the old post office.