The story of an alley almost nobody knowns near Grand Central Terminal

The streets around Grand Central Terminal enjoy high profiles: 42nd Street, Park Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue, the Park Avenue Viaduct. Because they surround a train terminal that sees 750,000 visitors every day, they’re almost always crowded with foot and car traffic.

So what to make of lonely Depew Place, a spit of roadway starting at the dark and dingy back of Grand Central on East 45th Street, and then running alongside Park Avenue next to the terminal before unceremoniously ending in a loading dock a block later?

I’ve often wondered about this slender, little-known street. It seems to have been de-mapped, but the street sign looks new. Was this ever an actual city street before the current Grand Central Terminal opened in 1913—and if so, where did it lead to, and why was it almost entirely eliminated?

Depew Place did begin life as a New York City street, laid out in 1884 on the east side of the old Grand Central Depot (below), according to oldstreets.com. Grand Central Depot opened in 1871 and was demolished in 1899.

According to the above photo, from the New-York Historical Society, Depew Street extended all the way to 42nd Street and was a regular commercial strip. (The photo is undated, but it looks to be in the late 19th century.)

But when plans for the current Beaux-Arts Grand Central Terminal were made in 1905, officials decided that Depew Place would have to close, at least while construction was commencing.

After the new Grand Central Terminal was completed and began serving passengers eight years later, Depew Place’s fate was revealed. (Below, still existing alongside the new Grand Central)

“Under a 1925 perpetual easement to the city, its upper level is now occupied in part by the northbound ramp carrying Park Avenue around the terminal,” states oldstreets.com. “A part also remains as an alley to the post office loading docks on the south side of 45th Street.”

So Depew Place remains, mostly unknown and forgotten, a century later. Oh, and who was Depew?

Chauncey Depew was a U.S. Senator from New York as well as the president of Cornelius Vanderbilt’s New York Central Railroad. Vanderbilt built the original Grand Central Depot, and Depew was apparently an important enough figure to have his name grace an adjacent street.

[Second photo: New-York Historical Society; third and fourth photos: NYPL]

Tags: Alleys of Old New York City, Depew Place Grand Central Terminal, Depew Place History, Depew Place Midtown East, Depew Place NYC, Where Is Depew Place