They did at least until the 1870s, when this grainy photo was taken—showing a couple of bovines relaxing in a pasture at Lexington Avenue and 45th Street.
That’s a stone’s throw from Grand Central Terminal’s train shed, which was built at Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue) in the 40s, according to New York: An Illustrated History.
“In the distance looms the northern end of the vast iron-and-glass train shed of Grand Central Depot,” the photo caption reads.
That train shed and the adjacent station were replaced by the Beaux-Arts Grand Central Terminal that still stands today.
Here’s more farm animals grazing and chilling in New York.
Ephemeral New York 