Grand Central’s regal Vanderbilt Hall, she of the “faux Caen stone walls, the Tennessee Pink Marble floors, the white Bottocino marble wainscoting,” according to Metro-North, will close tomorrow for seven months as it undergoes a thorough scrubbing.

(Vanderbilt Hall is the big square room you see when you enter GCT from 42nd; depending on the time of year, it may be hosting a squash tournament, a Christmas fair, or giant Scots tossing logs for Tartan Week.)

“Metro-North is committed to the good stewardship of one of New York City’s most revered buildings.  It is a responsibility Metro-North does not take lightly and we will not allow Grand Central to slip into the disrepair of the past,” said Metro-North President Peter Cannito of the $3.6 million job. 

Commuters’ routines should not be affected over the course of the next seven months. According to Metro-North, “a painted, fireproofed plywood tunnel will be built across the room from the doors on 42nd Street” to the Main Concourse.

From Bottocino marble wainscoting to painted plywood. Ouch.