Thu 30 Jul 2009
Commercialism Still Kicking Convenience’s Ass
Posted by TJ under Big Board, Grand Central
1 Comment
As I’d reported late last week, Grand Central continues to offer a directory of shops on the front of a kiosk as soon as you walk in through the main Park Avenue doors–not the Departures screen that had been there for years and years.
The Departures screen can be found on one of the kiosk’s side panels, meaning you can no longer really pick up your track number while walking past. Instead, you’ve got to stand on the side of the kiosk to read it, which means people streaming past en route to their train have to walk around you.
Should you need to know where to pick up a world-class cheesecake, however, or some high-end shaving gear, well, the list of shops has the prime spot on the board.
I called Metro-North about it, because those are the lengths I go to for you, dear readers. A spokesperson knew the kiosk in question, but did not know why the list of shops now occupies the space where the departures board used to.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” said the spokesperson, who said our dear friend Dan Brucker will call us back.
Of course, one can always glimpse the departures board electronically, or acquire any number of Metro-North-themed iPhone apps.
But it’s also nice to have the info right in front of you in the station.
