No Grand Central Apple Store? Good.

I must have missed something a while back, because the news over the weekend about there no longer being plans for a Grand Central Station Apple Store took me completely by surprise. It wasn’t the fact that it wasn’t happening that surprised me, but that they were actually thinking at some point that it might be a good idea. I mean, I could understand if they were talking prominent placement in the MetLife building, or somewhere off the lobby, but apparently the plans involved taking over the balconies surrounding the main terminal.

Sure, it would have been nice to get reliable WiFi while you wait for your train, but could you imagine the spectacle on the day of the release of a major apple product? I’m imagining a line stretching down the stairs, into the rush hour crowd, frustrated by how they can’t get across the room to the trains they’re trying to catch. It would be like starting an open-air store in the middle of Times Square. Introducing the chaos of a high-demand retail outlet into one of the busiest public transportation centers in the world seems like it should have been unappealing from day one.

Thankfully, my horror was over before it could really begin. I understand the desire of Grand Central to make use of its space in a more prominent way than the handful of restaurants tucked into its corners, but I hope they think up a better solution than Apple. At the same time, if Apple is looking to build a monster of a store in the city, I doubt this is the last we’ll hear about a large-scale Midtown location. Maybe I spoke too soon about Times Square after all...

- James T. Tynion IV