Federal Gas for Grand Central Terminal

There are so many things Gothamist does not know about our Department of Homeland Security until after the fact. Why they decided to choose a color code for terror levels. Why they haven't included Go Bags with our tax returns. And why they secretly releasing gas into Grand Central Terminal to see "how dangerous chemicals might flow through the landmark in a terrorist attack." Of course, Grand Central was allegedly targeted by the Madrid bombers and the Daily News reports that "nontoxic 'tracer gases' were released" last week to see how the smoke travels and how to plan evacuations. Aside from being kind of frightening in a "God, we know we have to deal with this stuff, but this is also the stuff that gives us ulcers," it actually sounds like a fascinating study, because among the things scientists hope to study was how people flow at differ times affects the path of gases and how ventilation systems might be upgraded to exhaust fumes. Gothamist's two cents: The passage from Grand Central Terminal to Park Avenue and 49th Streets gets very stuffy - watch that - and open up the tunnels to the Waldorf.

Gothamist on Grand Central.