Grand Central has its own set of resident rats, and thankfully they are the sculptural kind. An homage to New York City’s nautical history, the cast iron rat sculptures at Grand Central are located above the entrance to the Graybar Building on Lexington Avenue. I have passed by these sculptures many times before noticing them, and now, just like the cast iron eagle sculptures that perch above Grand Central, they are among my favorite things about the Terminal.
The rat sculptures at Grand Central pay homage to New York City’s nautical history and are a unique architectural feature of the Graybar Building. The sculptures depict rats trying to climb mooring lines, sharp conical baffles on the mooring lines of ships, which were intended to discourage rats from climbing aboard.
Cast Iron Rat Sculptures
The Graybar Building, located at 420 Lexington Avenue and 43rd Street in New York City, has three cast-metal rat sculptures climbing the cables holding the canopy over the building’s entrance.
These sculptures of rats at the entrance to Grand Central were created by sculptor Greg Wyatt and were installed on the building in 1981 as part of a renovation project. The rats are depicted climbing the anchor ropes on a ship, a nod to New York City’s maritime history. The sculptures are made of cast bronze and are incredibly detailed and lifelike, especially given all the rats that have overtaken NYC in recent years.
What is really interesting though is that although there are conical structures preventing the rats from getting in, the top design is actually made up of heads of rats making it look like they managed to make it past all the barriers after all!
It truly is an urban jungle in New York City with all the rats and the eagles at Grand Central.
