More locally, the renovated Grand Central symbolizes the strong sense of civic rebirth that has been growing during the past few years, certainly because of prosperity but also because of the energetic administration of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani—cleaner streets, less crime, less obtrusive “homeless” people, no race riots, demagogues mostly quiescent, a sense, not altogether illusory, of greater general politeness. Set against the memory of Pennsylvania Station, the renovation of Grand Central reminds us that a dynamic economy can not only destroy in order to make way for the new, but also preserve what is valuable in the past.
Above all, maybe, here is the eternal hope of art: that by demonstrating excellence, or even merely the good, it will define the bad and encourage its rejection not only in art but, so the ancient belief goes, also in morality and politics. NR
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