Nun at the Top of the Stairs

One of my first real jobs in NYC was in Midtown, near Grand Central Station. It was in 1974 and then I lived on the UES, and took the No. 6 train from 77th Street to Grand Central Station each day. The train was not pleasant. At rush hour in the morning, trains came every 45 seconds (I timed them). The crowds were so huge that if a train was delayed, people were backed up out of the station. My daily commute. I loved it!

At Grand Central Station, we all got off and walked in the same direction, to the stairs at the end of the platform. I've tried, so far without success, to find a photograph of those stairs.

The stairs were pretty big and the ceiling was very high, maybe 20 feet. And at the top of the stairs sat a nun. Each day, I assume the same nun but really, who knows. The nun just sat there at the top, sort of in the middle between the upstairs and downstairs sides so she didn't block anyone, facing towards the commuters walking upstairs. And in her lap she had a bowl for donations.

Above her was an arch and it too was very high and she sat at the edge of the stairs right under the arch.

Someone, or someones, somehow, got a large marker or paint brush and right above her on the arch wrote in huge letters:

                                                          BEWARE OF FAKE NUN

with an arrow angling down to where she sat.

So that's what we all saw each day on the way to work.