Grand Central Madison welcomes new vendors, as MTA dismisses 'master' tenant concept

The MTA announced several new food vendors Tuesday, joining Grand Central Madison Station including Jacques Torres Chocolate. Credit: Ed Quinn
The MTA said it is no longer accepting bids for a master tenant to oversee 25,000 square feet of retail space in Grand Central Madison and will only entertain individual proposals for the two-year-old terminal.
The news was announced as MTA officials welcomed two new shops in Grand Central Terminal Tuesday — Melba’s, an American comfort-food restaurant based in Harlem, and Naya, a Middle Eastern restaurant with multiple New York City locations.
In April, the MTA announced it put out to bid a contract for a "master lessee" for Grand Central Madison, the 700,000-square foot LIRR terminal that opened in January 2023.
The master tenant would have overseen 32 units in the station, which spans five city blocks below Vanderbilt Avenue on Manhattan’s East Side.
But on Tuesday, Metro-North Railroad president Catherine Rinaldi said that the organization "had to go in a different direction" and are now accepting individual retail proposals with submissions due in March.
A panel will review the responses and make decisions, she said.
The two businesses announced Tuesday joined 14 new ones that have established Grand Central Terminal locations this year alone. As of now, 90% of the MTA retail spaces in Manhattan are filled, said Shanifah Rieara, MTA chief customer officer. But that number may also include some shops at Penn Station.
The shops include Playa Bowls, Van Leeuwen, Slate Point Meadery a Taste of New York store, Joey Bats Cafe, woman's clothing store Dry Martini Clothing, toy store Two Kids and a Dog, men's clothing store Charles Tyrwhitt, Sabatino, MPR Jewelry, Parisian-style restaurant Grand Brasserie, and artisan jewelers Selen Design, Karen Curtis, and Fego Gioielli Jewelry.
Melba’s, known for signature dishes like chicken and eggnog waffle, catfish and barbecue short braised rib, opened its Grand Central Terminal dining hall store on Monday.
"Being born, bread and buttered right here in the village of New York, there's no better place than home," owner Melba Wilson said, adding that it is the restaurant's 20th anniversary.
Naya opened in December, an MTA spokesperson said.
Damselfly Flowers, a Connecticut-based business that offers artisanal bouquets in commuter friendly packaging, also opened its Penn Station express shop on Monday. The business has operated in Grand Central for the past four years.
It also has locations at Moynihan Train Hall, Chelsea Market, Oculus at World Trade Center, and full service storefronts in Westchester County and Connecticut, its website said.
"There's so many people who walk through for so many different reasons, so many different people come to us every single day to buy flowers," owner Brenda LaManna said.
With Alfonso A. Castillo

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