Bringing Ft. Lauderdale to Winter-Weary New Yorkers

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau sure knows how to get attention: they turned part of New York City's Grand Central Terminal into a beach paradise on Tuesday, with hopes of encouraging New Yorkers to ditch the Polar Vortex and get with the "Sunny Vortex."

Live music, cabanas, fake palm trees, giant sunglasses, solar-powered charging stations for mobile devices, and men and women in bathing suits greeted the half-million commuters in Grand Central's Vanderbilt Hall. Those scurrying from trains and to work also saw streaming, live images from Fort Lauderdale's crystalline beaches, free and heated pedi-cab rides, friendly JetBlue flight attendants (the airline partnered with the CVB), and free trips to the Sunshine State.

Called "Hello Sunny," the event will move to JFK airport tomorrow for a week, before heading to Chicago and Washington, D.C. See more pictures of Grand Central on the following pages.