Grand ol’ time at Grand Central

In the 15 years that I’ve lived in New York City, I’ve walked through Grand Central Terminal countless times, but until one recent Saturday, I’ve never once been directed to find a spot in the station by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eternally chic “ghost.”

That’s what’s going on at the new Grand Central Scavenger Hunt, which features a Jackie O impersonator appearing on a smartphone video to give teams their clues. Museum Hack — a group that gives gonzo tours of NYC institutions, including a romp through the Met’s nudes — is behind the Grand Central search. (We also get an oldschool clipboard, which has lists with more clues.)

We begin at the station’s arching Graybar Passage and receive our assignment: saving Grand Central Terminal from a greedy NYC developer who wants to tear it down. If that sounds like real news, it is — from an incident in 1975, when the city was planning to demolish the elegant Beaux Arts building and replace it with an office tower.

The former first lady, a New York resident, would have none of it, making saving the historic building her passion project.

“Jackie Kennedy, she’s the s -- t!” one of two enthusiastic Museum Hack guides — a self-described “Agent of Jackie” — shouts to punctuate this tale, before inviting us in for a huddle.

The 90-minute hunt ($40 per person), involves trekking through the crowds to look for various clues. Jackie’s agent splits us up into five small teams, then hands out printed “dossiers” full of prompts, along with a few sealed envelopes. The clues direct us to various places in the terminal, yielding words to fill into a code which then translates into a word or phrase.

Ultimately, the clues reveal our final destination within Grand Central, where we rendezvous with the guide and find out whether we won the race and the prize: a set of subway-themed shot glasses.

Some of the answers to the clues, like the Oyster Bar, will be pretty obvious to New Yorkers,

while others — noting a specific track number, for instance, or writing down the station agent’s name — require legwork. For extra points, we’re encouraged to make videos and take photos, using cameras we are loaned.

For me, the best part of the experience isn’t the trivia or the promise of a prize — but the time and incentive to see the 19th-century station for what it is: a vast and amazing architectural feat.

Grand Central Terminal, 89 E. 42nd St. The next Grand Central Scavenger Hunts are on Saturday and March 17 and 24. Details at MuseumHack.com

— Rachelle Bergstein