Towns and Nature: New York, NY: 1904 ConEd 59th Street/IRT Powerhouse

Friday, September 9, 2022

New York, NY: 1904 ConEd 59th Street/IRT Powerhouse

This facility is was the IRT Powerhouse and became the Con Ed 59th Street Station in 1959.

"The original New York City Subway line was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and opened in 1904. This underground transit system required high levels of electrical power and necessitated the building of a huge power generation station....To power the subway system, it used up to 1,000 tons per day of Hudson River-delivered coal and generated 132,000 horsepower. At the time, it was hailed by an electrician trade magazine as the largest steam-driven power plant in the world. The IRT Powerhouse powered the subway until 1959, when it was sold to Consolidated Edison. Con Ed today uses the plant to generate steam that is used for heating, cooling, and sterilization in large city buildings that include the Empire State Building and the United Nations....The building, designed by a renowned architectural firm that also designed the old Penn Station, has ornate French-Renaissance-style facades made of Roman brick, terra-cotta, and pink granite." [BelluckFox]

New York History posted

The IRT Powerhouse (Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse) is a former power station of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, New York (1904)

In 1904, the IRT Powerhouse began supplying electricity to New York’s new subway system, the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT). This massive Beaux-Arts structure on the west side of Manhattan was critical to the functioning of the city’s first subway lines. Its towering smokestacks and grand facade reflected the industrial might of the era. The Powerhouse played a pivotal role in powering New York’s transformation into a modern metropolis, providing the energy needed to move millions of passengers through the growing subway network.

Brett Wanamaker shared

Street View of the west side

Like the 1902 ConEd 74th Street Station, this plant no longer generates electricity. But it does have the boiler capacity of 2*805+3*180 MMBtu/hr [ny.gov] to help supply steam for ConEd's steam distribution system, the largest and most extensive in the USA.

Street View of the east side

Street View of the north side

EphermeralNewYork
[This article concentrates on the architecture of the building and has several more images.]
"Instead of electricity, the power plant now creates steam for Manhattan buildings. It’s also an official landmark as of 2017, 'a monument to the engineers and architects who planned and built New York City’s first successful subway system,' per the LPC."

GreatPowerhouse via NYtimes
Ron Rayher posted

When NYC’s first subway opened in 1904 it needed to be powered.

Built at W 59th St a d 11th Avenue. It was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White Architects in a ‘Renaissance Revival’ style and was described as a classical temple paying homage to modern industry.

The six chimneys were designed to reflect the smokestacks of nearby steamships moored alongside the piers of Hudson River. By the 1950s the subway system had no further need of the powerhouse and since that time Consolidated Edison has been using the space to supply New York City with steam.

Photo 1904 courtesy Museum City of NY.

Brett Wanamaker shared