New York plans to cool subway platforms using thermal energy

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the MTA announced a partnership to study a Thermal Energy Network at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and Chambers Street station complex in Lower Manhattan. If implemented, it would become the first such network in a U.S. transit system.

“For years, New Yorkers have suffered through sweltering summer heat on subway platforms, with seemingly no hope for a cooler ride in sight,” Hochul said. “We are harnessing cutting-edge climate technology for a truly cool purpose: making our subway stations tolerable during the summer and heating critical city buildings during the winter.”

Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall is among the hottest stations in the subway system, with average temperatures reaching 96 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 36 degrees Celsius, during summer 2025.

Under the proposal, radiant cooling technology would absorb heat from subway platforms and transfer it through pipes to geothermal boreholes beneath the abandoned center platform at Chambers Street. The stored heat could then be used to warm nearby municipal buildings during colder months.

The feasibility study contract is expected to be awarded this fall. If geothermal technology proves feasible, design work is scheduled to begin in early 2027.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that scorching heat was expected to grip several regions of Kazakhstan on August 10, with temperatures rising as high as 43 degrees Celsius.