Mamdani, MTA Look to Proptech Solutions to Cool Subways and Heat Buildings

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are considering high tech options to transfer heat out of subway stations and into the buildings above, in what would likely be a complicated and pricey infrastructure project.

Still, city officials and the MTA believe it could be worth it to provide straphangers with a more comfortable wait on platforms, by using the heat generated below to cut energy to commercial and residential buildings above ground.

“We are exploring a lot of possible options to make stations more comfortable,” MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said during a Monday press conference in the Chambers Street Station on the J and Z lines. “We’re looking into innovative energy networks called TENs and the geothermal concepts that will allow us to capture, store and then transfer the excessive heat in a subway station so that it can be used come the winter to heat the buildings upstairs.”

While the technology has never been used in coordination with a transit system before, some buildings in New York City gather heat from below ground through geothermal technology, including  St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown and 555 Greenwich Street in Hudson Square.

It is most widely used in Canada and Europe, according to Lieber, and proptech companies have been showcasing the use of geothermal piles as building infrastructure for several years now.

It’s unclear what exactly the technology would look like on a grand scale or how many buildings it would serve, but city officials such as New York City Comptroller Mark Levine believe it could get complicated between city, state and private stakeholders.

But it could be expanded to cultivate heat from grocery store refrigerators and small data centers scattered across the five boroughs.

Mamdani name-dropped several city-owned buildings on Monday, such as City Hall, the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building or the Tweed Courthouse.

“To do so, we would capture heat in bore holes that would run 500 to 600 feet underground and install a system of circulating pumps and pipes that will use the heat from below the surface to warm the office where our municipal workers are hard at work powering this city,” Mamdani said.

One aspect of cooling stations that Lieber says is out of the question, however, is through air conditioning. Stations are not enclosed from street entrances, vents or grates, and the cool air would escape down the tunnels.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.