The Steam Beneath New York
When I saw steam rising from a New York pavement, I immediately thought of Marilyn Monroe. 😄
Not because there was a white dress involved.
Thankfully.
Just the steam.
In The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn famously stands over a subway grate while air blows her dress upward.
New York, it seems, has been doing something similar for a very long time.
Except this time, New York itself seemed to be steaming.
People were simply walking through it.
Nobody seemed particularly surprised.
I, on the other hand, was wondering:
What exactly is happening underneath us? 😄
The answer turned out to be fascinating.
Beneath Manhattan is a huge underground steam network. More than 100 miles of pipes. Carrying steam to buildings for heating, hot water, air-conditioning and other uses.
And this isn’t a recent invention.
The New York Steam Company began supplying steam in 1882.
Think about that.
1882.
New York was already sending steam underground at a time when the modern city was still taking shape.
In fact, the steam system began operating six months before Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street electric station started supplying electricity.
I was beginning to feel rather small.
I had been looking at steam coming out of the pavement.
Someone in 1882 had looked at a growing city and thought:
“Why don’t we make the steam centrally and send it underground?”
Now that’s thinking BIG. 😄
And here’s the remarkable part.
Today, Con Edison operates the system, which serves more than three million New Yorkers and remains the largest district steam system in the United States.
So this isn’t simply an old idea sitting underground.
It’s still working.
Those strange orange-and-white steam stacks help direct steam safely upward when a controllable leak or underground water leak is being dealt with.
It made me think about the people who first imagined all this.
They weren’t just laying pipes.
They were imagining how a future city could work.
And perhaps that’s what impressed me most.
New York doesn’t only have history above ground.
Some of its history is still working underneath our feet.
And every now and then…
it comes up for air. 😄
Y’know I’ve been seeing those scenes in movies for years, and sort of wondered in the recesses of my mind what the steam was. Thank you for that. Fascinating😀
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Thank you, Charlie! 😊 I’m glad I could finally solve that little mystery for you! I had seen the steam in movies too, but standing there and actually wondering what was happening underneath the streets made me curious enough to look it up. And what I discovered was far more fascinating than I expected! 🙏🏻
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Now when we watch a movie I’ll say. “ Do you know where the steam comes from?” 😂
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😂 Exactly! Now you have a little bit of insider knowledge to share whenever the steam appears on screen. Just remember you heard it here first! 😄🙏🏻
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Great photos and interesting post. It’s wonderful New York city has such a system. And it is pretty amazing to think of those planning a city and setting up something that has worked successfully for so long.
I heard a speaker from Denmark talk about their steam system. They discovered that producing electricity puts off heat so they capture that heat and it heats the home and businesses.
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Thank you, Katelon! 😊 That was exactly what struck me too. Not just the system itself, but the vision of the people who imagined it and put it in place so long ago. And your Denmark example is fascinating. It seems there are still clever ways of asking, “How can we make better use of what we already have?” 😊
Perhaps that is one of the things I’m enjoying most about this trip. You notice something ordinary, look a little closer, and suddenly discover a whole story underneath it. 😊🙏🏻
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To be frank a good information Mohan ✌️ keep it coming 👍🏻
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Thank you so much, Rafeeq! 😊 I’m glad you’re enjoying these little discoveries. 👍😄
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