Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Governor Kathy Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have announced a partnership to study a thermal energy network (TENs) in the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall 4/5/6 and Chambers Street J/Z station complex. The partnership will explore how to drop extreme heat temperatures on subway platforms while capturing the excess heat to warm nearby municipal buildings during the winter.
The selected stations are among the hottest in the subway system, according to a press release. In 2025, the average temperature reached 96 Fahrenheit during the summer months. The project will identify ways to reduce heat, improve rider comfort and mitigate heat-related issues that often lead to service delays. If successful, the project would be the first thermal energy network installed in a U.S. transit system.
The city will rebuild, replace tiles and upgrade stairways in the Chambers Street J/Z station. Being funding through congestion property, project leaders will be able to study TENs as a tool to cool platforms while capturing and reusing excess heat in nearby municipal buildings during the winter, lowering energy costs over the long term.
TENs are already in use at several hospitals and universities, moving heat between buildings to significantly reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Throughout the project, the MTA and city officials will assess the feasibility of using TENs and geothermal infrastructure to absorb, store and transport excess heat between subway stations and adjacent municipal buildings.
The study will first determine how much cooling can actually be achieved and what the potential energy cost savings looks like for NYC. Currently, the proposed geothermal network would capture, store and redirect excess heat that accumulates in the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and Chambers Street station complex to municipal buildings. According to the release, radiant cooling technology would absorb heat from the platforms and transfer it through pipes to geothermal boreholes drilled beneath the abandoned center platform at Chambers Street. The excess heat could then be stored in the boreholes and used during colder months.
The contract for the feasibility study is expected to be awarded this fall with design work to begin in early 2027.
Mackenna Moralez is the managing editor of the facilities market and the host of the Facilities in Focus podcast.
