YSR.

New Yorkers who have spent summer days waiting on unbearably hot subway platforms could finally see some relief, as the MTA and city officials move forward with plans to explore new technology aimed at cooling some of the system’s notoriously sweltering stations.

The plan, announced Monday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Governor Kathy Hochul and the MTA, calls for studying a “Thermal Energy Network” that would remove excess heat from subway stations and store that energy underground. The captured heat could then be used during the winter to help warm nearby city buildings. 

An $800,000 feasibility study will focus on the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and Chambers Street station complex in Manhattan, where summer temperatures can become especially uncomfortable. Officials say the Brooklyn Bridge station has averaged around 96 degrees during the summer, while some subway stations can climb as much as 20 degrees above outdoor temperatures. 

Under the proposal, geothermal boreholes would be drilled beneath an abandoned platform at Chambers Street, allowing excess heat to be transferred and stored underground. If the study determines that the system is workable, officials plan to begin design work in 2027.

The effort comes as the MTA looks for new ways to deal with extreme heat throughout its aging subway system. The agency has previously explored geothermal cooling at the 168th Street and 181st Street stations and has committed under its current capital plan to improving ventilation and reducing excessive heat at 20 of the system’s hottest stations. 

The technology would essentially turn the intense heat inside the station into something useful. Geothermal boreholes drilled beneath the platform would allow excess heat to be transferred underground and stored, helping cool the station during the summer. That stored energy could later be used to help heat nearby municipal buildings during colder months.

Governor Kathy Hochul said the project would use new climate technology for two purposes at once, making subway stations more bearable during the summer while providing heat for city buildings in the winter. She said the effort shows what cooperation between the city and state can produce, with the potential to eventually improve conditions for millions of subway riders and city workers.