Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
MTA plans to beat the heat at sweltering subway stations with heat capture technology
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Aug 10, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Aug 10, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Nothing is worse on a hot summer day than waiting for the train on an even hotter subway platform. Now, the city is looking to do something about it.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA, announced a plan Monday morning to explore technology that will use thermal energy to suck heat out of subway stations and store it in nearby buildings during the winter season.
The system is called a “Thermal Energy Network” and the city will study the technology in the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and Chambers Street station complex — with the goal of capturing heat to warm nearby municipal buildings come wintertime.
The "feasibility study” will cost $800,000 and if successful, design work on the technology will begin in 2027.
“There are few feelings worse than escaping the extreme summer heat only to find yourself on a subway platform that is even hotter. Unfortunately, for millions of commuters that is the reality of our transit system — with some stations soaring up to 20 degrees hotter than the outside temperatures,” Mamdani said in a statement.
New York City’s subway system can often feel like a sauna during the summer, since incoming train cars spit out hot air from their AC units onto the platform. The city said the Brooklyn Bridge station reached 96 degrees on average during the summer months.
Gothamist previously reported on subway station platforms that reached nearly 100 degrees last year.
The MTA published a request for information last September to look into the same geothermal technology for the 1 line’s 168th Street and 181st Street stations in Washington Heights, both of which are particularly warm because they’re so deep underground.
For that study, the transit agency explored cooling technology that should reach a target temperature of 82 to 85 degrees on a summer day for stations 120 feet underground.
According to the Mamdani administration, thermal energy networks are already used in hospitals and universities across the city, which moves heat between buildings. The Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and Chamber St. feasibility study would look to transfer heat through “geothermal boreholes” drilled underneath the abandoned center platform at Chambers, then the excess heat could be stored in those boreholes.
“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,” Gov. Hochul said in a statement. “This is what effective partnership between city and state government can yield — innovative solutions that have the potential to help millions of subway riders.”
Tagged
MTA
hot weather
nyc
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
City Council looks to revive New York City outdoor dining
Only 1,600 restaurants participate in the program, down from a peak of 12,500.
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Aug 13, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
A burst of enthusiasm over Sunnyside Yard Queens project, followed by yawning silence
Mamdani says that the sprawling proposed housing development remains a topic of conversation.
By
Willow Higgins
News
A burst of enthusiasm over Sunnyside Yard Queens project, followed by yawning silence
Mamdani says that the sprawling proposed housing development remains a topic of conversation.
By
Willow Higgins
Doctors seek to save girl's hand after firework blast at Staten Island park, friend says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Cyclists to Mamdani: Electric Citi Bikes are way too expensive
By
Stephen Nessen
2 Brooklyn men indicted in Coney Island mass shooting that wounded 8
By
Giulia Heyward
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .