A feasibility study in New York will examine the viability of combating extreme heat on the city’s subway stations and recycling the excess heat to warm municipal buildings during the winter.
US$800,000 has been allocated to the project, which is a partnership between New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, state governor Kathy Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
The study will examine how radiant cooling technology could absorb heat from the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway platforms, transferring it through pipes to geothermal boreholes drilled beneath the abandoned centre platform at a nearby station in Chambers Street.
The excess heat would be stored in those boreholes and drawn back out during colder months to heat nearby municipal buildings.
Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall is one of the subway system's hottest stations. Average platform temperatures reached 96°F in summer 2025, with some reporting noting that certain stations run up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the outside air temperature.
"There are few feelings worse than escaping the extreme summer heat only to find yourself on a subway platform that is even hotter,” said Mayor Mamdami.
“We can make our subway platforms cooler and more comfortable while putting wasted heat to work during the winter."
The announcement came just days after Hochul and the MTA separately announced a comprehensive renewal project for the adjacent Chambers Street station, which is among the oldest in the subway system.
The new thermal network study is to be folded into planned construction work already underway, rather than requiring a brand-new standalone dig.
"Bringing down the temperature is a real challenge in a century-old system with open entrances and vents everywhere,” said MTA chair and chief executive Janno Lieber.
“We're exploring solutions, previously untested in transit, to make stations more comfortable while helping to reduce energy costs."
Governor Hochul said: "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.”
Thermal Energy Networks are already used at several hospitals and universities across New York City but are yet to harness heat from the public transport system.
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