The most recent 20 comments posted to Electrolite by Nicholas:

Chris, the 59th St. edifice is indeed the original IRT power plant, and a most impressive structure it is.

Selling the plants has probably been an improvement overall. Metro-North (the commuter rail to points north of NYC) used to generate their own power at a single plant in Cos Cob, which was notoriously problematic; reliability has improved since they retired it -- fortunately, these situations when an isolated power plant would have been handy are uncommon!

Back above ground, several restaurants in my neighborhood were serving food for a couple of hours - then they ran out. I walked into a deli at around 10 PM, where you could order anything you wanted... so long as it was flatbread with either tuna salad or cream cheese, the toppings each being stored in a near-empty tub sitting on a pile of ice. They'd emptied their entire soda fridge in about twenty minutes!

New York followed a similar path - two of the three original subway companies built their own powerhouses, which were sold to Con Edison in the 1940s. (The third, city-owned company got its power from Con Ed to begin with; the plant selloffs were after all three were unified under city control.)

If you're in Manhattan and walk or bike down the Hudson River pathway, the plant at 59th St. is one of them. On the 11th Ave. side, the words INTERBOROVGH RAPID TRANSIT COMPANY are still visible.

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