Kips Bay Generating Station

The Kips Bay Generating Station sits on the East River as a quiet survivor of an era when New York City relied on numerous small, coal-fired power plants to keep the lights on. It was originally built by the New York Steam Company in the late nineteenth century to provide steam heat to the growing number of luxury apartments and businesses in midtown Manhattan. The plant became a vital artery for the city by pumping high-pressure steam through a sprawling underground network of pipes, effectively eliminating the need for individual boilers in hundreds of buildings.