Designating the Powerhouse a New York City landmark will require Con Edison to maintain and preserve the Powerhouse for generations to come. For the past five+ decades, Con Edison has neglected the Powerhouse, failing to clean the façade, protect the terra cotta and brick exterior from the elements, and replace broken windows and ceiling panels. Only landmarking will force Con Edison to care for this building properly.
Landmarking would also prevent Con Edison from altering the façade and structure of the building. Over the years, Con Edison has cut holes in the exterior walls, demolished the cornice and smokestacks, and punched out windows. By designating the Powerhouse a landmark, the LPC would prevent Con Edison from making any more destructive alterations.
Finally, landmarking would prevent the Powerhouse from being torn down. A 1904 Powerhouse cannot serve the needs of a modern public utility company forever. Eventually, Con Edison will need a modern facility that can meet the needs of today’s customers. When that day comes, there is nothing to stop Con Edison from demolishing the Powerhouse and selling the land to a real estate developer as it has done with several other power plants in New York City. Only by designating the Powerhouse a landmark can we prevent Con Edison or any future owner from tearing this Beaux Arts masterpiece down.
Will designating the Powerhouse a landmark prevent it from being used as a power plant?
No. A landmark designation will not change the way the Powerhouse is used. The Powerhouse ceased producing electricity in the 1970s. For the past 30 years, the Powerhouse has produced only steam for Con Edison’s customers. Only a small portion of the building, estimated by Con Edison employees at less than 20%, is used for steam generation, and all steam generation takes place within the building. Furthermore, the steam pipes that exit the building are located below ground. Therefore, landmarking the Powerhouse will not prevent the building from providing steam to Con Ed customers.
At the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearings in July 2009, Con Edison claimed that designating the Powerhouse a landmark will “make it difficult” for them to produce steam. They never said, however, that it would prevent them from producing steam. The only difference for Con Edison, should the Powerhouse be designated a landmark, would be increased costs to clean and preserve the façade and structure of the Powerhouse. Landmarking won’t prevent Con Edison from generating steam as it does today; it will just cut into their profits.
If the Powerhouse is landmarked, will it cost Con Edison customers anything?
No. Though Con Edison argued at the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing that the costs to clean, maintain, and preserve the Powerhouse might force them to raise their customer’s rates, this is simply not true. All costs necessary to maintain and preserve the Powerhouse can be easily funded out of Con Edison’s significant profits. In 2008, Con Edison reported revenue of $13 billion and net profits of $879 million. Surely the costs to maintain and preserve its facilities like the Powerhouse can be treated as any other operating expense and absorbed by Con Edison’s profits.
Who’s in favor of landmarking the Powerhouse?
City Councilmember Gale Brewer, Senator Tom Duane, State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, the Municipal Art Society, Landmark West!, the Alliance for the Arts, Robert A.M. Stern, Robert Hammond, Samuel White, Graydon Carter, the Society for Industrial Archeology, the Beaux Arts Alliance, the Landmarks Conservancy, the Historic Districts Council, the Friends of Terra Cotta, the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, and many more.
Is anyone against it?
Con Edison. The only opponent to speak against landmarking is Con Edison.
If the Powerhouse is landmarked, what then?
Our goal has always been three-fold. First, landmark the Powerhouse to make sure it will continue to grace the shores of the Hudson for another hundred years. Then preserve and restore the building’s architectural features. But once it is landmarked, the ultimate goal is to transform the Powerhouse into New York City’s next great public space.
Even for a city of this size, New York lacks space—space for art exhibitions, performances, public events, and recreation. The Powerhouse could be home to a new art museum or a revolving exhibit of other museums’ archived collections. After all, museums, at any given time, only exhibit around 15% of their collections. The Powerhouse could host exhibitions of MoMa’s hidden gems or the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s warehoused pieces. It could show the Brooklyn Museum’s forgotten prints or the Guggenheim’s stored sculptures.
The Powerhouse could also host shows like Fashion Week or conventions that cannot be accommodated by the Javits Center. As Mayor Bloomberg has noted, the City is in need of additional space for shows that the Javits Center and its annexed piers cannot support. The Powerhouse would offer an amazing alternative to these overburdened locations.
In the end, the possibilities are endless. One week the Powerhouse could host a flower show and the next a symphony performance. It could operate New York’s largest indoor market by day and host a Hollywood-style movie premier by night. All you need is a little imagination.
