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80-733: The power plant was decommissioned by Con Edison in 2005 and sold to private developers as part of the East River Repowering Project, which increased the capacity of the East River Generating Station at East 14th Street to replace the steam and electric output of the Waterside Generating Station. After demolition of the Waterside plant, the site underwent environmental remediation and was rezoned to allow for residential and commercial development. As of 2023,

160-531: A boulevard running at street level. The first "downtown" section of the boulevard, between Grand and 12th Streets, was completed in June 1937. Two more downtown sections, from 12th to 14th Streets and then from 14th to 18th Streets, were opened in 1939. A short connector from Grand to Montgomery Street was completed in May 1940, which meant that the boulevard was now continuous from Montgomery to 30th Streets. The next month,

240-493: A boundary between several neighborhoods and is sometimes considered the border between Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan . At Broadway , 14th Street forms the southern boundary of Union Square . It is also considered the southern boundary of Chelsea , Flatiron/Lower Midtown , and Gramercy , and the northern boundary of Greenwich Village , Alphabet City , and the East Village . West of Third Avenue , 14th Street marks

320-484: A commercial center, including Lüchow's restaurant and Union Square Park. The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) began to reconstruct the entirety of 14th Street in 1990, replacing the roadway, sidewalks, and water and sewer pipes. As part of the project, the NYCDOT planted trees, installed new "bishop's-crook" streetlights, and added new gray sidewalks that were intended to resemble old granite sidewalks. By

400-613: A contract to purchase the properties from Con Edison in 2000. The sale process required regulatory approval from the PSC to demolish the Waterside plant and expand the capacity of the East River plant as well as approval from the city to rezone the land for residential and commercial development. The PSC initially approved the expansion of the East River plant and closure of the Waterside plant in August 2001, but later agreed to hold more hearings to assess

480-520: A former parking lot on the west side of First Avenue between East 39th and 40th streets, and a former office building on the east side of First Avenue between East 40th and East 41st streets. The former site of the Kips Bay Generating Station was sold by Solow and redeveloped with an elementary school that opened in 2013 and a pair of residential skyscrapers, American Copper Buildings , that were completed in 2017 and 2018. The former site of

560-444: A large Con Edison substation. The substation is surrounded by ramps for the former exit 6, a southbound exit and entrance which was closed after September 11, 2001 . By 18th Street , FDR Drive curves north onto an elevated viaduct above Avenue C . The elevated viaduct continues until 25th Street to serve the 23rd Street interchange at exit 7. This exit serves the neighborhood of Kips Bay . At 23rd Street, Avenue C continues as

640-417: A large stretch from 49th to 92nd Streets opened. By this point, the only contiguous section that remained to be completed was the stretch between 30th and 49th Streets. Around this time, city officials started making plans for reconstructing existing sections of the boulevard so that several intersections would be grade-separated or double-decked. A plan to build a three-level section from 81st to 89th Streets

720-475: A new Select Bus Service bus rapid transit route to be implemented across 14th Street. At the time, the M14A/D routes were among the busiest and slowest NYCT bus routes. The M14A/D were converted to Select Bus Service routes on July 1, 2019. The 14th Street busway was inspired by Toronto 's successful King Street Pilot Project , which sped up transit times for transit riders on the 504 King streetcar route,

800-592: A nuisance and recommended that the air conditioning system for the Secretariat Building include "washers" to remove obnoxious gases from the smoke. They also suggested that the smokestacks of the plant, which were 75 feet (23 m) lower than the Secretariat Building, be raised using a "towering stack" but recognized that a higher smokestack could be a hazard to aircraft. Con Edison planned to make other improvements to smoke control at Waterside No. 2 in 1951 by installing mechanical fly ash collectors in advance of

880-565: A possible terrorist target. Since October 2019, vehicle restrictions are in place on 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The only vehicles that can use the busway are buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency and Access-A-Ride vehicles, and local traffic traveling for no more than one block. 14th Street is well served by the New York City Subway . The BMT Canarsie Line ( L train) runs underneath 14th Street from Eighth Avenue to

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960-752: A section between 41st and 53rd Streets. A plaque dedicating the East River Drive is visible on the southbound roadway before entering the Gracie Mansion tunnel at 90th Street. FDR Drive starts at the southern tip of Manhattan at South and Whitehall Streets in the Financial District . It rises from the underground Battery Park Underpass to an elevated viaduct above South Street, with an at-grade connection to South Street at exit 1. The elevated viaduct continues northeast, with an interchange at Brooklyn Bridge at exit 2. The elevated road, also known as

1040-506: A series of interconnected at-grade tunnels. The segment from 63rd to 68th Street runs under an annex constructed by Rockefeller University , while the section of roadway between 68th and 71st Streets runs underneath the pilotis of the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital . Afterward, FDR Drive continues north at ground level. There is a southbound-only entrance and exit, labeled exit 13, at 71st–73rd Streets, serving Lenox Hill on

1120-575: A stop at 14th Street at its intersection with Sixth Avenue . In the past, every former IRT elevated line had a station at 14th Street: The following bus routes serve 14th Street: Alongside the Canarsie Tunnel closure between 2019 and 2020, the New York City Department of Transportation began planning conversion of 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues into a bus-only corridor during rush hours. The department began planning

1200-655: Is at grade, passing through East Harlem . There is a southbound-only entrance at 102nd Street, as well as a southbound-only exit at 106th Street , labeled exit 15. At 116th Street , there is another southbound-only exit and entrance numbered exit 16. When FDR Drive reaches 120th Street, there is an interchange (exit 17) for the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge , where it transitions into the Harlem River Drive and continues north after 125th Street. A shorefront parkway in Manhattan along

1280-418: Is mostly three lanes in each direction, except for several small sections. By law, the current weight limit on FDR Drive from 23rd Street to Harlem River Drive in both directions is posted 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg). All commercial vehicles (including trucks) are banned from FDR Drive north of exit 1. The East River Greenway runs below, beside, or above FDR Drive along nearly its entire length, except for

1360-518: Is now commonly called the "FDR Drive". The section from 49th to 92nd Streets was converted to a limited access highway in 1948. An elevated ramp between 18th and 25th Streets, serving as an extension of the highway south of 23rd Street, was completed the next year, replacing an at-grade section. The Battery Park Underpass was completed in 1951, connecting with the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. An elevated highway above South Street , connecting

1440-492: Is raised and runs over the northbound roadway for northbound access to and from the Queensboro Bridge interchange (exit 12). As part of the design in this area, numerous homes on the river were demolished and rebuilt or otherwise modified to accommodate the highway. At 63rd Street, the southbound lanes descend to ground level, at the same elevation as the northbound lanes. From 63rd to 71st Streets, FDR Drive passes under

1520-536: The Battery Park Underpass , and runs north along the East River to the 125th Street  / Robert F. Kennedy Bridge interchange, where it becomes Harlem River Drive . All of FDR Drive is designated New York State Route 907L ( NY 907L ), an unsigned reference route . FDR Drive features a mix of below-grade, at-grade, and elevated sections, as well as three partially covered tunnels. The parkway

1600-600: The Brooklyn Bridge , this would eliminate congestion at its approach by relocating traffic onto the parkway. The ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1968, followed by the ramp onto the FDR Drive in 1969. In Kips Bay, FDR Drive is located on a viaduct between 30th and 37th Streets. The southbound and northbound roadways rise onto a viaduct separately between 28th and 30th Streets; the southbound roadway ascends onto

1680-467: The East River , stopping at Eighth Avenue , Sixth Avenue , Union Square , Third Avenue , and First Avenue . Additionally, every subway route that crosses 14th Street has a stop there, except for the B and ​ D trains: A station at Second Avenue and 14th Street is planned as part of Phase 3 of the Second Avenue Subway , which is currently unfunded. PATH also makes

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1760-540: The Mid-Manhattan Expressway . However, after plans for the expressway were abandoned, this exit was never used, largely because there was already an exit four blocks north, at 34th Street. The unused exit was then blocked with a semi-permanent concrete barricade. Beginning on August 15, 1985, the ramp with 42nd Street was closed for an extensive rebuild. When it reopened in April, it had an entirely new viaduct. This

1840-620: The South Street Viaduct , continues until Gouverneur Slip, near the Manhattan Bridge interchange (exit 3), where there are a southbound exit and northbound entrance. From here, the road is at-grade, with a southbound exit/entrance at Grand Street , exit 4. FDR Drive continues north through Lower East Side and Alphabet City , and dips under Houston Street at exit 5, in a three-way interchange. It continues north as an at-grade road. Between 14th and 15th Streets , FDR Drive passes

1920-488: The Toronto Transit Commission 's busiest surface route. As part of the busway plan, the only motor vehicles that could use the busway, between 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, would be buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency and Access-A-Ride vehicles. Local traffic would be required to turn off 14th Street at the next intersection. Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer who lives on nearby 12th Street , blocked

2000-595: The Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco) could be increased so that the Waterside plant could be converted from coal to natural gas to use a smokeless fuel, but the President turned down the request after receiving a report from Mon C. Wallgren , chairman of the Federal Power Commission (FPC). The FPC said the smoke would not present a danger to health, but acknowledged that certain gases were

2080-481: The Upper East Side . Another southbound-only entrance exists at 79th Street ; there is no exit from either direction, nor is there any exit number reserved for this interchange. From 81st to 90th Streets runs a final, enclosed double-decker structure. The southbound roadway is again raised over the northbound roadway in a short segment of the tunnel between 81st and 86th Streets. The promenade of Carl Schurz Park

2160-566: The headquarters of the United Nations , which then was being developed on the east side of First Avenue between East 42nd and 48th streets, concerns about smoke and gases from the Waterside plant affecting the Secretariat Building were raised by Secretary-General Trygve Lie . In August 1950, New York City Mayor William O'Dwyer wrote to President Harry S. Truman asking if Con Edison's share of natural gas that would be carried in

2240-580: The 2000s, many residential buildings and shops were clustered around 14th Street, and technology companies had relocated to the street. The western end of the street, near the Meatpacking District , contained numerous nightclubs, restaurants, and art galleries. Dotcom companies , advertisers, designers, publishers, and photographers were clustered around 14th Street between Eighth and Fifth Avenue. West 14th Street begins at an interchange with New York State Route 9A northeast of Greenwich Village . At

2320-500: The Academy of Music, and numerous vaudeville theaters were clustered around New York City. One source referred to the center portion of 14th Street as "the Mecca of New York shoppers, and Sixth Avenue was the liveliest part of it". As development continued to move further north, most of the major retailers on 14th Street relocated northward in the 1920s. Lower-end stores began opening along

2400-567: The British, the ships' crews loaded rubble onto the ships for ballast , then sailed back to New York, where construction crews made use of it. On June 29, 1942, a plaque commemorating the use of rubble was dedicated by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia , and is currently installed at the Waterside Plaza complex. The final part of the original boulevard, between 34th and 49th Streets, opened in May 1942. Construction of this segment required modifications to

2480-523: The East River Drive, especially in Midtown, opposed the boulevard unless noise mitigation measures were added. The section from 125th Street and the Triborough Bridge ramp south to 92nd Street was completed in 1936. The sections from 92nd Street down to Battery Park (with the exception of a section from 42nd to 49th Streets, located underneath the headquarters of the United Nations ) were built as

Waterside Generating Station - Misplaced Pages Continue

2560-446: The East River was first proposed by Manhattan Borough President Julius Miller in 1929. The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) parkway would extend from South Street to 54th Street. The first sections of the East River Drive were constructed in the 1930s and were designed by Robert Moses . Moses faced the difficulties of building a parkway/boulevard combination along the East River while minimizing disruptions to residents. Many property owners along

2640-659: The FPC could not ban Con Edison from purchasing an allotment of natural gas in Texas and having it transported by Transco to fuel two of the plant's ten boilers. However, this decision was overturned in January 1961 by the Supreme Court of the United States . By 1963 the Waterside plant was partially running on natural gas, but only for about 60 percent of the days in the year because of limits in

2720-501: The United Nations was constructed on a platform above at-grade FDR Drive from 42nd to 48th Streets. The southbound roadway is inside a later structure resembling a tunnel while the northbound roadway is located just outside of the tunnel. This section is often referred to as the United Nations Tunnel , even though only the westernmost lane of the northbound roadway is under the structure. At 48th Street, FDR Drive emerges from

2800-463: The United Nations tunnel. A northbound ramp from First Avenue merges onto the northbound roadway. The southbound roadway contains two exits: exit 10 at 49th Street, and exit 11 at 53rd Street. At 54th Street, the road enters the Sutton Place Tunnel , which passes under apartment buildings on the east side of Sutton Place and York Avenue until 60th Street. In this tunnel, the southbound roadway

2880-478: The Waterside facility while it was shut down. An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that the explosion was caused by a water hammer that formed when new steam was introduced to pipes that had not been properly drained out. Con Edison was fined $ 217,800 by OSHA for violating worker safety rules that resulted in the accident. In 1999, Con Ed announced plans to sell

2960-457: The addition of Waterside No. 2 allowed the plant to also provide power to parts of the Bronx, Queens, and Westchester. In 1911, the rated capacity of Waterside No. 1 was 157,000 kilowatts and the rated capacity of Waterside No. 2 was 140,000 kilowatts. The location of the plant alongside the East River allowed coal to be transported to the facility via barge. Conveyors belts and hoists were used to move

3040-552: The at-grade parkway north of Grand Street to the Battery Park Underpass and Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel at the southern tip of Manhattan, was completed in May 1954. This replaced the existing at-grade segment. In 1960, a project to the segment from Jackson Street and East 14th Street was upgraded to a controlled access highway. By 1966, the same had occurred to the segment between East 14th Street and East 42nd Street. This segment also took advantage of newly constructed elevated viaducts. In 1965, plans were announced for direct ramps to

3120-460: The capacity of the pipeline that transported the gas to New York City. On the evening of November 10, 1992, a 24-inch (61 cm) steam pipe ruptured at the power station, causing an explosion that killed one worker and injured seven other people, five of which were firefighters that came to the plant to search for trapped workers. Steam distribution to Manhattan was not affected by the incident, as Con Edison rerouted steam from other plants to bypass

3200-512: The city grew northward and today it is primarily zoned as a commercial street. In October 2019, a busway restriction was put in place between Third and Ninth Avenues, prohibiting most types of vehicles during the daytime. The street was designated in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 as the southernmost of 15 east–west streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width (while other streets were designated as 60 feet (18 m) wide). Roughly at

3280-470: The coal from the bulkhead into coal bunkers , which could store enough coal to fuel the boilers in the plant for two weeks. Ashes from the boilers were brought to the dock in a similar manner of conveyors and hoists for loading onto barges for removal. In the 1920s, the Waterside facility was expanded to the north with the addition of an office building, switch house, and frequency house on the block between East 40th and 41st streets. The frequency house, which

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3360-554: The effects of the plant expansion on PM 2.5 after receiving a petition from New York State Assemblyman Steven Sanders, Manhattan Community Board 3 , and the New York Public Interest Research Group . Con Ed reached an agreement addressing the air pollution concerns of residents near the East River plant and environmental groups in March 2002. The sale of the Waterside plant and the three other Con Edison properties

3440-744: The elevated expressway from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel with an urban boulevard if funding is obtained. As stated by Levine, it "is the least heavily used part of the FDR and it has created a noisy uglier barrier between the people of lower Manhattan and their waterfront". The structure has also deteriorated significantly, requiring more maintenance than is deemed acceptable. The SIM3 , SIM6 , SIM10 , SIM11 , SIM31 , X37 and X38 express buses use FDR Drive between its start in Lower Manhattan and 23rd Street . In addition,

3520-532: The elevators and underground carriers that transported coal and ash between barges docked in the East River and the Waterside Generating Station and Kips Bay Steam Plant . Future reconstruction designs from 1948 to 1966 converted FDR Drive into the full parkway that is in use today. Upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt , the East River Drive was dedicated to him in June 1945. The drive

3600-434: The end of the interchange, it intersects with 10th Avenue . The street continues east, intersecting with Washington Street , Ninth Avenue /Hudson Street, Eighth Avenue , Seventh Avenue , Sixth Avenue , and Fifth Avenue. After Fifth Avenue, West 14th Street becomes East 14th Street and goes on to form the southern border of Union Square between University Place and Fourth Avenue. East of Fourth Avenue, 14th Street forms

3680-598: The existing electrostatic precipitators . The purchase of equipment was delayed by a year by the Defense Electric Power Administration, which turned down the application to give priority to other projects that would provide additional electric power to serve defense plants because of a shortage of materials. In November 1959, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that

3760-663: The former site of the power plant in December 2023. In February 2024, Bjarke Ingels Group proposed redeveloping the site as Freedom Plaza, which was to contain a casino, a museum, restaurants and bars, two residential towers, and two 615-foot (187 m) hotel towers connected by a cantilevered skybridge . 14th Street (Manhattan) 14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan , traveling between Eleventh Avenue on Manhattan's West Side and Avenue C on Manhattan's East Side . It forms

3840-412: The intersection of 42nd Street and First Avenue , where it becomes the westbound lanes of 42nd Street. FDR Drive dips onto street level and merges with the northbound service road. The southbound service road continues parallel to FDR Drive, and the southbound exit 8 splits from the parkway near 41st Street. The southbound service road then becomes the eastbound lanes of 42nd Street. The headquarters of

3920-400: The late 19th century, there were numerous piano showrooms around 14th Street. Many large retailers opened stores around the street, including Macy's , Siegel-Cooper , and Ohrbach's , while other retailers such as Tiffany & Co. , Lord & Taylor , Arnold Constable & Company , and B. Altman and Company were located a few blocks away. In the early 20th century, Tammany Hall ,

4000-522: The main thoroughfares of Alphabet City: Avenue A, Avenue B, and Avenue C, where the street terminates. It formerly terminated at FDR Drive via an on-ramp to the southbound FDR before the September 11 attacks , when the New York Police Department vacated the portion between Avenue C and FDR due to the presence of the nearby ConEdison East River Generating Station along 14th and 15th Streets as

4080-454: The midpoint of 14th Street was Union Square , which opened in 1839. During the mid-19th century, residential and commercial development in Manhattan began to migrate uptown along Broadway , reaching 14th Street by the 1850s. In conjunction with this, several hotels, theaters, and stores were built along the central portion of 14th Street, including Steinway Hall and the Academy of Music . By

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4160-462: The northbound service road for FDR Drive, while the southbound lanes split from the main highway at 25th Street. FDR Drive continues north as an at-grade road, with the Waterside Plaza complex located along the East River to the east of the parkway. The southbound lanes ascend to a viaduct at 28th Street , and the northbound lanes ascend at 30th Street . There are a southbound entrance and northbound exit at ground level at 28th-30th Streets, where

4240-408: The parking lot at 685 First Avenue was redeveloped by Solow with a 43-story residential skyscraper that was designed by Richard Meier and opened in 2019; Meier was previously involved with developing a master plan for the former Con Edison sites in 2008, which his firm updated in 2012. The former pier of the Waterside Generating Station along the East River between 38th and 41st streets was opened to

4320-448: The plan by filing several injunctions to halt its implementation. As a result, the busway was not implemented as scheduled in July 2019; pushing its implementation back to August 2019. The plan was blocked once again, pending an appeal. The August ruling was later overturned by a panel of judges who approved the busway's implementation, which took effect on October 3, 2019. The busway

4400-581: The plant was designed significant advances were being made in the development of steam turbines so that only eleven reciprocating steam engines were installed and the remainder of the space was used for the installation of five steam turbines. Waterside was one of the first power plants in the United States to produce electricity using steam turbines. The electricity was transmitted to substations that converted it to direct current using rotary converters so it could be used in Manhattan's existing low voltage direct current distribution network. The Waterside plant

4480-578: The properties was completed in 2008. In 2008, a rezoning of the Waterside site and the three other former Con Edison properties along First Avenue was approved by the New York City Planning Commission and the New York City Council . The three other Con Edison parcels that had been included in the sale and rezoning included the former Kips Bay Generating Station on the east side of First Avenue between East 35th and 36th streets,

4560-414: The property has remained vacant land. Before Waterside was constructed, there were several small power stations located in different parts of Manhattan that were interconnected through the electrical network to help distribute the demand for power. This system was reaching its capacity and there was a desire to create a large new plant that could generate nearly all of the electricity that was needed whereas

4640-609: The public in October 2016 and now forms part of the East River Greenway . As of 2023, the blocks on the east side of First Avenue between East 38th and 41st streets—including the former site of the Waterside plant—remain vacant. Solow died in November 2020 and left the property to his son Stefan Soloviev . The property was labeled as "Freedom Plaza" on Google Maps. A temporary art installation, Field of Light , by Bruce Munro , opened on

4720-521: The site of the Waterside plant to private developers along with three other properties along First Avenue near the plant that had been placed on the market the previous year. This came as a result of the company's long-range plan for its steam system and a deregulation agreement reached with the New York Public Service Commission (PSC). To replace the loss of the steam and electric output of the Waterside Generating Station, new equipment

4800-550: The smaller power stations could be retained to provide supplemental generating capacity during periods of heavy loads but would primarily function as substations to distribute the power produced by the new plant. In the late 1890s preliminary plans were made by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company (a predecessor of the New York Edison Company) for a large power plant along the waterside and land

4880-534: The southbound service road begins again. The northbound exit, labeled exit 8, serves 34th Street in Murray Hill , which is located four blocks north; the FDR Drive service road curves underneath the main highway until 36th Street. Another southbound entrance is located at 34th Street itself, and rises to the viaduct level. At 38th Street, the northbound-only exit 9 for 42nd Street , serving Turtle Bay , splits from FDR Drive. Exit 9 continues as an elevated ramp until

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4960-448: The southern end of Irving Place, a north–south road that terminates at Gramercy Park . 14th Street then intersects with Third Avenue, which forms the border between the neighborhoods of the East Village to the south and Gramercy to the north. The street goes on to intersect with Second Avenue. At First Avenue, 14th Street widens from a four-lane road to a six-lane divided boulevard with a westbound service road. It then intersects with

5040-541: The southern terminus of western Manhattan's grid system . North of 14th Street, the streets make up a near-perfect grid that runs in numerical order. South of 14th, the grid continues in the East Village almost perfectly, except in Greenwich Village, where an older and less uniform grid plan applies. In the early history of New York City, 14th Street was an upscale location. However, it lost its glamour and status as

5120-431: The street, including many stores that sold women's clothing. The WPA Guide to New York City described 14th Street in 1939 as "perhaps the city's largest outlet for low-priced women's merchandise". By the 1970s, J.W. Mays and S. Klein were the only major retailers remaining on 14th Street, and the street was lined with independent retailers and discount stores. There were only a few traces of 14th Street's heyday as

5200-421: The supervision of Thomas E. Murray . Waterside No. 1, which was located between East 38th and 39th streets, began operations in October 1901. Electric power was initially generated in the form of 6,600-volt, three phase, 25-cycle alternating current by a combination of reciprocating steam engines and steam turbines. Waterside was originally intended to house a total of sixteen reciprocating steam engines, but as

5280-432: The viaduct at 28th Street, followed by the northbound roadway at 30th Street, and the two roadways merge into a single structure at 32nd Street. At this point, there is a two-lane shoulder on the left side of the northbound roadway, with one of the lanes cordoned off by a short concrete barrier. There is a provision for a southbound exit and northbound entrance at 30th Street, which was built in 1967 and would have connected to

5360-496: Was built over the highway in 1939, near Gracie Mansion , the New York City mayor's residence. There is a southbound entrance to FDR Drive at the intersection of 92nd Street and York Avenue. York Avenue then parallels FDR Drive until 96th Street , where York Avenue ends. FDR Drive ascends onto a short elevated viaduct over the 96th Street interchange (exit 14) then descends to street level again. The remaining portion of FDR Drive

5440-457: Was discovered. While initially no replacement was planned, congestion quickly increased, prompting construction of a replacement ramp at 49th Street. This opened in October 1998. Exit 6, an at-grade interchange which connected to at 15th Street, passed through a ConEdison substation, which handles most of the electricity for Lower Manhattan . It was permanently closed after the September 11 attacks when city and ConEdison officials concluded it

5520-459: Was dismantled by early 2016. In 2002, a project to improve safety from East 63rd Street north the Triborough Bridge was completed. Also as part of this project, Exit 16 was entirely reconstructed. In 2004, a reconstruction of the Gracie Mansion tunnel's roof was completed. In December 2002, work began to reconstruct the segment of roadway between East 54th Street and East 63rd Street. It

5600-558: Was known as the Waterside Tie Station, contained frequency changers to convert power between the original 25-cycle system and the newer 60-cycle system used for alternating current. The New York Edison Company became Consolidated Edison in 1936. In 1937, advances in technology allowed steam that had passed through the turbines to be subsequently distributed to customers, making Waterside an early plant to use cogeneration. The combined capacity of Waterside No. 1 and Waterside No. 2

5680-607: Was originally designed to accommodate the projected demand for the electricity that would be needed from customers until 1910, but during construction of the facility it was determined that this limit would instead be reached by 1905. For this reason, land was purchased on the north side of the power plant between East 39th and 40th streets to develop a second unit, Waterside No 2., which began operations in November 1906. The Waterside No. 1 and Waterside No. 2 stations were connected to each other both electrically and mechanically. While Waterside No. 1 only supplied electricity within Manhattan,

5760-459: Was over 370 MW in 1940. In May 1942, the segment of the East River Drive from East 34th to 49th streets opened to traffic, which was constructed between the eastern edge of the power plant and the East River. A total of $ 3,500,000 was spent by Con Edison making changes to the coal and ash conveyor systems for Waterside station to permit the construction of the highway. During construction of

5840-409: Was part of a larger project to replace the viaduct between 42nd Street and 50th Street. This viaduct, which had deteriorated significantly in its later years, was known to be at significant risk of collapse. In the late 1990s, a project to reconstruct the segment from 14th Street to 34th Street was completed. In 1987, the ramps with 48th Street were permanently closed after significant deterioration

5920-560: Was proposed to be added inside an unused section of the East River Generating Station at East 14th Street to "repower" the facility and increase its capacity; this plan was referred to as the East River Repowering Project (ERRP). More than 20 bids for the four properties were submitted to Con Edison. The winning bid was submitted by a development team that included Sheldon Solow and the Fisher Brothers with backing from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. The development team entered into

6000-519: Was purchased for such a facility, but the company decided to make further investigations before embarking on construction. In 1898, a team consisting of John W. Lieb , John Van Vleck, and Arthur Williams visited power plants in Europe and consulted with experts in the field. The plans for the Waterside power plant were modified, submitted to the Building Department in January 1900, and completed under

6080-597: Was released in April 1940, followed by an East River Drive overpass over 96th Street in June. Due to a bulkhead restriction, a section from 51st to 60th Streets was already being built with two decks. The section of the East River Drive from 23rd to 34th Streets was completed in October 1941. Known as the Bristol Basin, this section was built on wartime rubble dumped by cargo ships returning from Bristol , England , during World War II . The German Luftwaffe bombed Bristol heavily. After delivering war supplies to

6160-496: Was so successful on its first day that M14 buses had to be slowed down in order to keep from running ahead of their posted schedules. From west to east, points of interest include: East River Drive Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive , commonly known as the FDR Drive , is a controlled-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan . It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of

6240-585: Was substantially completed in August 2007, and involved the construction of a temporary roadway in some areas. In November 2015, a resurfacing between 125th Street and the Brooklyn Bridge was completed. In 2016, concurrent with expansion of the Rockefeller University, part of the freeway was capped in order to allow for such. In 2019, the viaduct in Lower Manhattan was rehabilitated and repainted purple. In September 2023, plans were announced by Manhattan borough president Mark Levine to replace

6320-725: Was too risky to allow such easy access to such a critical piece of infrastructure. The exit was demolished in 2014 after the New York State Department of Transportation received notification from the New York City Police Department that the exit would not be re-opened since the ConEdison facility was deemed a potential terrorist target. East 15th Street, as well as a corresponding entrance ramp from 14th Street , were also closed east of Avenue C , except to ConEdison and law enforcement vehicles. All signage of exit 6

6400-554: Was ultimately approved by the PSC in 2004. Work on the ERRP was completed in April 2005, when the new equipment at the East River plant was placed into service and the Waterside plant was decommissioned. Before its decommissioning, the Waterside plant had been the oldest operating electric power generating station in New York City. Con Edison closed on the sale of the Waterside plant and the three other First Avenue properties in March 2005 and May 2005. Demolition and environmental remediation of

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