A STEAMY NEW YORK STORY

The opening episode on New York explains the steam that billows from manhole covers in The Big Apple. ‘It all stems from the Great White Hurricane of March 1888, a blizzard that covered the city in 3ft of ice and snow and destroyed power lines,’ says steam heating company founder Steve Mosto. ‘The authorities dug miles of trenches so the power lines could be placed underground, away from the threat of storms.’

Inventor Thomas Edison used the trenches to install pipes that pumped steam for heating city buildings. ‘They continue to do so to this day,’ says Steve. ‘Edison’s 100 miles of pipes heat 1,800 buildings in Manhattan, including the Chrysler Building. Every so often it leaks out.’