Powering the New Yorker - a hotel´s unique direct current (dc) system

This paper discusses the remarkable power installation of a direct current (dc) generating plant installed in the sub-basement of the New Yorker hotel. Upon its completion, it was said to be capable of supplying electric power sufficient for a city of 35,000 people. The generating plant was constructed at the lowest level of the building. The incorporated design of the hotel before, is described as a cogeneration nowadays. Steam engines were to drive electric generators, and the exhaust steam from these engines would then be used for heating the building as well as other facilities, such as the hotel laundry.