Here is a link to the actual building
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_East_40th_Street
The NY Times article makes the point but it is easy to overlook, there are still thousands of buildings in NY that still use DC power for certain applications. NY in the 20's and on was building sky scrapers and installing elevatorsh In those days elevators were all controlled by an operator with a manual throttle for want of a better word (some of us old timers might remember the days of manned elevators) these controls were all run on DC since it was easier to vary the speed of a dc motor in the early days of electricity
The subway to this day still runs on dc, again not just because the
electric street cars were dc but also for speed control. One of the downsides of being early with a technology is that sometimes that technology gets replaced and you still have a huge installed base.
One of the other oddities in NYC is that many of the buildings all got their heat from a central service, with steam pipes running all over the manhattan
http://en.allexperts.com/q/New-York-...team-Pipes.htm
http://gothamist.com/2005/11/28/superhot_steam.php
ConEd is one of the largest steam providers in the world, they supply electricity, gas AND steam.
Sharyn