Nikola Tesla: New York's "Real" Father of Electricity

by Rob Palazzolo | 08/26/2014 | 5:54am

Use Electricity? You Can Thank Tesla For That

Use electricity? You can thank Tesla for that.

At the corner of 40th Street and 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, a street sign reads “Nikola Tesla Corner.”

Many people passing through have no idea who he is. But it turns out that Nikola Tesla was kind of a big deal.

Tesla was born in Serbia and moved to New York City in 1884, to work in Thomas Edison’s laboratory. But he left a year later, over a pay dispute. From his own lab in Lower Manhattan,  Tesla created a series of electrical generators and transmission systems that used a different type of electricity, called alternating current, or AC.

Jane Alcorn is the president of the Tesla Science Center on Long Island. She says people should care more about this prolific New York inventor.

"So, every time you turn on your lights, or you plug in a television, or use any type of electronic device, you are relying on a system that Nikola Tesla developed," said Alcorn.

But some people at Nikola Tesla Corner in Midtown are less than enthusiastic about his achievements.

"I don't know, I guess he was an important guy?" said one passerby.

Mark Emisarski, an English tourist crossing 6th Avenue, didn't even know who Tesla was when asked. 

Conflict was brewing between the two former allies. That’s when the PR fight known as the "War of Currents" began. Alcorn says Edison’s army fought dirty.

"He is reputed to have gathered up--or had children collect stray dogs and cats, and he would electrocute them in the town squares, to show the dangers of alternating current," alleged Alcorn.

Both sides were aggressively competing for the new electricity market. Edison's system used direct electric current, known as DC. In a DC system, the electrons move in one constant direction. In Tesla's AC system, the electrons move back and forth, making the two inventions incompatible. Edison quickly recognized AC as a rival, and campaigned against it.

The Edison campaign accelerated in 1889, when a New York State commission was debating what type of current to use in the new electric chair. Edison’s team convinced the State to use Tesla’s AC, to make it seem more dangerous than DC.

But AC eventually won out because it can transmit power over much longer distance than Edison's DC. And now, every wall outlet and power line in the world is alive with AC current-- ironically, including ones labeled “Con Edison.”

But while Edison became famous for inventions such as the light bulb, Tesla died alone, and in debt. That's why one of New York City’s greatest minds just gets a sign on 40th Street.

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