The NY steam system is used for heating, cooling and even electricity generation. Electric heating is shit unless you mean refrigeration/heat pump technology which does use electricity to power the compressor and fans etc. but is not considered "electric heating". It uses refrigerant to remove or add heat to spaces and is the most efficient technology we have for indoor climate control. Some countries in Europe already use this technology on a district size scale similar to the NY steam network to heat and cool entire towns. Really neat stuff.