Our Company History
New York City, 1979
Our company has a rich history filled with examples of the consistent quality and attention to detail that we bring to every single project that we encounter. Our passion to provide the very finest level of electrical service spans two generations and continues to grow more robust with every project that we complete.
Tesla Electric Corp. was founded in New York City in 1979 by Ivo Puhalovic. Ivo immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s from Eastern Europe with a unique and prestigeous degree in Electro-Technical Engineering. During his intensive studies and laboratory work, Ivo was deeply moved by the achievements of fellow countryman and electrical innovator Nikola Tesla.
Before opening Tesla Electric Corp., Ivo would have the opportunity to lead and manage the electrical installation of former Beatle John Lennon's apartment in the Dakota Building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In addition, several of Columbia University's dormatories on Morningside Drive and 116th Street also owe their entire electrical service design and installation to Ivo's skill in the mid 70s.
Feeling that the time was right, Ivo Puhalovic set out on his own and opened his own establishment naming it in honor of the great Nikola Tesla in 1979. The pioneering spirit of Tesla in conjuntion with the perseverance in which he sought after realizing his visions and inventions would become the inspiration at the heart of Tesla Electric Corp.
The 1980s would bring Tesla Electric Corp. into a variety of different channels of work. The early eighties were a time of restaurants and boutique wiring. Restaurants such as Pig Heaven, Vince and Eddie, Fish and Eddie, and L'appetit Marmite, to name a handful, owed their wiring and unique electrical styling to Ivo and Tesla Electric. In addition to more aesthetic and lighting-intensive boutiqe- style wiring, Tesla Electric would also wire hundreds of large-scale high-rise boiler systems with control wiring.
Through the 80s we were also very involved with our mainstay of our business: high-end residential wiring exemplified by apartments on New York City's Upper East Side and Upper West Side. Our craft would excell on Park Ave. as we became the sole building electricians for 737 Park Ave. and 530 Park Ave. In these structures and a slew of others on Fifth and Madison Avenues as well as in many west side townhouse restorations and developments, we would bring to life what was in the imaginations of many critically acclaimed architects and lighting designers. We also claimed some celebrity customers along the way as we provided the electrical installation for Penny Marshall on Park Ave. and would also be selected to wire Robert De Niro's Tribeca loft.
Sammy, Ivo's son, would grow up within Tesla Electric Corp., participating in many jobs from the tender age of 6 years old. Though young, Sammy would begin to learn the trade from within Park Avenue apartments, West Side townhouses, and Soho lofts. Sammy attended Regis High School on Manhattan's Upper East Side and would go on to complete the first double-major in Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering in Manhattan College history, completed in 2008.
In 2004 Tesla Electric Corp. would be given the opportunity for a masterwork that would draw upon the accomplisments of Tesla Electric's entire history and the abilites of both Ivo and Sammy. The Anissimova family would commision the construction of a smarthouse in Mill Basin, Brooklyn that would showcase the architecture and interior designs of the Noel Jeffrey Group.
Tesla Electric Corp. would provide the electrical design as well as all electrical installation for power, 180kW emergency generator back-up, boilers and heating, lighting, as well as the integration of all house systems via a Crestron Home automation system. This project would prove to be a true test of skill, knowledge, and professionalism for Tesla Electric Corp. and would stand as a capstone for much of our illustrious company history.
Leading from the smarthouse project Tesla Electric would obtain License in New Jersey to pursue developer Coalco's conversion of the American Can Company in Jersey City, NJ to loft housing. Tesla would serve to provide the entire power transfer from the outdated and incompatible factory power layout to the new power configuration for loft the loft development. This would be a 20MW power transfer handled seamlessly with only 5 seconds of power-dow time for the entire complex.
Tesla Electric Corp. is licensed to perform all types of electrical wiring in New York City, the State of New Jersey, and Westchester County.
