IP Democracy: Wi-Fi in NYC Parks Coming in August

For those of us who travel to New York often enough, it’s a commonly experienced fact that piggybacking on a legitimately free Wi-Fi connection is a big problem in the Big Apple. But, starting in August the city will start moving into the Wi-Fi era with the launch of free Wi-Fi in 18 locations in ten of the city’s top parks. Although the municipal-backed initiative started in 2003, it has been plagued by delays.

Wi-Fi Salon, the start-up that won the city contract for the free service, has got some help in the form of a big sponsorship from Finnish wireless tech giant Nokia.

Wi-Fi Salon intends to activate 18 wireless “hot spots” by the end of next month at Battery, Central and Riverside Parks and in Washington and Union Squares in Manhattan; at Prospect Park in Brooklyn; at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens; and at Pelham Bay and Van Cortlandt Parks and Orchard Beach in the Bronx.

Eight of the hot spots will be in Central Park and two in Prospect Park. The first of the 18 locations — a stretch of Battery Park, from the Battery Gardens restaurant to the Castle Clinton National Monument — is to be activated today, with the other 17 to follow, in stages, through the end of next month.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 6, 2006 10:41 AM to IP Democracy