Wireless Internet may be coming to Riverside Park–but it will cost you.
Time Warner Cable and Cablevision recently agreed to provide Wi-Fi to 32 parks across the five boroughs as early as next year, but it will only be free for three 10-minute chunks per month. After that, the service will cost 99 cents for each day.
It may be a while before students can decide whether this wireless plan is worth their dollar.
According to Eddie Borges, spokesperson for the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the borough presidents and cable companies will begin the process of choosing which parks will get wireless in the first quarter of 2011.
For now, it’s unclear whether either Morningside or Riverside parks will be among the lucky ones. Before the changes can officially take off, formal requests must be made,” Borges said, adding that by the end of 2010, the project will be started.
Time Warner Cable and Cablevision agreed to spend $10 million on the Wi-Fi initiative as part of a renewal of their cable franchise contract with the city.
City Council member Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side and who has been at the forefront of the fight for free Wi-Fi, sees major problems with the agreement between the city and the cable companies.
“If people are in the park, it means they’re probably not working for IBM or Columbia University or Exxon. They’re probably working for a small business and free wireless is important to them,” she said.
Brewer believes that free wireless could also be useful for “low-income residents who might be fortunate enough to have a laptop but don’t have Internet at home, and could use the opportunity for their business.”
But the potential payment plan would exclude those people. “If you don’t have a credit card, it sounds like you can’t use the wireless at all,” Brewer added.
Some potential users near Columbia aren’t worried about the payments. “As long as I can pay with my credit card, it sounds cool,” said Stephanie Zhang, CC ’12.
But not everyone is as eager to pay for what’s already available nearby at cafes and restaurants—not to mention on most of Columbia’s campus.
Kiran Stallone, BC ’13, who is worried about the costs, said, “I guess I just don’t like paying for stuff like that when we can walk two blocks up and get Columbia’s wireless for free.”
Lucy McClellan, an economic analyst who works near Riverside Park, agreed, saying, “I wouldn’t pay 99 cents a day because I’d just go to Starbucks where it’s free.”
Brewer wasn’t the only one complaining about the new initiative.
Dana Spiegel, the president of the nonprofit NYCwireless, which pushes for free Wi-Fi throughout the city, recently wrote in a statement on the group’s website that DoITT is “selling out NYC residents and taxpayers.”
“I’m personally offended that DoITT would allow a CableCo to make money off of our tax-funded parks,” Spiegel wrote.
Still, some say that the ability to be online on a park bench is enough of a draw.
Stephen Frizell, an IT consultant and regular Riverside Park visitor, said, “99 cents a day? It would be a wonderful amenity at some point. My wife would definitely use it.”
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy