Thousands of residents in The Bronx and upper Manhattan will soon be able to tap into free Wi-Fi through a new program announced Wednesday, which aims to bridge the digital divide in neighborhoods throughout the city.<\/p>\n
A report released earlier this month by think tank Center for an Urban Future found 22% of households in The Bronx don\u2019t have any broadband, the highest share in the city, THE CITY reported.<\/a><\/p>\n In the neighborhoods of Fordham, Bedford Park and Norwood, more than 30% of households don\u2019t have any broadband.<\/p>\n \u201cThe internet is no longer just a luxury, it is a necessity,\u201d Mayor Eric Adams said at the announcement, held at the Bronx Library Center in Fordham.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Yorkers need it but too many people in the 21st century are not having the internet service and the high-speed broadband in their homes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The initiative, known as \u201cLiberty Link,\u201d is a three-year pilot program to connect broadband to 35 buildings in the Bronx and upper Manhattan that are 100% affordable and run through nonprofit organizations. It\u2019s being operated through the New York Public Library and the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development, which is funding it to the tune of $3.25 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the study published earlier this month, affordability was one of the largest issues preventing Bronxites from paying for internet \u2013 with barely more than 30% of households making less than $35,000 having broadband internet access.<\/p>\n Elva Laboy, 70, told THE CITY she canceled her Optimum internet at her Hunts Point home four years ago because the $100 monthly fee was too expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s announcement builds on previous programs to provide internet, including \u201cBig Apple Connect,\u201d which provides free internet and cable to 330,000 New Yorkers in 220 public housing facilities. Earlier this year, Adams released a \u201cdigital equity roadmap<\/a>\u201d with lists of ideas to provide more access and better internet service to New Yorkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor the families we serve, the internet isn\u2019t a luxury \u2014 it\u2019s how you find a job, get your kids through school, stay connected to health care and community,\u201d HPD Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said in a statement.<\/p>\n With \u2018Liberty Link,\u2019 we\u2019re meeting people where they are and removing a barrier that\u2019s held too many New Yorkers back for far too long.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of residents in The Bronx and upper Manhattan will soon be able to tap into free Wi-Fi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[174,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-38024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}