Sunnyside
March 23, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
Several kiosks offering Wi-Fi and cellphone charging will be going up in Astoria in the coming weeks.
The city will be installing about three LinkNYC kiosks to replace old payphones along Broadway that are slated to be up and running in April, barring any complications, said Community Board 1 District Manager Florence Koulouris.
The kiosks will have charging stations for Android and Apple devices, free high-speed Wi-Fi, and a tablet with maps of the area and city information.
Over the next several years, the City will install around 7,500 links throughout the five boroughs, and the Links have slowly been making their way in to Queens.
So far there are 82 links in Queens, with several about to go live in Long Island City.
Koulouris said that though the program will begin with three Links along Broadway in Astoria, the team installing the kiosks showed a map of 10 other proposed locations at a meeting last night, and the community will have the chance to propose other locations as well.
Finding locations for each Link can be challenging, Koulouris explained, because it relies on a fiber network and there are city regulations limiting where they can be put.
As the program grows, new Link locations will need to be cleared by the Community Board, allowing community review and input on the process.
“I have already submitted a list of places that I want them to install the Links,” Koulouris said, adding that she hopes to see Links near the new ferry dock in Hallets Point, as well as near the various NYCHA campuses in Astoria, among other locations.
Once a location is cleared, Koulouris said that installation and activation takes about 15 weeks in total.
All LinkNYC services will be entirely free, and will be funded by advertising at the kiosks. Koulouris said that local businesses will have the chance to advertise their goods and services at a nearby Link, and would even be able to choose the timeslot that their advertisement appeared.
For more information on LinkNYC, visit https://www.link.nyc
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8 Comments
I saw one yesterday. There is also a 911 button. I think the idea is to use it in an emergency. People who are out all day and their phone dies. I remember standing talking a a pay phone. I am just shocked that it is free!!! So all the people who can’t afford cell phone service can use their phones over wifi. The one i saw wasn’t onso i don’t know how it works. It is on broadway and 21st right in front of Belaire diner.
True maaan in the 70s we had 8mm maaaan
Where else would the homeless watch the porn?
I Have not met someone who likes it
I don’t get it. So my phones dead. What, I stand by this kiosk to charge it? Or stand by it to use its wifi? Or what do I do make phone calls from it? Who cares??? Everyone has phones and probably unlimited data. Who’s paying for this? I used one on queens blvd. Called my friend. Hung up. Then called him from my phone. That’s like putting a tv in the street and expecting people to watch it. What a waste… can someone find out how much this is costing and who’s paying for it ?
If only there where a place where you could go to read about it and how it’s funded…
https://link.nyc/
(hint: it’s funded by advertising revenue and actually generates money for the city.)
great more people standing around taking over sidewalks is what we need! did they not learn from hewillnotdivide.
Nice. There weren’t enough streets being dug up in the area lately.