New York Gets Wired

By Tim McDevitt

The Epoch Times

Jun 24, 2005

SURFING IN THE PARK: Downtown workers get free Internet access from a new hotspot at Wall St. Park; the service is part of a free network of eight downtown Internet access points provided by The Downtown Alliance. (Tim McDevitt)

NEW YORK - New York City may be on the way to getting universal wireless Internet access, or Wi-Fi, at least that is the plan of Andrew Rasiej, Democratic candidate for the office of Public Advocate.

On the steps of City Hall last week Rasiej launched both his campaign for office and unveiled his blueprint to get New York wired. Rasiej said his plan “Wi–Fi NY” is designed to bridge the technology gap in New York.

From behind a makeshift podium of a stack of old PC’s Rasiej raised his fist in the air and yelled, “I Want My WI-FI!” Cheered by a small crowd of his staff and supporters behind him, Rasiej outlined a plan of using existing fiber optic cable to provide affordable Internet access to all New Yorkers.

According to Rasiej, New York has fallen far behind in what he calls “the digital divide,” and the current city government has no plan to get everyone connected. Rasiej, a technology adviser to Howard Dean, Tom Daschle, and other Democrats, is the founder of MOUSE, a non-profit organization that provides technology training to students and teachers.

“Today most students in our public schools can only get access to a computer for one measly hour a week. That explains why kids in South Korea have better and faster access to the U.S. library of Congress online than kids in the South Bronx,” said Rasiej.

Rasiej was not shy about voicing his opinions from the steps of City Hall, making claims that the current city government, “wouldn’t know the difference between a server and a waiter.” Rasiej took pot shots at the Mayor, current Public Advocate Betsy Gottbaum, and Internet providers Verizon and Time Warner.

“The monopoly that Verizon and Time Warner have needs to be broken,” said Rasiej, “The monopoly is not serving the citizens of New York”

Philadelphia is currently implementing a plan to offer low cost wireless Internet access to every resident and business in the city. Based on the experience of Philadelphia, Rasiej calculates that the cost to provide all New Yorkers with Internet service would be about $10 per person, the price of a movie ticket, or, about ¼ of the cost of the failed west side stadium ($80 million).

The system would be free to use in public places across the five boroughs- parks, schools and the subway system. Businesses and residents would likely pay about $20 per month for the service.

Benefits of universal access outlined by Rasiej include: giving firefighters access to blueprints on the way to burning buildings, instant information access and communication for citizens in the case of a terrorist attack, and real time updates to commuters on subways, buses, trains and ferries.

In other Wi-Fi news last week, the Downtown Alliance announced a new Internet hotspot at Wall St. Park. The new access point is part of the Lower Manhattan Wi-Fi Network, which now has eight free downtown hotspots. Established in 2003, the network enables workers, residents and visitors to connect to the Internet wirelessly from laptops and PDA’s.

The Network was designed to enable anyone to walk to a hotspot within minutes from any point below Chambers St. Connection speeds are as fast as DSL lines and up to 254 users can access the web simultaneously at each hotspot. More info is available at: www.DowntownNY.com/WiFi.

Copyright 2004 - The Epoch Times

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