Wireless Community

Icon

NYCwireless October Meeting: Oct 25th at 7:00pm

All are invited – please re-post everywhere!

*Please note earlier starting time for meeting*

h2. Location and Time

*Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 7:00pm*
*”Bway.net”:http://maps.google.com/?q=568%20Broadway,%20New%20York,%20NY*
*568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner*
*Suite 404*
New York, NY 10012
(lobby sign-in required)

h2. Agenda

Michael Lewis, Executive Director of “*Wireless Harlem*”:2, will be speaking about the “*Wireless Harlem*”:2 initiative and the feasibility study the organization recently finished. “Wireless Harlem’s”:2 mission is to “close the digital divide in Harlem by making access to information ubiquitous for all of its residents.” Its objectives:
* Deploy scalable community-wide wireless broadband network
* Ensure everyone has access (residents, schools, business, visitors/tourists)
* Become innovation testing resource for new wireless broadband applications

“Wireless Harlem”:2 and “NYCwireless”:3 share many goals and objectives, and we are working together to help bring Wi-Fi to New York City.

“NYCwireless”:3 monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required.

“NYCwireless”:3 is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks.

[2]http://www.wirelessharlem.org
[3]http://www.nycwireless.net

Filed under: Community Wireless, Event, New York City, NYCwireless

Survey on Wireless Hotspot Usage

NYCwireless board member (and Columbia University graduate student) Laura Forlano is “running a survey on wireless internet usage”:1 at cafes, parks, and other public places. While the survey is being run on NYC hotspots, information from across the country and across the world will help inform this research

The results of this survey will be used in her research and thesis to better understand how people use public Wi-Fi. NYCwireless will also be able to use guidance from this survey (through Laura’s excellent research) to build more and better hotspots.

In exchange for your participation, you will be entered into a drawing for an iPod, iTunes or a $300 donation to a charity of your choice. Your contact information will be used only for the purposes of the drawing.

Please take a few minutes to “complete the survey”:1, and post this survey information on other blogs.

[1]http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=735302651119

Filed under: Community Wireless, NYCwireless

Thank You Letter from Monroe College

Over the past year, NYCwireless has been working with Professor John McMullen and his classes at Monroe College. Rob Kelley, Laura Forlano, and I have each been going up to teach the students for a day about wireless technology and building community wireless networks. With our support, Professor McMullen has also had his students each take on a semester project to get a “community hotspot set up in a local business”:1 (and earlier this year also helping to set up our hotspot with SolarOne at Stuyvesant Cove park).

Word has reached the school of our efforts, and Mr. Jerome recently sent us this heart-felt thank you letter and a donation to NYCwireless.

This is the reason why we at NYCwireless do our work. Its not for the money (we’re just a non-profit) or even the media attention, but because of the difference we can make in people’s lives.

!http://wirelesscommunity.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/monroe_college_letter1.gif!

[1]http://auth.nycwireless.net/hotspots_map.php

Filed under: Community Wireless, New York City, NYCwireless

NYCwireless OneWebDay + Live Wireless Video Chat

!http://wirelesscommunity.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/top.jpg!:1

On September 22 at 12pm Eastern, as part of “OneWebDay”:1, “NYCwireless”:2 will be hosting a live video conference with community wireless groups around the world. We will be discussing the ways that free, public hotspots have contributed to our own and other local communities. We expect the video conference to last about 30 minutes.

The video conferences will be recorded and contributed to the “OneWebDay”:1 video archives. We will be live at Castle Clinton in Battery Park, New York City, where there will be many other activities going on as part of the event.

Please join us in Bryant Park and participate! Bring your mobile phones, PDAs, laptops and other wireless equipment. Feel free to host your own live video conference with friends around the world to participate in this event as part of “OneWebDay”:1.

*UPDATE: There is a change of location. We will be at Castle Clinton in Battery Park.*

[1]http://www.onewebday.org
[2]http://www.nycwireless.net

Filed under: Community Wireless, Event, New York City, NYCwireless

Where's My New York City Wi-Fi?

Ah, how short is the memory of our media outlets.

Not 2 months ago, there were “a number”:3 of “reports”:2 about how Wi-Fi Salon + Nokia were going to bring free Wi-Fi to New York City Parks. Of course, those reports didn’t mention that we already have a bunch of free Wi-Fi hotspots in some of New York’s most prominent parks, like Bryant Park, City Hall Park, Madison Square Park, Union Square Park, and Brooklyn Bridge Park, all of which were “NYCwireless”:1 projects.

But one thing these reports did mention was that our own City Council held a hearing, and “put a deadline”:4 on when Wi-Fi Salon should have its franchised parks online (after 2 years of virtually no hotspots under the Park Department’s oversight):

bq. At the City Council hearing, Robert L. Garafola, the department’s deputy commissioner for management and budget, said that the city had
extended the deadline to August.

bq. “We expect Central Park to be launched in July, and the rest of the parks in the late summer,” he said.

So, now that the summer is over, where are all of these Wi-Fi Parks? We’ve heard _nothing_ from Marshall about his company turning on these hotspots. The Parks Department and Commissioner Benepe have been silent. We’re now 30+ days beyond the *second* deadline that they set for Central Park, and close to that for the rest of their parks, and certainly we citizens have waited long enough.

Over this past summer, NYCwireless has brought online “a number of new hotspots”:5, including Brooklyn Bridge Park, Stuyvesant Cove Park, and Madison Square Park. We’ve launched (through the work of students at Monroe College) hotspots at a bunch of restaurants and gathering places in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Harlem. We’ve upgraded some of our hotspots that provide free Wi-Fi for affordable housing residents at some “Dunn Development”:7 & “Community Access”:6 buildings.

Of course, that’s not to say that the Parks Department hasn’t been involved. They tried to force the folks at the Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza pay for insurance using taxpayer dollars (the “Friends of” organization is funded by the City Council) before they pulled out of the Parks Department Wi-Fi RFP. Now Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is getting free Wi-Fi with the help of NYCwireless. The Parks Department also forced the fully operational Madison Square Park hotspot (built by NYCwireless) offline for over a month because they didn’t want that hotspot online before the Parks Department had their hotspots online (and we’re still waiting for that to happen…).

*So, Mr. Benepe, our Commissioner of Parks, where is all the free Wi-Fi in our Parks that you promised us? Are we going to have to wait until the winter, freezing outside with our laptops on our snow covered laps? I hope not.*

[1]http://www.nycwireless.net
[2]http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060706/dath006.html?.v=57
[3]http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=nokia+wi-fi+park&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
[4]http://www.mail-archive.com/telecom-cities@googlegroups.com/msg00281.htmlhttp://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16890
[5]http://auth.nycwireless.net/hotspots_map.php
[6]http://www.communityaccess.net/
[7]http://www.dunndev.com/

Filed under: Community Wireless, New York City, NYCwireless, Policy

Brooklyn Bridge Park Hotspot Sign

Brooklyn Bridge Park recently put up some signs around the park to announce the availability of the hotspot in the park. Here’s wheat they look like:

!http://wirelesscommunity.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/brooklyn_bridge_park_sign.png!

Filed under: Community Wireless, New York City, NYCwireless

Podcast Interview on Wi-Fi Networking News

Glenn Fleishman of “Wi-Fi Networking News”:2 interviewed me this past week on his podcast series.

In the podcast, Glenn and I speak about NYCwireless and the work it has done and continues to do in New York City. We also cover: NYCwireless’ efforts to put Wi-Fi in New York parks, the challenges with that, and what’s happening in Central Park, and an RFP issued by the economic development arm of the city that will examine the state of broadband across all the boroughs and what might be done to improve access to the Internet to all residents.

“Podcast [40 min., 20 MB, MP3]“:1

[1]http://www.wifinetnews.com/audio/wnn_012_dana_spiegel.mp3
[2]http://www.wifinetnews.com/

Filed under: Community Wireless, Interview, New York City, News, NYCwireless, Policy

First Free Wireless Park Hotspot In Brooklyn Launched

Two Trees Management Co., the Dumbo Improvement District and NYCwireless bring free, public internet service to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The system provides full coverage to the city park at 1 Main Street, enabling free Internet access to those who visit the park, making Brooklyn Bridge Park the first public hotspot in a Brooklyn park.

As a public private enterprise, the hotspot at Brooklyn Bridge Park is the result of a joint effort undertaken by Two Trees Management and the newly established Dumbo Improvement District. Two Trees has covered the cost of the installation of the hotspot while the BID will cover the annual maintenance of the service, thus providing a useful park amenity that appeals to area employees, residents, local visitors and out of town tourists. “The project has great marketing potential in terms of how a public private partnership can help advance the parks department’s goal to wire parks throughout the boroughs,” said Valerie Lynch of Two Trees Management. “The project serves as a model for other developers and corporations to work with parks and other business improvement districts throughout the city.”

“Wireless access in this already alluring park is a significant step in our efforts to improve the quality of life in Dumbo, and we anticipate it being a important long-term service that greatly benefits the neighborhood,” said Tucker Reed, Executive Director of the Dumbo Improvement District. “Our partnership with Two Trees and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to provide this wireless Internet access is a perfect example of how other neighborhoods in New York City can use private resources to provide public amenities that benefit their communities.”

“NYCwireless is thrilled to work with Two Trees Management and the Dumbo Improvement District to provide free, public wireless internet service in this beautiful park,” said Dana Spiegel, the executive director of NYCwireless. “We encourage everyone to visit Brooklyn Bridge Park and log on to check e-mail or just surf the Internet.” When users initially log on, they will land on a page that describes the DUMBO neighborhood and links to the Dumbo Improvement District website.

*About DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge Park*

The neighborhood is booming, becoming more populated with office workers, residents, young families, new retailers, restaurants, galleries and tourists. In recent years, this area has been transformed from a deteriorated, abandoned industrial neighborhood to a vital and exciting place in which to live, work and play. The level of private and public investment in DUMBO is staggering – hundreds of millions of dollars in private funds have been spent to develop over 2 million square feet in office/studio space, 100,000 square feet in retail space and nearly 1,500 residential units. In addition, nearly 150 million dollars in state and city monies have been committed to create a world-class waterfront park. Brooklyn Bridge Park is an important aspect of the vision to make DUMBO more attractive and desirable as a thriving urban center and downtown destination. The park will provide much needed open space and recreational facilities for many neighborhoods that have historically been underserved.

*Two Trees Management Company*

Two Trees Management Co. owns most of the Brooklyn neighborhood of DUMBO (“Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”). The company’s holdings include 13 buildings and the second largest portfolio of commercial space on the Brooklyn waterfront, which spans 3 million square feet.

*About the Dumbo Improvement District*

Nestled between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the newly formed Dumbo Improvement District operates in one of New York City’s most culturally and physically diverse neighborhoods. Historically a manufacturing and shipping neighborhood, DUMBO is increasingly becoming a mixed-use community with light manufacturing, offices, artists’ studios, performance spaces, galleries, restaurants, retail stores and residencies. Funded by local commercial property owners, the Dumbo Improvement District was signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg in December 2005 and will deliver the following services to the neighborhood: stewardship of the community’s public spaces, helping to address neighborhood security issues, advocating on behalf of the community to public and private stakeholders, and marketing and promoting the area to attract new visitors, businesses and customers to DUMBO.

Filed under: New York City, News, NYCwireless

Help for a story about NYC Wi-Fi hotspot users

My friend Amanda is a reporter for Crain’s New York Business, and is doing a story about Wi-Fi hotspot users. She is looking to interview a few people:

bq. I am looking for regular Wi-Fi hotspot users in NYC, who use hot spots for leisure or work purposes. I would like to briefly interview users and learn about their experiences using hotspots and reasons why they use hotspots. I will use these interviews and include the feedback in a feature story I am working on for a weekly local business paper called Crain’s NY Business. My deadline for conducting these interviews is this Thursday July 13. Please feel free to call me directly at 212-210-0203 or email “afung@crain.com”:mailto:afung@crain.com before Thursday if you would like to talk. I look forward to your help and feedback. Thank you!

bq. Amanda Fung
Reporter
Crain’s New York Business
(212) 210-0203

Filed under: New York City, News, NYCwireless

Help Needed: City-wide Wi-Fi survey mapping project

NYCwireless has been engaged to create a map of New York City that includes city-wide Wi-Fi survey information (similar to “PIP’s map”:1).

We are looking for people to help us perform the survey (driving every street with Wi-Fi survey gear to gather data, analyzing data, creating the map, etc.), and especially a particularly motivated person to manage the project.

Please contact me if you are interested in participating.

This project will have very wide distribution (likely to be published in a magazine), and should be the largest single wi-fi survey conducted in a single geographic area.

[1]http://publicinternetproject.org/research/research_sum.html

Filed under: New York City, NYCwireless, Urban Wireless

Twitter

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.