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Free Wi-Fi Kiosks Were to Aid New Yorkers. But There’s an Unsavory Side. Free Wi-Fi Kiosks Were to Aid New Yorkers. An Unsavory Side Spurs a Retreat.
(about 4 hours later)
The Wi-Fi kiosks were designed to replace phone booths and allow users to consult maps, maybe check the weather or charge their phones. But they have also attracted people who linger for hours, sometimes drinking and doing drugs and, sometimes, boldly watching pornography on the sidewalks. The Wi-Fi kiosks in New York were designed to replace phone booths and allow users to consult maps, maybe check the weather or charge their phones. But they have also attracted people who linger for hours, sometimes drinking and doing drugs and, at times, boldly watching pornography on the sidewalks.
Now, yielding to complaints, the operators of the kiosks, LinkNYC network, are shutting off their internet browsers. Now, yielding to complaints, the operator of the kiosks, LinkNYC network, is shutting off their internet browsers, but not their other functions, while they work out a Plan B with city officials.
The switch is an admission that in some neighborhoods, particularly in Midtown Manhattan, the kiosks have created more problems than benefits. Elected officials have demanded changes in the system, saying they were overwhelmed with complaints from residents and businesses about people spending hours entertaining themselves. The switch, announced on Wednesday, is a case study in unintended consequences, commendable goals gone somewhat awry. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s aim of providing modern technology to the masses ran headlong into the reality of life on the city’s streets. After months of complaints from residents, businesses and other elected officials, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, conceded that combining unfettered internet access with free Wi-Fi was a recipe for bad behavior.
Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced the network with fanfare in February as a key plank of his promise to bridge the digital divide in the city. The kiosks were designed to replace more than 7,500 public pay phones and bring free Wi-Fi and phone service to every neighborhood. The retreat comes just seven months after the mayor introduced the network amid much fanfare as a key plank of his promise to bridge the digital divide in the city. The kiosks would replace more than 7,500 public pay phones and bring free Wi-Fi and phone service to every neighborhood.
Users were expected to make short stops at the kiosks. But they quickly attracted the homeless and other idle people who took full advantage of the unlimited access to the internet to watch movies and play music for hours. Users were expected to make short stops at the kiosks. But the sites quickly attracted homeless people and other idle users who took full advantage of the unlimited access to the internet to turn the kiosks into al fresco living rooms, watching movies and playing music for hours.
Corey Johnson, a city councilman whose district encompasses Greenwich Village, Chelsea and part of Midtown, said the Police Department had asked for the removal of “several problematic kiosks” along Eighth Avenue. He said he had observed people watching pornography on the kiosk screens with children nearby. “People are congregating around these Links to the point where they’re bringing furniture and building little encampments clustered around them,” said Barbara A. Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance, a business group in Manhattan. “It’s created this really unfortunate and actually deplorable condition.”
“These kiosks are often monopolized by individuals creating personal spaces for themselves, engaging in activities that include playing loud explicit music, consuming drugs and alcohol, and the viewing of pornography,” he wrote in a letter last month to officials of the city and LinkNYC. Ms. Blair said her organization of Midtown merchants and property owners had welcomed the kiosks as an overdue replacement for increasingly outdated phone booths that were attracting vagrants and drug dealers.
Mr. Johnson said that in a Sept. 1 meeting at his office, officials agreed to his demand for a moratorium on the installation of additional kiosks in Eighth Avenue or Ninth Avenue in his district. “We’re a modern city; we should have Wi-Fi,” Ms. Blair said. “But when something has an outcome that you completely weren’t anticipating, then you have to go back and reconsider. Maybe other cities don’t have this problem.”
In explaining the change, the operators of LinkNYC said that “some users have been monopolizing the Link tablets and using them inappropriately, preventing others from being able to use them while frustrating the residents and businesses around them.” Councilman Corey Johnson, a Democrat whose district encompasses Greenwich Village, Chelsea and part of Midtown, said police officials had asked for the removal of “several problematic kiosks” along Eighth Avenue. He said he had observed people watching pornography on the kiosk screens with children nearby.
They said they would switch off the browsing functions on the computer tablets built into the kiosks as a temporary solution while they consider permanent changes, including limiting how long people can use the tablets. The 400 kiosks that have been activated in Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens will continue to offer fast Wi-Fi, access to Google maps, free phone calls and charging of electronic devices, the operators said. “These kiosks are often monopolized by individuals creating personal spaces for themselves, engaging in activities that include playing loud explicit music, consuming drugs and alcohol, and the viewing of pornography,” Mr. Johnson wrote in a letter last month to officials of the city and LinkNYC.
In a Sept. 1 meeting at his office, Mr. Johnson said, officials agreed to his demand for a moratorium on the installation of additional kiosks on Eighth and Ninth Avenues in his district.
But a spokeswoman for the mayor, Natalie Grybauskas, said the Police Department had not made any official request for kiosks to be removed. In a statement explaining the decision, Ms. Grybauskas said: “There were concerns about loitering and extended use of LinkNYC kiosks, so the mayor is addressing these quality-of-life complaints head on. Removing the internet browser from LinkNYC tablets will not affect the other great services LinkNYC provides — superfast Wi-Fi, free phone calls or access to key city services — but will address concerns we’ve heard from our fellow New Yorkers.”
Jen Hensley, general manager of LinkNYC, said the consortium that built and operated the kiosks had begun “removing the internet browsers while we look at ways to enhance the service.” She said those changes could include adding services, as well as bringing back the browsers with limitations on their use.
Ms. Hensley described the process of designing the kiosks as “iterative,” noting that several changes had already been made, including turning down the volume of the speakers at night and adding filters to prevent users from accessing pornography.
The latest change would not slow the planned rollout of the kiosks throughout the five boroughs, she added. So far, about 400 have been installed in the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. Continuing to build the network is critical for the consortium, which is relying on the sale of ads on the sides of the kiosks. It has pledged to share at least $500 million in ad revenue with the city over the first 12 years.
Despite the efforts to filter out objectionable material, city officials have continued to receive complaints about people watching pornography at the kiosks. The filters do not affect internet access using the Wi-Fi signals on personal phones or hand-held tablets.
Gale A. Brewer, the Manhattan borough president, who had demanded changes to the kiosks, said she was pleased to hear about the shutdown of the browsers, and noted that the free Wi-Fi was the true benefit of the kiosks.
“I don’t think anybody should be able to sit there and watch movies all day long,” Ms. Brewer, a Democrat, said. “People are pulling up sofas or chairs or what have you.”
She likened turning off the browsers to the decision during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s to block pay phones from accepting calls. All along Amsterdam Avenue, she said, crack dealers were using pay phones as business offices.
“When we changed the incoming calls, we got rid of the drug dealers at the phone booths,” Ms. Brewer recalled. “I don’t know where they went, but they were gone.”