The missing link has arrived!
The city flipped the switch on five new free-internet kiosks in Sunset Park along Fourth Avenue, and the unfettered access to the speedy wifi hubs helps ease the burden on those who have spotty internet access, said one local who has given the gizmos a go.
“I really like them, because if I need to juice up my phone really quick or check something, I can use the wifi,” said Silvia Velazquez, who relies on wifi and lives within walking distance of three of the new Sunset Park kiosks. “I’m glad the neighborhood finally got something useful like this.”
The city has installed six of its high-speed LinkNYC hubs along Fourth Avenue from 24th to 37th streets with all but one up and running.
Each offers public wifi — encoded to prevent unauthorized eavesdropping — and a pair of charging ports, and are built to withstand the elements and rigors of New York life.
Plentiful in Downtown, the new batch of Sunset Park kiosks are the first in Southern Brooklyn.
More are expected to be rolled out along the main drag and replace telephone booths in the months to come, according to Jeremy Laufer the district manager of Community Board 7.
Some locals see the booths as the city finally giving the area some swanky tech folks in Downtown and Manhattan have enjoyed for years, while others fear the booths are a harbinger of gentrification.
“I want to be excited, but anytime I see something like this in a so-called ‘up-and-coming neighborhood’ like Sunset Park, it makes me question it,” said Sunset Parker Enrique Torres. “Is this really for us? Or is it because our neighborhood is in the midst of being gentrified? I like them, but they also worry me.”
The city has installed more than 700 stations around the city so far, but still has more than 6,000 to go — and most of those locations haven’t been selected yet — so chances are good that spurned neighborhoods won’t stay off the grid forever.
