http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-
nywifi034805398jul03,0,343914.story
NYC unplugged: Parks going wireless
BY MELANIE LEFKOWITZ
Newsday Staff Writer
July 3, 2006
For nearly 150 years, Central Park has been an urban oasis, a place
where harried denizens of the concrete jungle can breathe fresh air,
feel grass under their feet, while away an afternoon in the leafy shade.
Starting later this month, they'll also be able to check their e-mail.
Central Park will be the first of 10 parks that the city parks
department plans to make wireless-accessible this summer. Another 10
small parks, mostly run by nonprofit partnerships, already offer
wireless (also known as Wi-Fi, short for Wireless Fidelity), which
allows enabled computer users to surf the Web without plugging in.
But it's the introduction of the Internet to the city's most famous
and historic outdoor playground that seems to signal a new era.
"The park's adapted to the world as it adapts, and we've kept as much
of the history and historic elements as possible, but of course the
park's meant for everyone to enjoy," said Jennifer Pucci, a
spokeswoman for the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that
manages the park. "And we feel that the Wi-Fi is going to be no
different from a pen and paper."
Though its rolling lawns and gracious landscapes are rooted in the
19th century, Central Park is no stranger to the 21st. Power-walkers
punch text into their BlackBerries as they round the curving paths.
Mothers chat into cell phone headsets as they wheel their strollers
toward playgrounds. And now, multitaskers seeking to enjoy nature
more efficiently will have another tool at their disposal.
"When I first think about it, it does seem weird, but then I think
about how small laptops are, and how everyone carries them, and it
might be convenient," said Jessica Sucherman, a law student from
Jersey City who was reading in the park last week. "It might be nice
to work outside, if it's a nice day. It's much better than being
inside, especially if you're a student."
The wireless-ing of the city's large parks has been in the works for
about three years. The holdup, according to wireless experts and
Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan), has been the parks
department's attempts to make money off wireless access. Experts say
the best model is the one currently used by Bryant Park, in which
corporate sponsors pay for the wireless in exchange for off-line
advertising.
Taxpayers won't be footing the bill for any of the wireless set-up or
maintenance, which is being covered by WiFi Salon in the city-run
parks. The plan is free to use.
Parks officials now say they plan to offer wireless in six "hot
spots" within Central Park, two in Prospect Park, and in Van
Cortlandt, Washington Square, Union Square, Battery, Riverside and
Flushing-Meadows Corona parks and at Orchard Beach and Pelham Bay as
a free service - a move that wireless advocates applaud.
"Especially in New York City, parks are the most public places for
gathering, and they really, over their history, have been viewed and
used as community centers and as cultural centers," said Dana
Spiegel, executive director of NYCWireless, a nonprofit group that
has helped set up the 10 parks that are already wireless-accessible
but is not involved in the Central Park project. "So Wi-Fi is really
an extension of that. Just like you have trees and benches and grass,
we view Wi-Fi as an amenity that is increasingly important for
everyday life."
In Bryant Park, which has offered wireless service since June 2002,
the program is viewed by park directors and visitors as a huge
success. Last month, an average of 251 people a day used Bryant
Park's wireless network, a number that has risen each year.
"Wi-Fi is one of our 15 or 20 uses that keep people in the park for a
long time and make them loyal to it," said Daniel Biederman,
executive director of the Bryant Park Restoration Corp. "On beautiful
days in the summer you have large numbers of users who would not
otherwise be there. They're between meetings, they're doing an
interview, just as we have users who play chess there, and we have
users who eat sandwiches."
John Weston of Queens, who owns his own music research business, said
he frequently brings his laptop to Bryant Park to work.
"This is one of my favorite spots," he said. "Besides just the
wireless access, there's always an event going on. ... It's a
beautiful environment."
WiFi Salon, the contractor doing the installation, has agreed to
absorb the costs but may recoup some of their investment through
corporate sponsorships. In Bryant Park, where corporate sponsors fund
the service, setup cost about $18,000 and the monthly fees run about
$1,400, according to the Bryant Park Restoration Corp.
Councilwoman Brewer, who chairs the council's technology committee,
says that wireless in parks should help communities by attracting
business and tourism and bringing families outside together.
"I'm not saying it's good to be on the net all the time; you should
enjoy the flowers and the trees and the picnic, but apartments are
overcrowded," she said.
Though bringing wireless to Central Park is a change, in the park's
history it's nowhere near as dramatic as, say, the introduction of
electric lights, said Sara Cedar Miller, the Central Park
Conservancy's historian.
"The reality is that initially there were no rollerblades, no cross-
country skis, basketball didn't exist, and things existed that don't
exist now. One of the joys of the park is kind of seeing how new
things are integrated into park life," she said. "People probably did
business in their carriages as they were riding, and now they're just
doing it on their laptops. It's New York City; how could it be any
different?"
Dana Spiegel
Executive Director
NYCwireless
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.NYCwireless.net
+1 917 402 0422
Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info
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