THE BRONX — Hundreds of free Wi-Fi kiosks will arrive in The Bronx over the next several years as part of the city's LinkNYC program.
City officials celebrated the launch of LinkNYC in The Bronx on Tuesday, a program meant to replace New York City's payphones with Wi-Fi kiosks across the five boroughs.
The program has so far installed 25 kiosks in The Bronx, although nine do not have wireless access yet, and the borough will see a total of more than 700 kiosks installed over the next few years.
“LinkNYC is taking yet another giant step forward towards providing better communication access for city residents," Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said in a statement, "and [it] is an important part of our continued push for social and technological equality,”
Each LinkNYC location provides New Yorkers with free Wi-Fi, free domestic calls, two USB charging ports, a tablet with Internet access and a red 911 button.
The Bronx already has 10,000 registered users for the service who have made more than 20,000 free phone calls, according to LinkNYC.
Per Scholas, a technology nonprofit based in the South Bronx, has been partnering with LinkNYC to have its graduates work as members of the initiative's "Street Teams," which teach visitors and New Yorkers how to use the kiosks.
“Per Scholas is a proud partner with LinkNYC on the public Wi-Fi launch in all the boroughs, but particularly in our homebase of the Bronx," Per Scholas Executive Director for Social Ventures and Innovation Angie Kamath said in a statement. "The LinkNYC street team made up of Per Scholas graduates speaks to how important digital inclusion and community awareness is to making our city and the Bronx more connected and digitally accessible."
