MANHATTAN – Visitors to Tompkins Square Park in the East Village can now tap into high-speed Internet with the launch of free wireless service Tuesday.
The initiative, unveiled in June by Mayor Bloomberg, allows users to link for free to AT&T’s Wi-Fi service while in the park, bordered by avenues A and B, between East 10th and East Seventh streets.
Users can connect to the "attwifi" network by selecting the network and then clicking a box agreeing to the company’s terms and conditions. No usernames or passwords are needed, and there are no limits on use.
Tompkins Square is one of 20 city parks included in the initiative, which kicked off in June with the rollout of free Wi-Fi service in Battery Park and Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem.
“The Parks Department is pleased to work with AT&T to bring free Wi-Fi access to parks in all five boroughs of New York City,” Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe said in a statement from the wireless provider.
“Park visitors will now have more options to surf the net while enjoying the great outdoors of New York City’s open spaces.”
The launch comes at the same time AT&T announced it added or upgraded 130 "cell sites" across Manhattan this summer to increase the company's mobile broadband service.
The sites include the Upper West and Upper East sides, Harlem, Morningside Heights, Washington Heights and Inwood.
