QUEENS — Rego Park now has its first LinkNYC kiosk, providing local residents with free Wi-Fi and domestic calls, a 911 button and USB charging ports on the sidewalk, city officials said.
The kiosk has been recently installed on Queens Boulevard, near 65th Road, according to an online LinkNYC map.
The device is currently hard to spot, because it's surrounded by scaffolding placed there as a developer is getting ready to demolish a single-story complex at the intersection to make room for a new luxury rental building.
According to the map, two more kiosks have already been installed in the area, between 67th Road and 67th Drive, in addition to 12 kiosks in Sunnyside and Elmhurst. Those 14 kiosks will be activated in the coming weeks, officials said.
Currently there are 22 live kiosks in Queens — seven along Queens Boulevard, mostly in Forest Hills and Kew Gardens, and 15 along Jamaica Avenue.
CityBridge LLC, a company which operates LinkNYC kiosks, has so far installed hundreds of the devices, mostly in Manhattan. Several dozens have also been placed in The Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island, according to the map.
Over the next several years, the company is planning to install more than 7,500 kiosks across the five boroughs.
Each 9.5-foot-tall device provides Internet access in a 150-foot radius. Residents can also charge their phones, and make free domestic phone calls to anywhere in the U.S., according to the city.
The kiosks, which replace former phone booths, no longer include web browsing following complaints of people watching porn on the sidewalk.
