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New York Central Park With WiFi

New York City wants to have Wireless Internet by July in Central Park.

Next summer, according to the Department of Parks and Recreation, would find Central Park, as well as Prospect Park, Van Cortlandt Park and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park with Wireless Internet connections available.

This is a step taken by New York officials in an effort to be shoulder-to-shoulder with Philadelphia and San Francisco, both planning to deliver WiFi access across town.

NYC Wireless has done non-profit projects at Union Square, Tompkins Square and Stuyvesant Cove Parks, without state funds.

In 2003 the Parks Administration launched a bidding for park WiFi networks, Verizon won only to cancel its initiatives a month after being selected.

Wi-Fi Salon took the job, but due to it being a small company, could not fit in the deadlines, being granted an extended August deadline.

Robert L. Garafola, deputy commissioner for management and budget: "We expect Central Park to be launched in July, and the rest of the parks in the late summer."

Marshall W. Brown, owner of Wi-Fi Salon: "That's the timetable set forth by Parks. Let's see if that's attainable. It's obviously going to be tight, but I'm confident we'll be able to pull it off."

Adrian Benepe, parks commissioner: "All of us want to see it happen. We'll have to make an honest assessment to see, if we can't get it done with this operator, if there's another operator who can and wants to. The technology exists; the willingness to invest in that technology up front may or may not exist."

"We're not paying for this service and the city is not investing any money in it, so we expect the operator to pay for it."

Expert Communications/TravelNet Technologies will install WiFi networks at Brooklyn Heights Promenade and Columbus Park, having to pay only $700 per year for each location, unlike Mr.Brown who will have to pay USD 30.000 per year for his project.