Dumbo Brooklyn First to Offer Free Wireless Access

Dumbo Brooklyn First to Offer Free Wireless Access

DUMBO Business Improvement District (BID), Two Trees Management Company, and NYCwireless announce that Dumbo is now New York City’s first neighborhood to offer wireless internet access on streets, in its parks and plazas. DUMBO Wi-Fi is made possible by a public-private partnership between the neighborhood’s largest real estate holder, Two Trees, and the entity most directly responsible for guiding the development of public space in the Dumbo community, the Dumbo BID.

“We are encouraging people to step out of their offices and homes and engage with one another and the neighborhood in new and different ways,” said Alexandria Sica, Executive Director of the Dumbo BID. “Dumbo is the epicenter for digital start-ups and production companies. Wi-Fi is one more way to inspire the workforce we have and help attract new talent to the Brooklyn Waterfront. In DUMBO, you can put together a proposal while gazing at the Brooklyn Bridge and all of Manhattan. Creativity can literally flow into the streets. Businesses will be born in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The next Etsy could be thought up right under the Manhattan Bridge!”

The building, installation, and maintenance of the Wi-Fi network is executed by NYCwireless, a non-profit organizations that builds, supports, and advocates for free, public Wi-Fi Internet access in New York City.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was in Dumbo today for the announcement at The Archway. He said, “For the first time in New York City, an entire area has become a hot spot – a haven for bloggers, Tweeters, emailers, Facebookers and everyone else who thrives on the internet. One day, mark my words, this area will rival Silicon Valley in terms of high tech ingenuity – so it’s only natural that Dumbo is the first neighborhood to be truly connected 24/7.”

The Dumbo BID has provided free wifi at the Brooklyn Bridge Park (Main Street Lot) since 2006 and was the first Brooklyn park to do so. Today’s announcement by the Dumbo BID may pave the way for the 64 other Business Improvement Districts in NYC to offer internet access for their residents and businesses.

Dumbo Brooklyn First to Offer Free Wireless Access

{Using Internet Outside? In Part of Brooklyn, Free Wireless Access Arrives, 02june2011, NYTimes}
{Press release from Two Trees (610kb PDF file)}

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