X

Curtain to rise on BAM-sponsored free wifi in December

Not pictured: squiggly waves of free wifi emanating out

As global warming grips more of our future and leads to rising global temperatures, one question is one everyone’s mind: “Can we work outside more, then?” Ordinarily it’s hard, even if the weather is nice, but the city has aggressively expanded the areas with free outdoor wifi over the years, and right before he leaves office, Mike Bloomberg plans to add a couple more corridors of free wifi in Brooklyn. Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Brownsville and Downtown Brooklyn are scheduled to get their own free outdoor wifi in December this year, thanks to a public/private partnership between the city and different sponsors.

The free wifi is coming as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Wireless Corridor Challenge, which is an effort to increase the city’s wifi connectivity, mostly by just giving it out all will nilly. And it really will be free, not some bullshit as sponsored by our hated cable companies. In order to get some of that sweet taxpayer cash, it’s written right into the agreement that the sponsors of the networks “free, public access wireless network for a minimum of three years”. In addition to Downtown, Clinton Hill, Brownsville and Fort Greene, Lower Manhattan, the Flatiron District and Long Island City are among areas scheduled to get free wifi as well.

But who cares about those places, we don’t live there. The wifi sponsored by BAM will cover the area from Fulton Street and Rockwell Pl to Classon Avenue. In Downtown Brooklyn, the Partnership for Downtown Brooklyn will sponsor free wifi in the area surrounded by Schermerhorn Street, Cadman Plaza West, Flatbush Ave and Tillary Street, along with some public spots in the Ingersoll and Whitman houses, and in Brownsville, the wifi will be along Sutter Avenue and sponsored by GOWEX. Hopefully the kinks, if there are any, will be worked out by the time it’s warm outside, so between now and then, be sure to bone up on these tips on how to effectively work outdoors.

David Colon :