A Link5G tower for Avenue A

Another 32-foot-tall Link5G tower has gone up in the East Village, this one on the SW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street. (Thanks @mtm717 for the tip!) 

The first one (around the EV) arrived in late August on Second Avenue near First Street. There might be more now! They're multiplying! 

Per amNY: 

The new structures are operated as a public-private partnership by consortium CityBridge, and are a revamp of the old 10-foot kiosks the firm set up under former Mayor Bill de Blasio starting in 2015 with free Wi-Fi, USB charging ports, a tablet, a 911 button, and calling capabilities. 

Nicknames for it so far include "Phal-link," "deBlasiooo" & "32feetOfGray."  There are many more in the comments here.  

Updated: 

Now with video, courtesy of Creature... (best to watch with this accompaniment) ... 

 

The ever-changing East Village skyline's newest addition is a 32-foot-tall Link5G tower

The first 32-foot-tall Link5G tower has gone up (earlier this week) on Second Avenue near First Street. (Thanks to the reader for the pic! 🙌) 

So what the *(*&#^%%$$@@ are these? 

Per amNY: 

The new structures are operated as a public-private partnership by consortium CityBridge, and are a revamp of the old 10-foot kiosks the firm set up under former Mayor Bill de Blasio starting in 2015 with free Wi-Fi, USB charging ports, a tablet, a 911 button, and calling capabilities. 

We remember!

The old ones were supposed to be funded by digital ad displays on the side and the city originally hoped to build 10,000 of them, but the screens did not bring in the promised revenue, which brought the program to a halt with some 1,800 units built largely in Manhattan. 

Read more about the supersize LinkNYC and the plans to revive the broken promise to bridge the digital divide in NYC at The City. 

Currently accepting nicknames for the Link5G towers in the comments.

Thursday's parting shot

So long to some open-air pay phones along Avenue C... workers were seen uprooting them earlier today.

Last year, workers removed pay phones on Avenue A. (No sign of LinkNYCs in their place!) 

Thanks to Heather Dubin for the photo!

LinkNYC kiosks continue to transform

😬

Third Avenue at Ninth Street.

Say their names

On the LinkNYC kiosk on Sixth Street and First Avenue this evening... photos by Goggla...

The #Rethinklink campaign

If you've walked past a LinkNYC kiosk the past two weeks, then you've likely seen one of the variety of flyers attached to them... (thanks to everyone who has passed along photos, like Eden, Steven, Marjorie and Helaine!)



These started showing up everywhere — a la Looking for a Girlfriend guy flyers — after the arrest of a man for smashing LinkNYC kiosks a few weeks ago... and the revelation that the kiosks are equipped with (security) cameras...

🚨Apprehended🚨for CRIMINAL MISCHIEF that occurred within the confines of Midtown South and Midtown North Precincts. #midtown #manhattan @NYPDMTS @NYPDMTN Has been Apprehended thanks to the hard work of our #nypd #nypddetective #media and concerned #newyorker like you! pic.twitter.com/hKVXFW25RF

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) April 24, 2019

There's a @RethinkLinkNYC Twitter account too.

And you can find the flyers in other parts of the city as well...

Spotted outside of a LinkNYC in Water St. in Manhattan. Public infrastructure should not be surveillance based. 💯 #RethinkLink + @ZephyrTeachout. pic.twitter.com/x5WUfSRzdA

— Jeremy Rosenberg 🏳️‍🌈🦄 (@JeremyR1992) May 6, 2019

#rethinklink street campaign. I wrote about LinkNYC in #PixelsAndPlace. The kiosks are an almost-good idea, offering open WiFi and digital services, but the surveillance implications of the built-in cameras – and the lack of clarity about what happens to the data – are troubling. pic.twitter.com/YCT4tTeADh

— Kate O'Neill (@kateo) May 3, 2019

[Updated] NYPD releases pics of suspect wanted for smashing LinkNYC kiosks

[Image via @Machiz]

Updated 4/25: Police made an arrest.

As Gothamist reported, someone smashed 30-some LinkNYC data harvesters kiosks around the city over the weekend, including on 14th Street. You can read all about it here.

Anyway, the 9th Precinct tweeted out pics of the suspect...

Here’s a still photo of the suspect responsible for damaging several @LinkNYC kiosks throughout #Manhattan —He’s #WANTED for #CriminalMischief. DM @NYPDTips with any information or ☎️ (212) 477-7447. pic.twitter.com/3eiRGkenhH

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) April 24, 2019

Wednesday's parting shot

13th Street between Broadway and University today via Derek Berg...

Milestones for LinkNYC; ongoing concerns about tracking movements

VentureBeat takes a deep dive on LinkNYC as the Wi-fi network passes several milestones.

Two years after the deployment of prototypical kiosks in Manhattan, Intersection ... is ready to declare them a success. The roughly 1,600 Links recently hit three milestones: 1 billion sessions, 5 million users, and 500,000 phone calls a month.

“We have an opportunity to communicate with people as they navigate their day,” Intersection senior consumer marketing manager Amanda Giddon told VentureBeat in a phone interview. “My mandate is to help make Link a part of the community through content and content strategy — really, anything that [makes] New Yorkers feel like tourists in their own city [or] even help tourists feel like New Yorkers through useful, actionable information.”

And in a piece from earlier in September, The Intercept explores if LinkNYC kiosks are tracking your movements.

Since plans for LinkNYC were first unveiled, journalists, residents, and civil liberties experts have raised concerns that the internet kiosks might be storing sensitive data about its users and possibly tracking their movements. For the last two years, the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a small but vocal group of activists — including ReThink LinkNYC, a grassroots anti-surveillance group, and the anonymous Stop LinkNYC coalition — have highlighted the kiosk’s potential to track locations, collect personal information, and fuel mass surveillance.

Now an undergraduate researcher has discovered indications in LinkNYC code — accidentally made public on the internet — that LinkNYC may be actively planning to track users’ locations.

Hold the phone

EVG reader Jen Pace shared this photo from earlier today on First Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street... making way for the next LinkNYC kiosk...

Prepping for another LinkNYC kiosk on 3rd Avenue

A payphone-removing crew was out this morning, prepping to take away the phones on the east side of Third Avenue at 10th Street...



In its place evenutally — a LinkNYC kiosk... which will join the other two already on the block...

LinkNYC goes old-school with expanded offerings

Photo on Second Avenue and Fifth Street this morning via Derek Berg.

Inside the mind of LinkNYC

Second Avenue and Fifth Street today via Derek Berg...

1st LinkNYC kiosk arrives on St. Mark's Place

This blessed event happened yesterday just west of Second Avenue near the former 7-Eleven.

Previously

Another LinkNYC kiosk, which may be guiding autonomous vehicles one day

Yesterday saw the arrival of another LinkNYC kiosk... as crews installed one on First Avenue near 14th Street... in proximity to two other LinkNYC kiosks right around the corner on 14th Street...



Not sure about the placement of these. There are four LinkNYCs on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue ... yet they did keep a pay phone on the block...



Look for another kiosk soon on First Avenue at Fourth Street, among other locations ...



Meanwhile, there are grand plans for the LinkNYC network. MIT Technology Review had an article on the company behind Link a few weeks ago...

Link is poised to be far more than an advertising and Wi-Fi network, however. Intersection, the company that manages the Link projects in London and New York, is considering upgrading them to support everything from augmented reality to autonomous vehicles. “Phase One was about making sure we’re offering robust services to people,” says Intersection’s chief innovation officer, Colin O’Donnell. “Now we’re figuring out how we can leverage all the different data sets we have access to and make [this technology] as dynamic and responsive as it can be.”

Intersection’s ambitions bear attention because it is one of the few private firms that large cities have partnered with on high-profile public-information projects—and its digital technology is likely to spread to other major U.S. cities, such as Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle, where it holds multiyear municipal and transit advertising contracts.

According to the article, there are currently 900 active kiosks in the city ... with plans for up to 7,500.

1st LinkNYC kiosk coming to St. Mark's Place

[Photo Saturday by Steven]

There was a ceremonial groundbreaking on Saturday (following the ceremonial sawing down of the pay phones) on St. Mark's Place just west of Second Avenue ... where workers have started the prep work for what will be the first LinkNYC kiosk on St. Mark's Place.

The other pay phones remain up for now on this block between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, where the LinkNYC will sure to be put to good use.


[A Clint Mario special]



Despite LinkNYC's tech advances (Wi-Fi, device charging, access to city services, maps and directions), they do not provide ample space to, say, mix or hold beverages like the pay phones on the block ...



Previously

LinkNYC continues eastern march

[Reader photo from this morning]

A few EVG readers noted that the pay phones on Sixth Street at First Avenue have been removed... with the telltale LinkNYC placeholder now at the site.

The kiosks continue to make their way to the east, having colonized Third Avenue and Second Avenue...

I think this this the furthest east that I've seen a kiosk... and certainly not the last. The city is reportedly expected to have 7,500 kiosks in place, each replacing a pre-existing phone booth, over the next seven years.

I love you to gigabits: Pop the question, see your names on a LinkNYC kiosk

There's something new for romantics at LinkNYC kiosks, often a symbol of free love in the city.

As this photo via EVG reader Daniel shows, the kiosks have a notice asking passersby if they are planning to pop the question. (Presumably in the form of a marriage proposal.)

If you do ask your partner for his/her hand in marriage between now and early February, your proposal will appear on LinkNYC kiosks. (So keep it clean!) Reach out to hello@link.nyc for more info.

On the LinkNYC topic, the city reported last week that more than 1.04 million users have logged into the kiosks citywide.

The kiosks, which provide free domestic calls, Wi-Fi service, USB charging ports, among other services — "have seen an average of 40,000 new sign-ups and 4 million Wi-Fi sessions per week, according to the city," as DNAinfo reported.

In the past year, more than 53o kiosks have been installed. The city plans to install 7,500 kiosks in total. The first one arrived late in December 2015 outside the Starbucks on Third Avenue and East 15th Street.

More Links for LinkNYC arriving on 2nd Avenue

A crew is out this morning with a truck full of @LinkNYC crates ... installing more kiosks Links along Second Avenue... such as on the northeast corner of Ninth Street...



...next up will be in front of the former 123 Second Ave. ...



I haven't counted kiosks on every block... but I do know this will make the fourth LinkNYC kiosk for Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Seventh Street.

As a reminder, here is what people can do at each Link (via LinkNYC):

• Use your personal device to connect to LinkNYC’s super fast, free Wi-Fi
• Access city services, maps and directions from the tablet
• Make free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S. using the Vonage app on the tablet or the tactile keypad and microphone. Plug in your personal headphones for more privacy.
• Use the dedicated red 911 button in the event of an emergency
• Charge your device in a power-only USB port
• Enjoy more room on the sidewalk with Link’s sleek, ADA-compliant design by Antenna
• View public service announcements and more relevant advertising on two 55” HD displays


[Relevant ad pic on 14th and 3rd from Oct. 22]

Back in September, because of a few bad apples, LinkNYC removed the web-browsing capabilities.

Noted

First tag/graffiti/vandalization/etc. that we recall seeing on a LinkNYC kiosk since their arrival... this one is outside Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Or perhaps someone didn't have paper and was just jotting down some notes while making a phone call from the kiosk.