NYC adds WiFi hotspots in 32 more parks, but with a catch: Only 10 minutes of free browsing per day

The City of New York has just announced the launch of 32 new WiFi-enabled parks across all five boroughs, but with a major catch: park goers will be welcomed with just 10 minutes of free browsing a day, and a 30 minute monthly max. Otherwise, to get online, expect to pony up $0.99 per day for access.

Of course, 10 minutes of free WiFi is better than nothing, but the goal of this project — to “equip areas currently lacking widespread Internet access with high-quality WiFi” — doesn’t sit harmoniously with the results. Correction: You can use all of your monthly 30 minutes at once, in one sitting, if you’d like.

Here’s why: for New Yorkers that already subscribe to at-home services from Cablevision and Time Warner Cable — the partners enabling this project — park WiFi access is completely free. This is unsurprising considering Cablevision and Time Warner Cable are maintaining the hotspots through July 2020, but if New York intends to bring WiFi into areas that currently lack it, offering free service to those that already pay for it doesn’t do as much good.

With this launch, the city tells us there are now “more than 50 parks with public WiFi,” a feat made possible through New York’s preexisting deal with AT&T, which offers completely free access at all times. For a full list of WiFi-enabled parks in New York, head here.