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In December 2020, during the final weeks of the de Blasio administration, the City quietly modified the franchise agreement allowing the private company CityBridge, currently installing 10-foot-tall LinkNYC kiosks on public sidewalks, to include installation of 32-foot tall Link5G cell phone towers as well. These towers were framed as helping to “bridge the digital divide” by providing the public with free Wi-Fi and increased access to broadband services. In truth, these sidewalk cell towers serve as profit centers for CityBridge by permitting them to rent transmitter space to telecom companies to increase their closed commercial networks. Today many of the newly installed towers are not operable and, in fact, have no telecommunications equipment installed at all. They are literally empty vessels.
In addition to not providing a demonstrable public good, these enormous industrial constructions are incredibly inappropriate additions to the streetscapes of New York City’s historic districts. To put it bluntly, these towers were designed for a superhighway, not a city street.
New York City deserves better public design.
Carnegie Hill Neighbors has launched a dedicated campaign to keep these proposed towers out of our historic districts. Supported by a coalition of local residents, elected officials and other neighborhood-based groups, CHN is working to find solutions to enhance and modernize our city’s needed public infrastructure without compromising our neighborhood’s distinct sense of history and place.
What's Going On Here?
Sidewalk Cell Tower Primer: What You Need to Know
1. What is 5G?
5G is the next generation of wireless network technology with faster data speeds, greater capacity and lower latency (networks connection time or "ping"). 5G is already up and running here and throughout the U.S. 5G deployments are utilizing multiple bands of wavelenght spectrum (also known as radio frequencies): low-band, mid-band (rooftops for broad canopy coverage) and high-band spectrum (small cells for dense capacity improvement). To utilize this new technology, consumers just need a recent mobile phone model ("5G" appears in the upper right corner of a phone).
2. Why are 5G Towers Planned for Our Sidewalks?
CityBridge, which planted the communications kiosks on Third Avenue and throughout the city in 2014, has a renegotiated franchise agreement with the city to install 5G sidewalk towers as the next step in technology.
3. Where is 5G?
The "Big 3"mobile operators, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, continue to roll out 5G coverage. In dense urban areas like NYC, the "Big 3" are deploying 5G at existing rooftop cellular sites and through "small cells", small antennae placed on street lights or traffic/utility poles. These "small cells" are connected to the larger cellular networks through underground fiber optic lines. 5G "small cells" can be seen today throughout Carnegie Hill. Because they are on top of existing street poles these 5G "small cells" are often difficult to notice. One global cellular tower/small cell company, Crown Castle, has a strong track record of urban "small cell" deployments including throughout NYC.
4. Does Carnegie Hill Need 5G?
Simply put, the massive 5G sidewalk towers proposed by CityBridge are redundant and unnecessary because Carnegie Hill already has excellent 5G coverage utilizing legacy rooftop sites and "small cells" on existing street light/traffic/utility poles.
Rendering of a sidewalk cell tower on Madison Avenue
CHN in the News
Does New York City Really Need These Giant 5G Towers?
Wednesday June 10, 2024 - New York Times report on the need (or not) for sidewalk cell towers
New York's 5G Dilemma: Navigating Urban Connectivity and Public Spaces
Wednesday March 27, 2024 – Journey With Purpose podcast takes a look at 5G cell towers and the balance between meeting the need and keeping public, open spaces.
Residents Battle City Hall Over 5G Towers
Friday November 15, 2023 - Why 32-foot tall cell towers don't belong in historic districts
Contrary to the message peddled by LinkNYC/ CityBridge that these towers enjoy overwhelming support but for a handful of New York City's' 'more affluent communities' ', twenty-seven percent, or 16 out of New York City's 59 community boards have registered opposition to the plan. Constituent run, community boards mission is to proactively seek marginal voices and consider social and historical contexts when endorsing or opposing any proposed plan affecting their public realm.
At our coalition's request, this past April, New York Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler requested a full scale review by The Federal Communications Commission of this specific tower design and the environmental effect on historic districts, triggering a Section 106 Review process and a pause to the plan until September 2023.
