Google has given its New York City neighborhood the gift of free Wi-Fi, the Fortune 500 company said on Tuesday.
Thousands of Chelsea residents, who share the Manhattan neighborhood with Google's NYC headquarters, will have outdoor access to the service in areas between Gansevoort Street and 19th Street from 8th Avenue to the West Side Highway, as well as public spaces like Chelsea Triangle, 14th Street Park and Gansevoort Plaza.
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The free service — paid for in part by the Chelsea Improvement Project — was announced at a joint press conference with Google Chief Information Officer Ben Fried, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Sen. Charles Schumer.
With only $115,000 worth of installation costs, plus $45,000 in annual maintenance, Bloomberg and Schumer are enthusiastic about the possibility of eventually providing free Wi-Fi access to the entire city.
“New York is determined to become the world’s leading digital city, and universal access to high-speed Internet is one the core building blocks of that vision,” the mayor said. “Thanks to Google, free WiFi across this part of Chelsea takes us another step closer to that goal.”
"Google is proud to provide free Wi-Fi in the neighborhood we have called home for over six years," Fried said in a press release.