Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday welcomed a new high-tech facility in the Bronx that will provide the public serious high-speed internet service among other technological innovations.
“This is such an important initiative,” said Adams, speaking at the new Bronx Gigabit Center on Grand Concourse and 168th Street.
The site will provide free public Wi-Fi access through the LinkNYC network, along with digital literacy training, free access to laptops and workstations and other services.
A similar site launched in Harlem this year, and there are plans to open others in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
“This program here today personifies what we believe we need to do: getting connected through WiFi internet. [It’s] no longer a luxury” and just as important as “ heat, hot water, and electricity,” the mayor said.
Not everyone who attended praised the high-speed service.
One homeless woman was repeatedly asked to leave after heckling the mayor about poor conditions at a nearby shelter she’s living in.
“Help us, I live right here, you are launching WiFi, but what about our homes?” said the woman, who failed to get the question answered.