{"id":324131,"date":"2022-11-08T01:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T06:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/?p=324131"},"modified":"2022-11-07T12:13:46","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T17:13:46","slug":"what-are-those-mysterious-new-towers-looming-over-new-yorks-sidewalks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/2022\/11\/what-are-those-mysterious-new-towers-looming-over-new-yorks-sidewalks\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Those Mysterious New Towers Looming Over New York\u2019s Sidewalks?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>by Dodai Stewart, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/jmc0C#selection-299.0-302.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archive<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"width: 35%;\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/jmc0C\/d268194f41cdf22d14871f0d082b8421901568ac.webp\" alt=\"\" \/> As the city upgrades to 5G wireless, the streetscape is changing. Not everyone is impressed.<\/p>\n<div>A\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/tomgara\/status\/1583298097660116994?ref_src=twsrc^tfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">curiously futuristic tower<\/a>\u00a0recently appeared on the corner of Putnam and Bedford Avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. A gray column topped by a perforated casing, at a whopping 32 feet tall, it reaches higher than the three-story brick building behind it.<\/div>\n<p><!--more Read More--> TRUTH LIVES on at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sgtreport.tv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\">https:\/\/sgtreport.tv\/<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Sixty-year-old Marion Little, who owns Stripper Stain &amp; Supplies, the hardware store that has operated on that corner for 17 years, said that he and his neighbors had received no warning. One day there were workers outside; then the tower materialized.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe were shocked because we had no idea what it was,\u201d Mr. Little said.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Since it\u2019s right outside his store, people keep asking him about it. \u201cThey\u2019ve been emailing me, calling me weekends, Facebooking me, like, \u2018Yo, what\u2019s that?\u2019 and I\u2019m sitting there like, \u2018I have no clue.\u2019\u201d<\/div>\n<div>The object in question is a\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/www1.nyc.gov\/office-of-the-mayor\/news\/485-22\/mayor-adams-cto-fraser-linknyc-first-link5g-kiosk-new-york-city%23\/0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new 5G antenna tower erected by LinkNYC<\/a>, the latest hardware in New York\u2019s sweeping technological\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/www1.nyc.gov\/office-of-the-mayor\/news\/724-21\/new-york-city-close-digital-divide-1-6-million-residents-advance-racial-equity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">upgrade<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>New York City has an agreement with CityBridge, the team behind\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/www.link.nyc\/find-a-link.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LinkNYC<\/a>, that involves installing\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/www.thecity.nyc\/2022\/4\/27\/23045122\/link5g-free-wifi-tech-linknyc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2,000 5G towers<\/a>\u00a0over the next several years, an effort to help eliminate the city\u2019s \u201cinternet deserts.\u201d Ninety percent will be in underserved areas of the city \u2014 neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and above 96th Street in Manhattan.<\/div>\n<div>Once the towers are activated, residents will have access to free digital calling and free high-speed Wi-Fi as well as 5G service. Many of the locations were previously home to pay phones.<\/div>\n<div>According to officials in the city\u2019s Office of Technology and Innovation,\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/www1.nyc.gov\/assets\/designcommission\/downloads\/pdf\/10-18-2021-pres-DoITT-p-Link-5G.pdf%23page=10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">40 percent of New York City households lack the combination of home and mobile broadband<\/a>, including 18 percent of residents \u2014 more than 1.5 million people \u2014 who lack both.<\/div>\n<div>The 5G towers, as well as fiber cables underground, will make up an infrastructure that carriers like AT&amp;T and Verizon can use to provide better service to customers. Most of the towers, including the one on Mr. Little\u2019s corner, have not yet been activated.<\/div>\n<div>But as is often the case when something new appears on the New York City streetscape, people seem startled by the large structures \u2014 and some\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/12\/science\/5g-phone-safety-health-russia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have expressed unfounded fears about 5G<\/a>. They\u2019re concerned about the towers\u2019 sheer size and, in some cases, the wrecked views from third-floor windows. Mr. Little also questioned the practicality of placing the tower on his corner at the B26 bus stop: \u201cThe buses turn here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be easy to miscalculate and hit the thing.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Another 5G tower popped up in Fort Greene, on the corner of Vanderbilt and Myrtle Avenues, again, by a bus stop \u2014 the B69. It looms alongside a three-story residential building with a ground-level liquor store.<\/div>\n<div>Mark Malecki, 26, who moved to New York City in mid-October from Richmond, Va., has an intimate view framed by his third-floor bedroom window. \u201cI wasn\u2019t even quite sure what it was,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper-hidden\"><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\">\n<div>\n<p>Image<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" \/><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" \/><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/jmc0C\/62f42ee792caa00ea8138bdfbd3d680f7275e552.webp\" sizes=\"((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw\" alt=\"A 5G tower in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn is 32 feet tall.\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption><span aria-hidden=\"false\">The new tower at the corner of at Bedford and Putnam Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant caught residents by surprise.<\/span>Credit&#8230;<span aria-hidden=\"false\">Amir Hamja for The New York Times<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-captionblock\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" \/><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" \/><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/jmc0C\/62f42ee792caa00ea8138bdfbd3d680f7275e552.webp\" sizes=\"((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw\" alt=\"A 5G tower in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn is 32 feet tall.\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Just down the street lives Renee Collymore, a 50-year-old Brooklynite who said her family is \u201cfour generations deep in this neighborhood\u201d and who serves as the Democratic liaison for the 57th Assembly District in Fort Greene. She\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/o\/jmc0C\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/reneecollymore\/status\/1554957626873679873?s=21&amp;t=Yu4gH47C3lclaQK53FAD8A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has been wary of the tower since it appeared this summer<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div>As the head of the Vanderbilt Avenue Block Association, Ms. Collymore said, \u201cNever have I heard one mention of residents asking for a tower to be placed where we live.\u201d She plans to hold a meeting about it.<\/div>\n<div id=\"NYT_MAIN_CONTENT_2_REGION\" data-testid=\"region\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><em>\u201c<\/em>Before this tower came, I had fine service,\u201d Ms. Collymore continued. \u201cWhat, a call dropped every now and then? So what. You keep going.\u201d<\/div>\n<div>In Manhattan\u2019s Chinatown, where a tower cropped up on the corner of Mulberry and Bayard Streets, one resident of a nearby building declared it a \u201cmonstrosity.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/jmc0C#selection-299.0-302.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Read More @ Archive.ph<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Dodai Stewart, Archive: As the city upgrades to 5G wireless, the streetscape is changing. Not everyone is impressed. A\u00a0curiously futuristic tower\u00a0recently appeared on the corner of Putnam and Bedford Avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. A gray column topped by a perforated casing, at a whopping 32 feet tall, it reaches higher than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[141710],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}