New York City Announces Accelerated Internet Master Plan to Support Communities Hardest-Hit by COVID-19

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city leaders announced that NYC will accelerate broadband deployment in all five boroughs, prioritizing public housing communities, which have suffered disproportionately during the COVID-19 pandemic. NYC will make a historic $157 million investment in ending digital redlining and providing high-speed internet, including $87 million redirected from the NYPD budget. This investment will extend new internet service options to 600,000 underserved New Yorkers, including 200,000 NYCHA residents over the next 18 months. This approach will create a path to NYCHA-wide implementation and universal broadband across NYC. “Our mission to deliver affordable, high-quality internet service has never felt more urgent,” said Mayor de Blasio. “COVID-19 has further exposed the inequalities in internet access while changing the way New Yorkers work, learn, and live. Accelerating universal broadband access will make our city healthier, safer, and more equal.”