Darine Alghazaly & Rawan M
LinkNYC has been branded as the modern payphone. Since the early 1900s, payphones have connected people through universal access to basic communication services. LinkNYC was first announced in 2014 and devices began appearing across New York City in 2016. It was introduced as a modern communication network replacing thousands of payphones across NYC and would offer services beyond basic telecommunication. What exactly is LinkNYC though, and is it effectively building connections across neighborhoods?
What is LinkNYC & Does it Compare to Payphones?
Often located in high-traffic, public areas, 6,457 payphones can be found across New York City. Map 1 below shows how the positioning of payphones well-equips all neighborhoods with access to basic communication services. Over the years, however, multiple concerns have surfaced regarding payphones as contributing to a digital divide problem across communities. A digital divide refers to the growing gap in access to digital resources and information between economically advantaged and disadvantaged communities. In 2014 when the contract for NYC’s network of payphones expired, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the replacement of the entire system across NYC with the installation of LinkNYC devices beginning in 2016. Branded as a first of it’s kind communications network, LinkNYC seeks to bridge the digital divide that payphones failed to meet by delivering public Wi-FI with a 150 foot range, access to free phone calls, device charging and access to city services, maps and directions in devices located across NYC.
Payphones have been a reliable alternative for those who cannot afford cell phones for decades. The assumption with the introduction of LinkNYC is that the location of these new devices would be concentrated within low-income communities to bridge the gap of the digital divide and that the devices would be located true to the location of payphones. Map 2 below captures a snapshot of LinkNYC devices across Manhattan, where the majority of the existing 1869 devices are located.
To determine whether LinkNYC is appropriately replacing payphones, we explored the location of new devices against the location of payphones using a buffer of .1 of a mile, or a seven minute walk, around all payphone locations. Map 3 below shows that 47% of payphones are not within a .1 mile radius of a LinkNYC device. In comparing this map to Map 1, the majority of payphone locations that are not located within .1 mile of a radius are in previously dense areas of payphones, where there was once a demand for connectivity within those neighborhoods. This observation led to question whether there is a correlation between the placement of LinkNYC devices and median household income.
Is LinkNYC Exacerbating Economic Disparities?
Though the payphone network is much larger than LinkNYC given its age, to further examine the efficacy of this new system bridging the digital divide through providing public Wi-Fi, Map 4 below shows the placement of LinkNYC devices in relation to medium household income across NYC. Medium household income is shown using a grey scale with higher household income indicated by darker shades and LinkNYC devices shown in yellow.
An analysis of Map 4 indicates a correlation between the location of LinkNYC devices and median household income. To examine this further, two focus areas were selected on the map — encompassing four neighborhoods: East Village, Williamsburg, Red Hook and Carroll Gardens — to look at more closely. At first glance, these two areas contain a mix of median household income ranges. Taking into consideration the demographics of these two areas, however, it was found that a number of NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments are located within them. To determine whether the LinkNYC network was meeting its goal of bridging the digital divide across communities, a .1 mile buffer was applied to all locations of NYCHA developments. It was found that there are no LinkNYC devices within proximity of these developments. This leads to question whether a strategy exists behind identifying new placement locations for LinkNYC devices and whether its rooted in avoiding low-income neighborhoods. If so, this goes against the mission of ensuring access to public Wi-Fi and other digital resources to communities most in need.
An Alternative Strategic Use of LinkNYC
One strategic use of LinkNYC, if not geared for use by low-income communities for communication services, may be as a resource for individuals navigating their way around NYC. This shifts the focus of connectivity to be centered around an individual and physical space rather than between an individual and digital space. To explore this alternative strategic use of LinkNYC, Map 5 below shows that just 11% of all LinkNYC devices are not located within a .25 mile buffer from a subway station. This suggests that perhaps the LinkNYC network is intending to serve more as a navigation tool than as to bridge gaps in the digital divide within communities.
The suggestion that LinkNYC is failing to fill the digital divide is further supported by usage trends as shown below.
This chart reflects LinkNYC device usage across NYC in 2019. Peak usage is seen to be in March, June and July, and September. These months coincide with popular times that NYC typically attracts tourists. Below is an additional chart reflecting device usage across NYC in 2018.
Peak usage in 2018 follows the same trends as observed in 2019. These observations further suggest that perhaps the intended users of LinkNYC are not individuals relying on these devices for access to basic communication services but rather individuals seeking navigation tools.
Take-Aways and Conclusions
The LinkNYC network is an expansive communication system. While it has proven to be in demand by the popularity in usage, LinkNYC seems to be serving the demand for navigation resources rather than filling the gap in the digital divide within communities. Perhaps LinkNYC can leverage its impact by expanding in placement identification strategy to ensure that communities of all economic backgrounds are equally targeted and serviced to more adequately align its system in practice with its mission to connect communities.
To follow the methodology behind this project, the R studio and QGIS step-by-step processes, as well as sources can be found here. R studio was used to create the 2018 and 2019 device usage charts and QGIS was used to create all maps.
