Preservation Alert: Stop the Massive and Unnecessary 5G Towers Coming to Your Neighborhood!

Photo via NBC 4 New York

The City of New York is embarking upon a plan to install massive ungainly 32-ft.-tall Link NYC 5G towers across the city, with early concentrations in locations like the West Village and Meatpacking District, SoHo, and the Upper East Side. There has been little public notification or engagement, and almost no meaningful public review of siting or design. The City claims the towers are needed to bridge the “digital divide” and ensure all New Yorkers have access to high speed broadband, especially those in “digital deserts” located largely in lower-income communities — a laudable goal. So why are they being sited and concentrated in neighborhoods like those mentioned above?

We don’t know for sure, but it seems like data and space from these towers will be sold and monetized, making a hefty profit for the private commercial operator. We do know that many of these proposed towers would be located on sidewalks just outside residents’ windows and in historic districts and landmarked areas.

Just some of the areas that have been discussed for potential siting include:

  • 99 Gansevoort Street (corner of West Street)
  • 820 Greenwich Street (corner of Jane Street)
  • 771 Greenwich Street (corner of Bethune Street)
  • 113 Jane Street (corner of West Street)
  • Southwest corner of Horatio and Washington Streets
  • Northwest corner of West 12th and Washington Streets
  • Southeast corner of West and Bethune Streets
  • Southwest corner of Prince and Greene Streets
  • Northeast corner of Prince Street and Broadway 

Village Preservation strenuously objects to this plan, and urges you to as well — see our letter to city officials here (Village Preservation also made a presentation to a recent Community Board 2 hearing on the subject). The lack of public notification and input, the illogical siting that serves no apparent public interest, and the lack of consideration for impacts upon residences and historic districts is completely unacceptable.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

January 17, 2023