Downtown Alliance Adds 10th Wi-Fi Hotspot

The Alliance for Downtown New York has enhanced its Wi-Fi network to provide free coverage on the Elevated Acre at 55 Water St. The Downtown Alliance’s network now includes ten hotspots spanning more than half a million square feet in parks and public spaces in Lower Manhattan from City Hall Park to Bowling Green.

“With its waterfront breezes sweeping views of the East River and distinctive setting, the Elevated Acre is one of the most unique spots in the city and perfect for relaxing during a lunch break or weekend visit to Lower Manhattan—and now it’s got free Wi-Fi service!” said Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York. “With ten Wi-Fi locations—and more on the horizon—Lower Manhattan’s 55,000 residents, 300,000 workers and six million annual visitors can now bring their laptops or iPads and head outdoors.”

Located 40 feet in the air and surrounded by skyscrapers on three sides, the Elevated Acre includes a Brazilian Hardwood Boardwalk, an outdoor lawn and garden, a seven-tiered amphitheater surrounding the lawn, and an illuminated, rectangular glass beacon, all overlooking the East River. The Acre opened in 2005.
The space is used for a variety of private events and celebrations, as well as the River To River Festival’s free movie nights, an annual August series of classic New York City movies on Thursday nights. This year, the Downtown Alliance is serving as the series’ presenting partner for the first time. For more information on the series, visit www.downtownny.com/r2r2010.

The Downtown Alliance established the Lower Manhattan Wireless Network in 2003, and its ten hotspots were recently upgraded with higher bandwidth, new technology and expanded coverage. The network is designed to allow anyone to walk to a hotspot within minutes from any point below Chambers Street, enable connection speeds as fast as DSL (digital subscriber line) and accommodate more than 254 users simultaneously at each location.

Melville, New York-based Sky-Packets installs and maintains the hotspots for the Downtown Alliance. To read a Downtown Alliance Downtown Diary blog post by Sky-Packets on the installation process, visit_
http://blog.downtownny.com/2010/08/bringing-wi-fi-to-the-elevated-acre/.

Wi-Fi is available at:
 The Elevated Acre
The Plaza at 7 World Trade Center
 Bowling Green
 The British Garden at Hanover Square
 City Hall Park
 South Street Seaport
 Stone Street
 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza
Winter Garden and Plaza at the World Financial Center
The Atrium at 60 Wall Street.

The Downtown Alliance has witnessed astronomical growth in usage. From the first half of 2009 to the first half of 2010, the number of connections onto the Network skyrocketed by more than 85 percent.
Currently, the network experiences more than 7,500 connections (on average) each month. In the last month, the Downtown Alliance has recorded over 9,000 log-ons with almost 700 gigabytes of data transferred by Wi-Fi users.