News

Residents report drug deals, camp-outs at LinkNYC kiosks

July 21, 2016

LinkNYC kiosks have been all the rage since New York City started swapping out old phone booths for the Wi-Fi hubs. However, some users are complaining that the kiosks crowd the streets and serve as rendezvous for drug deals, according to a report by dna info.

Each kiosk is 9 feet 6 inches tall, and the city plans to deploy 4,550 of them by July 2019. The kiosks offer free Wi-Fi and cell phone charging.

"These are extremely intrusive and extremely large," New York City resident Betty Cooper Wallerstein said in the report. "If they were alone, I might not have an objection to the size, but they're not alone. There are all kinds of structures along the street."

Residents also have reported drug deals occurring at kiosks, as well as people camping out at kiosks in recliners.

A LinkNYC spokeswoman said that the company is responding to the complaints with measures such as lowering the volume of display advertisements on the kiosks at night. She also said that the units are as small as they can be given the technology they house, according to the report.

Community board members are trying to set up a meeting with LinkNYC to discuss residents' complaints and the placement of kiosks in the future.