VIRTUAL: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

LinkNYC, started in 2016, is an urban communication network project which oversaw the removal of all the payphones of New York City and substituted them for Links, interactive kiosks that offer Wi-Fi, calling and other services. This paper combines considerations of the mediated experiences offered by the Links with the history of the project to analyze how LinkNYC and its infrastructures contribute to shape the layered urban experience of New York City. The mediated experiences on offer by the interactive kiosks promote a particular practice of mobility for its users, positioning them as pedestrians in constant movement. The history of LinkNYC demonstrates a lack of alignment between the administrative processes of the city and the development of digital technologies. One of the goals of the project was to provide internet access to underserved citizens. On top of failing to achieve this, the services LinkNYC do provide are irrelevant to current technological development and uses. While born obsolete in terms of its purposed public service, the project is efficient when it comes to its profitability. LinkNYC, spread in more than 1800 points of New York, is in a preferred position to use cameras and sensors to surveil citizens and track their movements throughout the city. This paper brings together these two analyses to explore the type of urban space LinkNYC contributes to build: profit-focused, lacking a commitment to the public, and positioning citizens as passersby, not inhabitants of the urban public space.