NYC expands city broadband to additional public housing sites

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to expand the city’s Big Apple Connect program — offering free broadband and basic cable to an additional 17 public housing developments in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The Big Apple Connect program, which Mayor Adams launched September 2022, had enrolled 100,000 households by last March 2023, with a 75% adoption rate across eligible housing developments. Now in its third phase, the program is available to more than 330,000 people in 150,000 households at a total 220 public housing developments. As a municipal broadband program, the Big Apple Connect program complements the Federal Communication Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), said a city spokesperson.