All 51 New York City Council members back internet affordability program in new letter

All 51 New York City Council members have signed a letter imploring Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to renew funding for a vital federal program that’s helped nearly 1 million low-income households afford internet service in the city by taking up to $30 off their monthly internet bills. Money for the $14.2 billion program ran out in April, threatening the progress that had been made in closing the digital divide over the past couple years. When the program started in December 2021, about a quarter of New York City’s households lacked a broadband subscription. Black, Latino, low-income and senior households were particularly unlikely to have a high-speed subscription. With City Council members across the political aisle joining the call for renewed funding, the issue is a unifying one. Very rarely—and certainly not for some time—have all 51 members signed on to the same letter.