Bed-Stuy NYCHA Housing Slated For Free Internet, Cable

BED-STUY, NY — Bed-Stuy's Vernon Avenue housing development will get free wifi and cable in an expanded city program connecting hundreds of NYCHA facilities, officials announced Tuesday.

The city will foot the bill for residents of 303 Vernon Avenue to get connected with Optimum through at least 2025, Mayor Eric Adams announced.

Residents will receive a Wi-Fi modem and router, basic cable TV service and box and Wi-Fi in common areas.

The Bed-Stuy residents join NYCHA neighbors already set up with free Spectrum and Optimum wifi and cable, including Marcy and Sumner Houses and Wyckoff Gardens.

"The program, which is the largest municipal broadband program in the country, has saved NYCHA residents tens of millions of dollars since its inception, according to service providers," officials said in a statement.

Existing Optimum and Spectrum customers at eligible developments will have their bills automatically reduced, and new customers can set up their service through Optimum or Spectrum, authorities said.

The program, dubbed "Big Apple Connect," launched in 2022 across 135 developments, with 67 sites added in March and another set in June.

“The residents have been asking about this program for a long time,” said Daphne Williams, president, Jacob Riis Houses Resident Association. Manhattan's Riis Houses was included Tuesday's program expansion.

Authorities noted the importance of the program for Brooklyn's youth and expanded access to local news.

“If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s that access to the internet is not a luxury, it is a necessity in our increasingly digital aid,” said New York State Assemblymember Harvey Epstein. “Nearly 25 percent of NYCHA residents are students under the age of 18 who need access to the internet to complete their schoolwork.”