NYC Expands ‘Big Apple Connect' to Deliver Free Internet, Cable to 300K+ New Yorkers

What to Know

• ‘Big Apple Connect’ provides NYCHA residents a free bundle that consists of in-home, high-speed internet connection, basic cable TV service, and common area Wi-Fi hotspots, selected in consultation with NYCHA.
• City officials announced the program is expanding by nearly 50 percent.
• The program provides the broadband service 202 NYCHA developments, reaching about 300,000 New Yorkers. However, with the announced expansion, an additional 67 NYCHA developments will receive the service, reaching an additional 40,000 households.

New York City is expanding by nearly 50 percent “Big Apple Connect” — the nation’s largest municipal broadband program which provides free internet and basic cable television service to hundreds of NYCHA developments.

‘Big Apple Connect’ provides NYCHA residents a free bundle that consists of in-home, high-speed internet connection, basic cable TV service, and common area Wi-Fi hotspots, selected in consultation with NYCHA.

The program provides the broadband service 202 NYCHA developments, reaching about 300,000 New Yorkers. However, with the announced expansion, an additional 67 NYCHA developments will receive the service, reaching an additional 40,000 households.

“Six months ago, I promised that we would bridge the digital divide for NYCHA residents, and today I’m proud to deliver on that commitment ahead of schedule,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “With this expansion of ‘Big Apple Connect,’ the nation’s largest municipal broadband program to more than 200 NYCHA developments, more than 300,000 New Yorkers now have access to internet and cable TV for free. Internet isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity, and today we’re proud to connect hundreds of thousands more New Yorkers to opportunities and to the future.”

The city has entered into three-year agreements with Altice (Optimum) and Charter (Spectrum), which will collectively cover the majority of developments owned and managed by NYCHA.

Existing customers of Optimum and Spectrum in NYCHA developments where ‘Big Apple Connect’ is active will be automatically enrolled in the program and will only be billed for additional services they choose to purchase directly.

Adams launched ‘Big Apple Connect’ last fall, promising to install the services in more than 200 NYCHA developments by the end of 2023.