UES Neighborhood in Battle to Stop Installation of 5G Cell Towers

By: Daniella Doria

In an exclusive report from The New York Post, one Upper East Side neighborhood is fighting against a proposal  to install 18 of the much-hated Link NYC cell phone towers.

The Office of Technology & Innovation is overseeing the installation of 2,000 Link5G street towers across the city to bolster service — including 18 in Community Board 8 on the UES.

Carl Campanile, a reporter for The New York Post, writes that the fight has now reached Mayor Eric Adam’s office. Residents of this ritzy area are concerned for their health and safety. These proposed cell phone towers would include charging and free internet stations. In Midtown, where these things are on every corner, they have become urine-soaked hubs for homeless and other individuals.

State Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, who represents the UES, even sent a letter to Adams calling for a moratorium on 5G expansion amid the not-on-my-street backlash.

“Our office is receiving numerous complaints regarding the 18 additional Link NYC sites that have been proposed for the Upper East Side,” Seawright told Adams in the Dec. 7 missive.

“While we understand the importance of expanding access to critical telecommunication tools, community level input is essential.  With great concern from our neighbors for a rushed implementation, I request a moratorium on further expansion of 5G on the Upper East Side before residents can weigh in on the proposed sites.”

Seawright said, in a statement to The New York Post, she’s concerned the towers’ installation was already “in the last steps before implementation” by the time city officials and the wireless consortium shared details with the community.

The lawmaker also said she’s “wary” after complaining the OTI ignored queries about an antenna being installed on a city-owned street map outside of 520 East 90th Street “without notification” to elected officials. She said she’s gotten no response to requests to relocate the tower.

Three of the towers would be in the Madison Avenue historic district, noted Matthew Bauer, president of the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District — and said “it doesn’t seem fair. It doesn’t seem right.”

Resident Radames Soto said the wireless towers were unnecessary because “our service is great, our wifi is great.”

He said the Madison Avenue shopping district— with the most luxury stores “on the planet” — is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, is struggling to clamp down on thefts, and shouldn’t be sullied with ugly towers.

East Side Councilman Keith Powers also parroted the NIMBY mantra.

During a virtual Community Board 8 meeting last week that attracted more than 100 anti-tower participants, a statement from Powers declared the towers “threaten the aesthetic and charm of the neighborhood.”

“I do share my constituents’ concerns about installing towers in residential areas where they will. surely be obtrusive,” he said.

But it not simply a fight about aesthetics or a matter of taste. A residential neighborhood is not going to want these monstrosities. They attract homeless people to camp out and use them as a toilet while they charge their devices and use the free internet.