Continued Opposition to 5G Towers Gets Attention of NY Times

While the Upper East Side’s opposition to the installation of 5G towers around the neighborhood has been in the local news for years, the tug-of-war has officially gone national with a mention in The New York Times.

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“Does Madison Avenue Need a 5G Tower?” appeared Monday on the paper’s website. For those unaware of the situation: More than 150 LinkNYC 5G towers have already been constructed in the city in areas that LinkNYC says require more coverage. Additionally, the company said at one point that “90% of all new LinkNYC locations will be in outer boroughs and above 96th Street in Manhattan.”

The planned tower that’s causing pushback from residents of the Upper East Side would be located at corner of Madison Avenue and 86th Street, an intersection that most residents would recognize as being particularly crowded to begin with.

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“This intersection hosts six bus stops,” longtime Upper East Side resident Mary Ellen Bianco told the New York Times. “We’ve got a falafel guy and a coffee guy. We’ve got street furniture. The free newsletter distributors have a big installation, and there’s a Chase bank with an ATM.”

The latest appeal against the tower came from the neighborhood activist group Friends of the Upper East Side, which, along with Community Board 8, has been consistently fighting against the planned installations since they were announced in 2022. According to PIX11 News, the group has appealed to the New York State Preservation Office, despite that office previously saying that it would allow the planned tower to be constructed.

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“[The towers are] so tall and bulky, they are 32 feet high, that is 3 stories high, they’re in chrome, which doesn’t fit in at all with the neighborhood,” Nuha Ansari, the executive director of the group, told PIX11 on Tuesday. “Madison Avenue is a special preservation district; its storefronts are regulated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. We were amazed that this huge, sort of intrusive 32-foot-tall tower would be proposed for somewhere like that.”

Other community activists have echoed her concern. Matt Bauer, president of the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), told East Side Feed on Monday that his group is also opposed to the construction of the tower.

“We respectfully request that the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) heed this overwhelming opposition and not approve this location for a LINK 5G tower,” he wrote in a text message.

Meanwhile, LinkNYC has, according to PIX11, maintained that their towers have gone through a thorough review process that has included public hearings with the NYC Public Design Commission, as well as community boards and other actors.

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