Ah New York parks! Sunshine, trees, joggers… and soon free internet access.
Central Park and a number of the Big Apple’s other public parks are urged to become public internet hubs for this summer when the city parks begin offering free wireless net access, the city government announced last Tuesday.

New York has already rolled out free wireless connection in other selected areas and eventually all major parks in the city will offer coverage.

“We expect Central Park to be launched in July, and the rest of the parks in he late summer”, the Department of Parks and Recreations was quoted by the AFP as saying. Among the green spaces chosen for free internet access will be Union Square, Washington Square, Flushing Meadows and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

While New York’s effort is limited to its parks, it is expected to have a huge impact, given the number of parks across the five boroughs and the density of the neighborhoods surrounding them. In many instances, residents and businesses near city parks are likely to be able to tap into the services.

On the same note, last month, the mayors of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, and San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, signed a “digital sister cities” pact to foster collaboration between technology entrepreneurs. Delanoë said the San Francisco visit provided ideas for what his city government should be looking for in providing wireless computer service.

Internet is in the air…