The Law of Unintended Consequences has struck again!
Its latest victim is New York’s LinkNYC, the Wi-Fi enabled digital advertising kiosks sprinkled across New York, designed to provide free Wi-Fi access, web surfing (on the shiny glass screens) and most importantly, advertising.
Unfortunately, instead of gladdening the hearts of New Yorkers, the LinkNYC kiosks are making them very angry. Here’s what these shiny new advertising beacons have brought to the Big Apple:
Bum caught masturbating next to New York Wi-Fi kiosk
Homeless men watch porn on Wi-Fi kiosk in Times Square
LinkNYC kiosks attract homeless encampments and drug deals (Upper East Side)
Today, the city decided to turn off web browsing on the kiosks because it has received a lot of complaints:
LinkNYC pulls the plug on Internet browsing because of porn
The LinkNYC has been plagued with so much controversy and I’ve written about it in the past:
Controversial NYC Wi-Fi payphone project approved
Gotta love NY! No surprises here. As long as LinkNYC keeps the kiosks away from the grates in the sidewalks, the bums should be gone by late November. They’ll retreat to the nearest grate when it gets cold. The plan might have worked well almost anywhere else.
It’s hard to believe that the touted “industry veterans ” involved in this project could have made such a ridiculously novice mistake in planning. Its simply a case of BAD project management.
Additionally the very inexpensive and widely deployed solution has been in existence and is being used in too many venues to mention.
We have been employing it for about 15 Years like many others.