The looming expiration of a key federal program could mean the end of high-speed internet access for just under 1 million low-income households in New York City, a new analysis shows.
Data shared with Gothamist by the Center for an Urban Future shows that almost 1 million New Yorkers signed up for the federal Affordable Connectivity Program before it ran out of money in April. The initiative paid a monthly credit to internet service providers — like Optimum, Spectrum and Verizon — on behalf of customers who qualified based on their income.
Broadband access is seen as a crucial tool for escaping poverty and getting an education, but the costs often put it out of reach for those who need it most. Inequities in internet access were laid bare during the pandemic and the city’s school system scrambled to get 1 million students online at home — a chaotic process from which students are still recovering. Nearly a quarter of New York City’s roughly 8.5 million households lacked internet connections in 2021, and nearly half of the poorest New Yorkers were going without broadband.
The new analysis shows that the federal subsidy program was most popular in East Harlem, a wide swath of the South Bronx, and Long Island City, which contains the country’s largest public housing complex in the country.
East Harlem and the South Bronx were among the areas with the lowest broadband access citywide in 2021, before the program launched, according to data compiled by the City Council. Around two-thirds of households in East Harlem and the South Bronx received discounted internet through the federal program. Roughly 44% of all Bronx households were enrolled in the program.
Center for an Urban Future Editorial and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin said they could immediately lose crucial connectivity at the end of May.
“The reality is that for those nearly 1 million households, if they want to preserve their high-speed internet service, they’re going to have to dig deeper into their own pockets,” Dvorkin said. “That’s going to be really tough.”
The end of federal funding is also highlighting New York City’s own stalled efforts to expand internet access to low-income residents — an effort derided as duplicative while the precarious nationwide credit was in effect.
Nine out of 10 New Yorkers who earn less than $25,000 a year pay at least half their income on rent, according to the city’s most recent housing survey. And half of all households in the city can’t afford basic needs without assistance, according to a 2023 report from the United Way of New York City.
Many households benefiting from the subsidy will likely forgo internet service once their bills spike, Dvorkin said.
The program’s expiration also has serious consequences for the city’s overall economy by reducing job applicants, hurting kids and college students who need internet access for schoolwork and preventing people from easily accessing benefits, he added.
“High speed internet is the portal to almost every opportunity that exists out there today,” Dvorkin said. “It would be a real detriment to New Yorkers in general and to New York City’s opportunity agenda if we lose that access.”
Bipartisan lawmakers — including Rep. Yvette Clarke, a Brooklyn Democrat, and Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican — are pushing Congress to restore funding for the program, pointing to the benefits in urban as well as rural communities.
“Truly, the ACP represents one of our best tools to close the digital divide,” Clarke said in a March statement.
Once the funding ends, internet service providers will cut off internet for customers who can no longer afford it, or offer a discounted rate.
Verizon spokesperson Caroline Brooks said it will still offer discounted internet access for some low-income customers. And Erin Smyth, a representative for Optimum’s parent company Altice, said the internet service provider has a $15-per-month offering for New Yorkers who receive other forms of financial assistance.
Spectrum’s website informs customers their bills will spike once the credit expires and encourages them to “urge the government to take action.” Spectrum spokesperson Don Kaplan said the company is also offering a $30 discount on a mobile line and directing customers to other programs they may qualify for.
Around 330,000 residents of NYCHA buildings already receive free internet through Big Apple Connect, a $90 million initiative under Mayor Eric Adams. Their access won’t be affected by the end of the federal program, said Ray Legendre, a spokesperson for the City’s Office of Technology and Innovation, which administers the program.
Legendre added that the city is still pushing for an extension to the federal program, and that New Yorkers not included in Big Apple Connect should ask their internet service providers about discounts.
When Big Apple Connect was announced, some policymakers criticized it for being redundant with the federal aid offering in effect, though many residents were able to use one subsidy for their broadband and the other for their mobile device. It will likely outlive the federal program, but it doesn’t have long-term funding, either. Its contract is set to expire in 2025, with an optional extension to 2027.
At the end of 2022, the Adams administration killed a broader effort to expand free or low-cost internet citywide.
The Internet Master Plan, developed under previous Mayor Bill de Blasio, called for using local small businesses to build out municipally owned broadband infrastructure. Its architects estimated it would have delivered free or low-cost high-speed internet to more than a million New Yorkers.
This story has been updated to include a comment from the Office of Technology and Innovation.
