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Transit Lines are Life Blood
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The Topic
Tech (shorthand for Technology and Utilities) refers to computers, telecommunications and the Internet, as well as public utilities such as cable, electricity and pay phone services, and the important issues that New Yorkers will increasingly face, including consumer issues, because of the growth of these technology-based industries.
The Context
Technology and telecommunications is economically vital to the success of New York’s largest and most important industries including finance, healthcare, higher education, media and the telecommunications industry itself. According to New York’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), in 2003, telecom carriers, cable companies, Internet service providers and publishers were a $23 billion industry -- over three percent of the city’s economy – employing 43,000 people. New Yorkers are tech savvy; more than two-thirds of us are online. Yet the speed with which new technologies and tech-related industries have developed means that many policy issues are only now beginning to be addressed, such as how to protect consumer privacy online, ensure equal access to new technology, bring government services to the Internet, allow online trading of digital music, and tax e-commerce. While the Internet began as free-wheeling, governments are looking more and more to regulate it, and New York will be among the first places in the nation to feel the impact of these decisions.
New York Tech Community Reorganizes

Principals Fear Big Cuts
On the heels of a 1.3 percent cut to every school's current budget, Chancellor Joel Klein warned the principals yesterday to expect a hefty 3.5 percent cut in next year's budget, they said. In another development, education officials are scrapping a program to test GPS locator systems on school buses.
Rock the Vote Printed Wrong Address on 100,000 Registration Forms Staewide

Delays on $80 Million Data System While Schools Face Cuts

Brooklyn Subway Station to Display Real Time Train Locations

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The Blackout Via TV; By Phone; On Blogs. Also: Only Days Left To Save .NYC

by Laura Forlano
August 2003

When the blackout occurred, I had plenty of water, a working landline, two cell phones that never lost power, 24-hour Internet access, a fully-operating electric stove, and cable TV. That is because I was in Tokyo.

The only New Yorkers I could bond with, though, were the CNN anchors on my TV as they beamed me images of Avenue A and gave accounts of the bonfire in Tompkins Square Park just steps from my apartment.

It was somehow instructive to be on another continent, another culture -- a place where, on June 22, there had been a "voluntary blackout." It was called Candle Night, and its purpose was to get people thinking about energy conservation, among other things. (It is sponsored by an environmental organization called the Sloth Club) As part of this event, major tourist sites such as Tokyo Tower and Himeji Castle were left in the dark, on purpose.

Over the summer in Tokyo, amid earthquakes and typhoons, there were also fears of power failure, especially, according to the Japan Times, because of safety inspections that required the closure of 17 nuclear power generators.

But, following the blackout in New York on August 14th, Japanese utility companies were quick to reassure Tokyoites that a major power failure would never happen in Japan. This, the newspaper Asahi Shimbun told their readers, is due to differences in Japanese power grids and rerouting capabilities. Not everybody in Japan is so confident, though, especially one of the major train companies, which operates at full capacity every day.

Calling New York, But Not Getting an Answer

Despite all of my technology, it was impossible to contact anyone in New York. Landlines rang and rang with no answer due to overloaded telecom networks, despite Verizon's extensive back-up systems which insure that hospitals, essential services and 911 are operating during emergencies. Payphones continued to work for those patient enough to stand in line (scroll down to the fourth photo).

Most of us prefer the convenience of cordless phones ("Can I call you back? I'm in the shower right now.") forgetting that they won't work without electricity. Some have even abandoned landlines all together preferring to pay only one bill, for their cell phone. But, for the most part, cell phones from the top six carriers were unreliable through Friday morning. Verizon Wireless reported getting four times their usual traffic. Cell phone towers require electricity and have only three to six hours of back-up batteries.

This is the second time that cell phone networks have faltered in the face of an emergency. The first was during 9/11 when the Internet became the most reliable communication network. Unlike 9/11 however, the Internet was of no use in the blackout because most people couldn't connect to it without a computer. However, BlackBerry e-mail pagers did work because they rely on an older type of network technology.

If there was any time to be low-tech, it was during the Blackout of 2003. New Yorkers quickly learned the value of having at least one battery-operated radio, flashlight, plug-in phone.

Blackout Blogs

Many New York blogs covered the blackout with photos. Some of these include Gothamist, CamWorld, Capn Design, Satan's Laundromat, and those by John Wehr, Andrew Raff, Jesse Chan-Norris, Adam Fields, and Robert Spychala's SnapLog. The Fray, and many other blogs, are collecting stories Blackout 2003 from their readers.

To follow up on the bonding theme, online community Craigslist New York received almost thirty postings about "missed connections" during the blackout - personal ads resulting from the many close encounters in the dark. But are you sure you want to meet someone you only saw in the dim beam of your flashlight???

Another Plea for .NYC

The city has only until August 25 to file comments that could result in ownership of the Internet domain name .NYC. If secured, this new name could replace .COM, .GOV or .ORG in New York City-related organizations and businesses. For a brief background on this issue as of March 2002 see "The Battle for .NYC."

Proponents of this plan argue that the city could gain marketing power, increase revenue and improve the quality of life in New York if the .NYC name were secured. Queens Community Board 3 has been backing this issue since April 2001 when it passed an Internet Empowerment Resolution requesting that the city obtain .NYC. However, those opposed disagree with the concept that a city government should be able profit from the licensing of Internet domain names such as hotels.nyc or restaurants.nyc.

In order to make .NYC a reality, lawmakers need to file comments with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Further attention and support from Mayor Bloomberg, Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Chief Gino Menchini, City Council Technology in Government Committee Chair Gale Brewer and Commission on Public Information and Communication Chair Betsy Gotbaum and others is needed.

Laura Forlano is a doctoral student studying communication technology policy at Columbia University.

Other Related Articles:
The 2006 Blackout – Too Easy Just To Blame Con Edison (2006-08-07)

The Aging City (2006-07-31)

That 70's Show (2005-05-09)

Keeping the City Running (2003-10-06)

The Gap Between Food Stamp Eligibility and Food Stamp Use (2003-09-26)

My Own Private Blackout (2003-09-15)

What Made The Blackout Inevitable (2003-09-15)

The Lesson Of The Blackout Is NOT More Power Plants (2003-08-26)

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