The Google signage is seen at the company’s headquarters in New York January 8, 2013. Google and a New York redevelopment organisation are providing a Manhattan neighbourhood with free public WiFi Internet access, making it the largest area of coverage in New York City. The search giant and the non-profit Chelsea Improvement Co are making Internet access available outdoors in Chelsea, which is home to Google’s New York offices and several technology start-ups.

Tech giant Google announced Tuesday that it has begun offering free public WiFi internet access in the southwest Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, close to its mammoth headquarters. According to Google, the new service which was the product of a public-private effort by the company, city officials, and a local nonprofit development ogranization will provide free Internet access to hundreds of thousands of people each year, making it the largest such WiFi network in New York City.

Google said that free WiFi is now available today outdoors, “roughly between Gansevoort St. and 19 St. from 8th Ave to the West Side Highway, as well as the neighborhood’s public spaces, including the Chelsea Triangle, 14th Street Park, and Gansevoort Plaza.” The WiFi network will not require a password.

“Google is proud to provide free WiFi in the neighborhood we have called home for over six years,” Ben Fried, the company’s chief information officer, said in a statement. “This network will not only be a resource for the 2,000+ residents of the Fulton Houses, it will also serve the 5,000+ student population of Chelsea as well as the hundreds of workers, retail customers and tourists who visit our neighborhood every day.”

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