Chapter 1 Introduction

The Internet is a driver of the American economy and increasingly a necessity of modern life. Recognizing this centrality, in January 2020 New York City Mayor de Blasio’s office released an ambitious plan to “close the digital divide” by bringing “universal broadband” to “all New Yorkers”. Dubbed the Internet Master Plan, the sixty-eight-page missive details the economic, social, and educational benefits of spreading high-speed Internet access to the 195 neighborhoods that make up the five boroughs, as well as a roadmap to its achievement. While the authors of the Plan called for an aggressive timeline of expanded infrastructural roll out entering full swing sometime in Q1 2022, they had no idea how soon their goals would become vital to the City’s functioning.

Months after the Plan’s announcement, a wholesale digital migration of professional, educational, and interpersonal life brought about by an unexpected global pandemic rendered online connectivity more important than ever. A year after the onset of stay-at-home orders, virtual learning, and social distancing, the City’s eight million inhabitants were more at the mercy of their Internet infrastructure than ever before. Some, though, faced more daunting obstacles to connectivity than others. The purpose of this project is to better understand the nature of this digital disparity. Using data on neighborhood digital infrastructure as well as economic, demographic, housing, and sociological characteristics, we seek to better understand the geographic and socioeconomic distribution of Internet availability in New York City during the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic.