We explore the introduction of Link5G towers in NYC and the resulting public outcry. Learn about the technological advancements promised by 5G, the city’s rationale for these 35-foot structures, and the concerns over their impact on historic neighborhoods and the urban landscape. Engage with the complex interplay between progress and preservation in the city’s streets.

We talk to Matt Butcher a licensed electrical engineer in the telecom space, Andrew Berman the Executive Director of Village Preservation, from Carnegie Hill Neighbors Executive Director Joanna Cawley, and historical preservationist Simeon Bankoff.

• LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:

• Typology.city – where our bodies meet public policy

• Colin Kelly – Better Bin

• Introduction of Link5G Towers: The episode discusses the introduction of Link5G towers in New York City, larger cousins to the existing Link NYC kiosks, intended to enhance 5G connectivity across the city.

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Principal of Sublight Engineering, has over 30 years of experience as an electrical engineer with practice areas of radio frequency (RF), electrical, and computer engineering. His RF work includes human exposure assessment; wireless network design; and interference assessment and mitigation.

Measuring, modeling, providing guidance on, and developing standards related to human exposure to RF is a primary focus of Sublight Engineering. Since 2000 Mr. Butcher has been working with industry, government, workers, and the public on this topic.

As a Senior Member of the IEEE and the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES) Mr. Butcher helps develop the C95 standards for the safe use of electromagnetic energy. He is the co-chair of (SC1) Techniques, Procedures, & Instrumentation, responsible for C95.3 – IEEE Recommended Practice for Measurements and Computations of Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields with Respect to Human Exposure to Such Fields, 0 Hz to 300 GHz.

Executive Director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

Andrew is a lifelong New Yorker, born and raised in the Bronx, where he attended New York City public schools and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Wesleyan University, and has lived and worked on the West Side and in Lower Manhattan for more than twenty years.

Since 2002 he has been the Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which has become the largest neighborhood preservation organization in New York City. During his tenure, GVSHP has secured groundbreaking landmarking and neighborhood zoning protections in the Meatpacking District, along the Greenwich Village waterfront, and in the South and East Village. He has helped lead the charge against development plans by
Donald Trump and NYU.

Joanna Cawley is Executive Director at Carnegie Hill Neighbors (“CHN”), a historic preservation organization maintaining architectural integrity and historic character in Carnegie Hill, with volunteer help on preservation advocacy, quality of life programming, and work based training programs. A grassroots-style community leader, Joanna liaises with DOT, DPR, NYPD, DOHMH, DYCD, and SBS, to build capacity in Carnegie Hill, and along the abutting boundary with Yorkville on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Simeon Bankoff is a consultant specializing in historic preservation concerns and organizational strategies. He has been active in numerous community-based preservation activities in New York City and beyond. His clients have included Save Harlem Now!, the Center at West Park, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, the View Carre Property Owners and Residents Association among others. Mr. Bankoff previously served as the Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council (HDC), the citywide advocate for New York’s historic neighborhoods from 2000 through 2021.

“People will often react to the new and the foreign with fear or concern or sort of envisioning a worst case scenario. Sometimes there are reasonable concerns that are in there. That can be addressed and integrated into the planning, to actually make it better, , make it a more perfect, , system.”

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