5G Pole-Top Devices Are Quietly Appearing on the UWS

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While attention has centered on the 32-foot 5G tower installed on Columbus Avenue between 94th and 95th streets, another kind of tech has been quietly spreading across the Upper West Side: 5G pole-top “co-location” sites, which have gone largely unnoticed. These smaller installations are typically mounted on new or existing lampposts and house equipment that supports wireless data transmission for major carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile.

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ILTUWS received a tip last week from residents of The Bolivar, located at 230 Central Park West at West 83rd Street. “We noticed a new lamp post being installed outside our service entrance — with no warning from the super or management,” they wrote, noting that it’s directly in front of their landmarked building, across the street from Summit Rock, a historically significant part of Seneca Village. “A day or two later, I looked up and saw a giant cylinder above the lamp post, which had been fully hidden by a small section of scaffolding near our side entrance. I was shocked.”

The Bolivar residents spoke with a security guard from Congregation Rodeph Sholom, just steps from their home on 83rd Street, who speculated that the cylinder was a “T-Mobile 5G tower” — and that the synagogue, like them, had not been informed of its installation.

One resident raised health concerns: “We also don’t know how it will impact our health, and I’m literally going through chemo right now for breast cancer. I have two children and my husband, who live with me (along with everyone else in our building and community), and I am very concerned for our health.”

ILTUWS spoke with Sean Khorsandi, executive director of Landmark West — a local nonprofit that has helped secure landmark status for individual buildings and historic districts since 1985, while also serving as a legal watchdog on building permits and applications. Khorsandi said that while his office was accepted to submit comments and testimony on the 32-foot 5G tower installed by European Business Initiative (EBI) on Columbus Avenue, they were not granted the same opportunity for the pole-top 5G sites. Those installations are being handled by a different contractor, Crown Castle — a communications infrastructure company working with the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation. “It was a different vendor, and we asked about them, and we were denied consulting party status,” Khorsandi said. He also noted that since the 32-foot tower went up, his office has received complaints from residents saying their phones no longer work properly. The same rejection letter, reviewed by ILTUWS, also denied consulting party status to Village Preservation and Save Gansevoort.

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After being stonewalled from the collaboration table, Landmark West continued to seek more information on the 5G pole-top sites. Khorsandi said he and his colleagues were referred to a legal notice published in the New York Post in December 2024. The notice states that “Boldyn Networks proposes the collection of telecommunications equipment and associated ground-level equipment on eighty-seven light poles within the existing road right-of-way.” It also notes that the equipment would reach 32 feet above ground level, followed by a dense block of addresses printed in small, tightly packed type — difficult to read and easy to overlook.

ILTUWS obtained the list of Upper West Side sites mentioned in the 2024 New York Post legal notice from Megan Fitzpatrick, director of Preservation at Landmark West, who Khorsandi described as a “5G guru”:

• 279 Central Park West between 87th and 88th Streets
• 706 West End Avenue between 94th and 95th Streets
• 2407 Broadway between 88th and 89th Streets
• 394 West End Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets
• 400 Riverside Drive, just over the UWS border between 112th and 113th Streets

Fitzpatrick noted that they’ve been expecting these “pole-top 5G installations” to be installed since the legal notice was published, but added that while she’s been regularly checking classified notices since 2024, “I don’t know any proposed locations other than those above.”

The Bolivar at West 83rd Street and Central Park West — a landmarked building — is nowhere to be found on the proposed sites list. ILTUWS was also informed by Landmark West of another 5G pole-top installation on West 68th Street between Columbus Avenue and Broadway, near the post office and AMC Loews Theater, which is part of the Millennium Tower complex that spans the entire block. These two pole-top sites look very similar, however, the lamp post on West 83rd was installed with no obvious notice, in a landmarked area.

The surprise hasn’t been limited to residents. From historic preservation advocates to elected officials, those who typically weigh in on neighborhood developments said they were left out of the loop.

ILTUWS reached out to Councilmember Gale Brewer’s office last week to inquire about the pole-top 5G sites. A spokesperson said the matter was “new” to them but noted that the pole-tops appeared far more preferable to the larger 32-foot towers — the latter being part of LinkNYC, a public-private partnership between CityBridge and the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI). According to the program’s website, its stated goal is to provide better cellular service, expanded access to free Wi-Fi, and improved options for in-home broadband.

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Community Board 7 was also unaware of the 5G pole-top sites, which involve the installation of telecommunications equipment on existing structures like utility poles or, as seen on West 83rd Street, a new lamp post. These sites, typically at a height of 32 feet, are part of an effort to expand 5G service across the city. Unlike the larger 32-foot towers installed, pole-top locations involve smaller equipment attached to existing infrastructure, making them less obtrusive but still raising concerns about notification and transparency.

CB7 has been working to obtain more information, including a map of what’s installed and what’s planned. “As recently as Thursday, May 1, our office had a meeting with OTI, and they shared with me that they are still working on their notification plan. But we feel we should be notified prior to implementation, not after,” wrote Max Vandervliet, district manager. When ILTUWS followed up with Vandervliet a week later, on May 7, he said the board had received no updates and did not expect to hear from OTI anytime soon. “I feel they are cutting out the public, public officials, and other stakeholders,” Vandervliet said, accusing OTI of “deploying what is becoming a popular strategy of delaying and/or deprioritizing notification.” He added that CB7 and Councilmember Brewer’s office have been in contact about shared concerns over how 5G is being rolled out across the city. Brewer has publicly opposed the larger towers planned for the neighborhood.

When ILTUWS reached out to OTI — sharing photos of the pole-top sites at The Bolivar and on West 68th Street, along with the addresses listed in the 2024 New York Post legal notice — we asked about the process for including the public and local officials, and whether they would provide a complete list of 5G pole-top sites that have been installed and are planned.

OTI confirmed that the locations ILTUWS inquired about are indeed 5G pole-top installations — but clarified that they should “not be confused with Link5G,” effectively establishing them as separate from the 32-foot LinkNYC towers. “There are approximately 500 5G pole installations activated across the city,” an OTI spokesperson said. “This is infrastructure that is city-owned (streetlights or traffic poles) or utility poles. The purpose is to enhance cellular service.”

When it came to notifying the public, the agency explained that it only does so under specific circumstances. “Per notification policy, notifications are sent only if the pole already is, or is going to be, 10 feet or closer to a building post-installation,” the spokesperson said. “The two you referenced are more than 10+ feet from a building.”

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When ILTUWS shared this information with the tipsters on West 83rd Street, they measured their own building and reported that it was 11.5 feet from the pole-top site, while the building next door appeared to be right at the 10-foot limit — effectively keeping OTI within its stated policy. On West 68th Street between Columbus and Broadway, ILTUWS measured a distance of 13 feet.

Megan Fitzpatrick of Landmark West expressed a measured view on the pole-top sites, stating, “We are generally not opposed to the pole-top model, as it uses existing infrastructure and is much smaller than the Link 5G tower now seen on Columbus Avenue. However, we have historically opposed pole tops on historic light poles.” She specifically cited the use of Bishop’s Crook lamps.

Khorsandi of Landmark West described the 5G pole-top sites as a form of “co-location.” He explained, “Right now, if I’m Verizon and I want to serve a lot of customers in a given area, I’d typically have to negotiate with a building — talk to their board, managing agent, and work with the superintendent to get an antenna installed on the roof. It’s a lot of work, as I’d have to maintain all these separate contacts and manage the equipment and contracts, which vary from building to building.”

He emphasized that the pole-top 5G model eliminates much of this process. “What these companies have essentially done is create a new system where they don’t need to go through all of that. It’s much easier to show up with a bucket truck, adjust the equipment, and get to work.” He pointed out that because the pole-top installations are on the sidewalk, they don’t require the same level of permission as rooftop antennas. “You don’t need to do it during business hours. That’s why they’re doing this,” he added. “A lot of these sites are being set up with the hope that other telecom companies will rent them.” You can have multiple 5G companies working in the same pole-top setups.

Despite not being opposed to the technology, Khorsandi further criticized the proliferation of 5G pole-top installations, calling it a form of “Manhattan mini-storage” for telecommunications equipment. “We’re literally creating a new system of clutter on the streets, adding infrastructure that we don’t need.”

Regarding health concerns associated with 5G, Crown Castle, the company managing this project, provides an online document that outlines the safety standards for 5G technology. You can view it here for more information. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) offers further resources on the topic, which you can read here to better understand the global perspective on 5G safety.

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