NYC Mesh

About NYC Mesh

NYC Mesh is a community-owned resilient Wi-Fi mesh network, started by a group of passionate volunteers in New York City. The aim is to create a free, resilient, stand-alone communication system that serves both for daily use and also for emergencies — be it power outages or Internet disruption — running software that helps our community with hyperlocal maps and events.

• Website - https://nycmesh.net/
• Organizational Documents
• NYC Mesh operates under a Networks Commons License

Pre-History

• Presentation at Radical Networks Conference Nov 2015 - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/radicalnetworks/videos/102833124

ISOC-NY Fiscal sponsorship

• In November 2015, ISOC-NY committed to act as fiscal sponsor to NYC Mesh.
• An agreement was signed in August 2016
• This document indicates NYC Mesh received ~$200k in donations between 2018 and 2020. Of that $10k+ accrued to Chapter funds.
• NYC Mesh terminated the arrangement in September2020 when they successfully moved to their own 501(c)3.

Funding

• In December 2016 NYC Mesh was kickstarted by a Beyond the Net grant of $20k. This paid for the installation of antennas on the top of the Sabey Building in downtown NYC, and ongoing backhaul via the DEC-IX IXP (aka Supernode 1)
• This was supplemented by a further award of $10k from the Internet Society's North America Bureau.
• NYC Mesh is primarily funded by voluntary tax-deductibles donations from it's users - $20/month is recommended.
• NYC Mesh has received many further awards fron various entities, plus in-kind contributions.
• One major contributor is Pilot Fiber who supply fiber backhaul.
• According to Guidestar, referencing 2023 990 filings, NYC Mesh has Gross Receipts of $449,044, and Assets of $591,486.

Growth

• June 2017 State of the Mesh Report - 9 "Neighborhood Gateways"
• December 2024 NYC Mesh Map 2211 total nodes = 77 Access pomints | 2057 Non-hubs | 70 Hubs | 4 Supernodes