WingNews logo WingNews GitHub [2]
top | item 37721320

Show HN: A map that tells you if a NYC cafe has WiFi, a restroom, and an outlet

131 points| asimova | 2 years ago |octobrain.one | reply

I am slowly adding more locations now. This is intended to be a crowdsourced map. Everyone is welcome to add more locations and provide comments/votes here.

Free people from going to a cafe for work only to leave because there's no wifi, restroom, or outlet!!

Demo: https://x.com/KSeisai/status/1708273554041504028?s=20

110 comments

order
[+] fifilura|2 years ago|reply
Is public WiFi a thing in NY these days?

In Sweden you'd just sit down and use your phone as a proxy. It is usually much faster, and also much safer.

I live in a smaller town. Maybe the crowdiness of Manhattan is the issue?

[+] gen220|2 years ago|reply
As jrmj notes, phone plans with tethering aren't as common and often come with strings attached.

I use my phone in coffee shops that don't have [acceptable] WiFi. The main drawback is needing to be mindful of phone battery in addition to the laptop battery.

That being said, it's a great resource when you need a space to work at 11am-2pm (when all of the WiFi-offering spots are filled). There are a couple of local coffee shops with no WiFi, that don't forbid laptops – they're usually empty during peak hours.

[+] jrmg|2 years ago|reply
The issue is the lack of cheap phone plans that allow tethering. And even the more expensive ones that do often have low data caps.
[+] zo1|2 years ago|reply
I perpetually keep my Hotspot on my phone on. For family members and my spare phone. It doesn't drain the battery in any noticeable way.

To me it's weird and so much friction to try figure out wifi Hotspot and password and login. Makes me feel like a homeless poor person, as if I can't pay for my own mobile data.

[+] joe__f|2 years ago|reply
I basically never use wifi outside of my house these days
[+] dijit|2 years ago|reply
Espresso House (in Sweden) tends to have public access wifi, but it is extremely slow compared to 4G.

What I find more surprising is that Sweden dropped “unlimited” data plans, I’m not aware of any data plan that is unlimited now. So if you want to do some video calls then I would be looking for wifi.

[+] satvikpendem|2 years ago|reply
Yes, NYC has Wi-Fi at many shops and restaurants, and at the very least, it has these LinkNYC stations that provide free Wi-Fi along with Google Maps and other services.

https://www.link.nyc

[+] vlz|2 years ago|reply
Cool project, I wanted to contribute for my city but clicking on Sign In. "Continue with Google" seems to be the only option. That made me sad and leave. I know implementing auth is a hassle and might well take more time than adding the map, but it would be nice to have some option beside "Login with Advertising Giant account"
[+] asimova|2 years ago|reply
totally a valid point, was focusing on building the product so didn't think too much about the email signup, will allow regular email sign ups soon!
[+] jbotdev|2 years ago|reply
Anecdotally, I’ve noticed most cafes in NYC with more than a handful of seats have a bathroom (even if they hide it) and WiFi. Outlets are pretty much everywhere, it’s more a matter of whether you can get a seat next to one.
[+] kyriakos|2 years ago|reply
I find it surprising that there are cafés without restrooms. In many countries if you have at least one table you are required to have a restroom to be given a license to operate your business.
[+] stemlord|2 years ago|reply
American cities are poorly legislated and suffer from a tragedy of the commons when it comes to basic public needs like restrooms. We have deep seated issues that keep us from being able to have nice things like that.
[+] Scoundreller|2 years ago|reply
where I am, they're only required if you have over a certain number of seats. The mostly pickup/delivery pizza place near me has 2 tables in a comically large empty foyer because I think that was their workaround.
[+] rcstank|2 years ago|reply
Why is it a requirement?
[+] JSavageOne|2 years ago|reply
I started building something like this last year, but eventually stopped working on it https://nomadz.app/

I still like the concept. But it feels tough to compete with Google Maps in the geo-information / review space. If Google Maps just added a more robust reviewing feature (eg. wifi speed) and metadata (outlets), then there wouldn't be a need for our projects.

Also individually there is inherently no incentive to share some gem of a coffee shop you found with limited seating capacity to strangers on the internet. I had some ideas to work around that, but it's something that really needs to be addressed. It's amazing anyone even bothers to write reviews for any sites (except as a favor to a nice person, or out of revenge for terrible service) given that none of the platforms really incentivize it, which is a shame. As much flack as social media sites get, I do believe there is space for it in this domain - which I guess Google Maps is sort of starting to adopt but Google is just horrendously terrible at trying to do anything in the social media space or UI/UX-related (eg. like a bunch of CS nerds trying to create a women's fashion blog).

[+] pietervdvn|2 years ago|reply
Such a niche map is something that is very hard to pull of. You need a community of millions to contribute geodata, so if such a map is not based on OpenStreetMap, it is destined to whither after a few years.

But, don't fret. This is precisely why I made https://mapcomplete.org, where you can create niche maps based on OpenStreetMap. This jumpstarts general information but has the possibility to add very niche questions. The added bonus is that, when you add e.g. a cafe, it'll be available in all other maps as well.

For this topic, I've added a filter to filter on 'has internet access'. I also added the question if a cafe offers electricity, but those haven't been marked in NYC yet; so here is a map with all cafes offering internet access: https://mapcomplete.org/cafes_and_pubs.html?z=9.8&lat=40.697...

Browsing can be done without an account, contributing requires an OSM-account.

[+] sourcegrift|2 years ago|reply
On that note, what is the fastest way to make an app that just allows multiple signed in users to mark something on the map? I'd like to make an app that marks all public hand-pumps in India. My hope is that this would increase the hygiene in my country.
[+] asimova|2 years ago|reply
I build it in about 2 days with ChatGPT, totally doable. tech stack Nextjs + Typescript + Google Map Api (I use react-google-maps/api package which is much more user friendly).
[+] LeoPanthera|2 years ago|reply
Wouldn't this be better suited as metadata for OpenStreetMap? I'm sure at least some of these things are already metadata fields there.
[+] SushiHippie|2 years ago|reply
Why did you create something custom instead of contributing to open streetmaps and using the data from there? https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:internet_access

Checked on overpass turbo and there is already a large amount of cafes listed with internet access: https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1BeP

[+] kyawzazaw|2 years ago|reply
Some people just want to make one of their own and I think it’s good
[+] asimova|2 years ago|reply
UI/UX, the ease of use + aesthetically pleasing to look at. :D
[+] 0x008|2 years ago|reply
Overpass is great, thanks for sharing that.
[+] DonHopkins|2 years ago|reply
Ever since getting an M1 Macbook Pro, I don't care if there aren't any outlets, because the battery life is so great! Now I can sit anywhere I want, including outside in a park under a tree. And I just plug in my phone via usb and keep it charged while using its flat rate unlimited data for internet. Works just fine! And anyway, now most of the coffeeshops in Amsterdam lock up their plugs and have pay stations for recharging phones (for those damn instagramming tourists).
[+] scubbo|2 years ago|reply
Good God, I've wanted this for the Bay Area for years. How can I help make that happen?

EDIT: oh, it's not just NYC-specific, it's possible to add locations elsewhere. Awesome - I've bookmarked it, and will start contributing next time I'm out-and-about!

[+] asimova|2 years ago|reply
Just added to this map! If enough Bay Area cafes (more than 5) get added to this map, I'll change the title to 'NYC + Bay Area Trigood Cafe' ;D

Reply to Edit: Yeahhhhhh

[+] tjbiddle|2 years ago|reply
I expect very simply! Looks like you could add locations anywhere in the world to the 'NYC' map should you really want. It'd be up to OP to split that up into different cities.

Personally, I feel just having it be global and allowing people to zoom in is best.

[+] MarcusE1W|2 years ago|reply
A stupid question from a non native English speaker. What’s an outlet with regards to a Café?
[+] mike503|2 years ago|reply
John Wilson would have loved this!
[+] 1970-01-01|2 years ago|reply
If George Costanza made an app, this would be it.
[+] kazinator|2 years ago|reply
How about: free cafes from people sitting there, working.
[+] Exoristos|2 years ago|reply
The homeless are getting pretty tech-savvy huh?