About

Cable Turf puts the FCC's broadband records on the City's cable franchise map, as a short story that ends in a map of every block.

Why

Most New Yorkers can't choose their cable company, because the City grants cable franchises by area. The story shows how those lines were drawn and what became of Verizon's promise to wire every household. The map lets readers check their own block.

Scope

The map covers the five boroughs and wired home internet: cable from Spectrum, Optimum and Astound, and fiber from Verizon. It doesn't count wireless or satellite service, and lists no prices, plans or speeds. Its figures are what the companies tell the FCC they could serve, by Census block, counted by building, not by home. The Data page has the sources, method and limits.

Built

Python's standard library counts the buildings each company claims in every Census block and places each block in its franchise area. The website uses static HTML, CSS and JavaScript, served from GitHub Pages, with MapLibre GL JS and labels from OpenFreeMap tiles. The site uses no account system or analytics.

Independence

No agency reviewed this site.

Credits

Data from the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection, from NYC Planning and from the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation. Claude was used in development. Map data from OpenStreetMap contributors, with tiles from OpenFreeMap.

Reuse

Code is BSD 3-Clause licensed. Compiled data can be reused with attribution; the source data retain their own terms. Carry the reporting period, December 2025, when republishing a figure, and note that the figures are the companies' own claims. The downloads are on the Data page.

Contact

If you find an error, open an issue. For a data issue, name the block or neighborhood, not your address.