“Who wants to see something like that?” she asked.
The towers are not the only 5G antennas installed in New York City. Others are going up on city real estate, like traffic lights and street lights.
In late September, hammers could be heard outside the six-story brick building on the Upper East Side, where 32-year-old Chelsea Formica lived with her husband, Joe, and their newborn son.
Miss Formica was in New Jersey visiting her mother when Joe called. “He was like, ‘Hey, you know, they put something outside our window. I’m just lying here on the couch and it’s pretty big. ‘” After that, Miss Formica went home. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ terrified. It is very large. It’s too big. “
Workers at telecom company ExteNet installed a cylindrical object roughly the size of a human: a 5G antenna 63 inches tall and 21 inches in diameter, according to the company. Included with it is a box 38 inches high, 16 inches wide and 14 inches deep – about the size of a filing cabinet or a night stand.
The majestic antenna is mounted on top of a slender pillar, three stories high – more than 30 feet in the air – and right in front of Miss Formica’s living room window. It’s also just steps away from where their 5-month-old baby sleeps, which makes Ms. Formica uncomfortable.
“People say it’s safe; The FCC says it’s safe and everything,” she said. “We were just worried that it was too close to my son’s bedroom.”
Alex Wyglinski, associate dean for graduate studies and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said residents need not worry. He notes that 5G is non-ionizing radiation, at the opposite end of the spectrum to the ionizing rays that people need to be protected from, like UV rays and X-rays.
