NEW YORK (AFP) - New York's Central Park and a number of other public spaces will become public Internet hubs starting this summer when the city's parks begin offering free wireless net access, the city government said.

"We expect Central Park to be launched in July, and the rest of the parks in the late summer," the Department of Parks and Recreation said. Among those green spaces going on-line for public Wi-Fi access will be Washington Square, Union Square, Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Flushing Meadows.

Beginning in 2003 the city sought service providers to furnish Wi-Fi service for the parks, but delays set in and only one park -- Battery Park at Manhattan's tip facing the Statue of Liberty -- finally got the service.

The city is also seeking a Wi-Fi provider for Dag Hammarskjold Plaza facing the United Nations and for the Brooklyn Heights promenade.

A handful of small parks in the city have had free Wi-Fi access since 2002 thanks to private donors.