The New York Public Library Announces Unlimited On-Site Access to The New York Times Online

The New York Times Access at NYPL with Library PC. Photo Courtesy of The New York Public Library / Jonathan Blanc

NYTimes.com is now available at all NYPL branches in The Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, which together received 13 million visits in 2025

The New York Public Library today announced that they will begin providing free unlimited access to The New York Times online, with no library card or login required. Visitors to NYPL locations can connect their personal devices to Library Wi-Fi or use an NYPL computer to access a wide range of offerings from The New York Times, including news, Games, Cooking, The Athletic, Wirecutter and more. 

NYPL patrons have long been able to read The New York Times at their library branch but on a more limited basis, through databases such as ProQuest or via a physical copy. Now, any device connected to Wi-Fi at any of the Library’s 88 branches and four research libraries can immediately browse NYTimes.com. 

“Providing free and direct access to local, national, and global news and information is core to The New York Public Library’s mission of inspiring lifelong learning, advancing knowledge, and strengthening communities,” said Brian Bannon, Merryl and James Tisch, Director of Branch Libraries and Education, and Chief Librarian. “The Library is proud to work with The New York Times, a second New York City-based institution with global reach, as we continue to focus on making New York City the reading capital of the world.” 

“At The New York Times, we aim to meet people’s most important news and life needs every day, and continue to find new opportunities to get our journalism and products in front of even more people,” said Andy Wright, SVP and Head of Global Institutional Subscriptions from The New York Times. “We are thrilled to be teaming up with a beloved New York institution such as The New York Public Library to give more New Yorkers access to all that The Times has to offer.”

Access to The New York Times includes:

• News: All news, including podcasts and audio journalism
• Cooking: All recipes and other cooking content
• The Athletic: All sports content
• Wirecutter: All product reviews and testing
• Games: All daily games except The Mini, Tiles, and Letterboxed
• Article Archive: Partial and full-text digital versions of articles from 1851 to today, with redirects to TimesMachine where applicable
• TimesMachine: A browser-based digital replica of all issues of The New York Times from 1851 to 2002
• The media outlet’s two non-English language editions, in Spanish and Chinese, are also available.  

New York Times apps, including Games, Cooking, The Athletic and Crossplay, are not included in access through NYPL.

Since an NYPL card, which is free, is required to use a library PC, access to The New York Times through a library PC does require a library card. Apply for a library card online or by visiting a local branch. Information about reserving a library PC can be found here. 

This new access to NYTimes.com, sponsored by NYPL, will serve to reduce the “digital divide” experienced by many communities.  

• In the Bronx, 1 in 4 households lack broadband access, and a third of residents lack computers at home. 
• Roughly 15% of households in Manhattan lack broadband access.
• Staten Island has the lowest number of public computing centers (24). 

Since 2007, The New York Public Library has served as the home for the institutional records of The New York Times, preserving the files of its news desks, editors, publishers, and reporters and supporting vital research into the newspaper’s 175-year history. 

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support. 

About The New York Times

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is a trusted source of quality, independent journalism whose mission is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. With more than 12 million subscribers across a diverse array of print and digital products — including news, games, sports, cooking and shopping advice — The Times has evolved from a local and regional news leader into a diversified media company with curious readers, listeners and viewers around the globe. Follow news about the company at NYTCo.com.