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City announces 50 ‘Learning Bridges’ sites have received broadband upgrades

Students in a computer class. Students in front of computers in a computer class
Photo via Getty Images

City officials announced Thursday 50 of the five borough’s “Learning Bridges” childcare sites have received wifi upgrades.  

The expanded access to broadband comes as the result of a public-private partnership with the city and The Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, The Rockefeller Foundation, Zoom, the Cielo Scholarship Foundation, and Education SuperHighway, a nonprofit organization that connects classrooms to high-speed internet. 

The 50 sites selected for broadband upgrades are all housed in New York House Authority facilities which City Hall claims will improve internet access for 12,000 young people and adults in addition to “thousands of community members” able to connect to free Wi-Fi hotspots at 30 of the locations provided by ITDRC, the city says. 

 “Supporting our students as they navigate distance learning is critical, and connectivity is key,” said Mayor de Blasio. “These community centers will be hubs for Internet access, and I am grateful for our partners for working with us to get this done.” 

 “Learning Bridges”  was set up last year to provide working public school parents with children in pre-K through the eighth grade with free childcare on remote learning days. The program has been severely underused since rollout began last fall. Despite Mayor de Blasio setting a goal of  100,000 seats by the end of 2020, only 56,000 seats have been offered to families, according to City Hall. 

Last month, the city decided to open up “Learning Bridges” for remote-only students in order to help the changing needs of families amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

De Blasio announced in January and again earlier this week plans to invest $157 million in contracts with telecommunication companies in order to expand high-speed internet access across the city. Under the plan, de Blasio hopes to reach up to 600,000 New York City residents with shoddy or non-existent wifi in the 33 neighborhoods hardest hit by the pandemic including 200,000 in NYCHA buildings. 

The following centers have received upgrades: 

BRONX
Melrose*        BronxWorks      286 East 156 Street     
Butler* Directions For Our Youth (DFOY) 1368 Webster Avenue     
Edenwald        Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MCCC)      1150 East 229 Street    
Marble Hill     Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC)      5365 Broadway   
Boston Secor*   Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC)      3540 Bivona Street      
Davidson*       SoBro   1221 Prospect Avenue    
Fort Independence*      Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC)      3350 Bailey Avenue      

BROOKLYN
Glenwood*       Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC)  5816 Farragut Road      
Marcus Garvey*  Research Foundation of CUNY     20 Amboy Street 
Surfside        HeartShare St. Vincent’s        2923 West 28 Street    
Carey Garden*   HeartShare St. Vincent’s        2315 Surf Avenue        
Bushwick-Hylan  Grand Street Settlement 50 Humboldt Street      
Williamsburg    Grand Street Settlement 195 Graham Avenue       
Cooper Park*    Coalition of Children and Family Services       76 Kingsland Avenue    
Kingsborough*   Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC)  129 Kingsborough 1st Walk       
Lafayette       Grand Street Settlement 442 Dekalb Avenue       
Taylor‐Wythe*   El Puente       80 Clymer Street        
Albany  CAMBA   164 Troy Avenue 
Atlantic Terminal*      University Settlement   501 Carlton Avenue      
Boulevard       CAMBA   726 Stanley Avenue      
Howard  CAMBA   90 Watkins Street       
Sheepshead Bay  CAMBA   3679 Nostrand Avenue    
Brevoort        CAMBA   280 Ralph Avenue        
Penn-Wortman    CAMBA   895 Pennsylvania Avenue 
Williams Plaza* El Puente       323 Roebling Street     
O’Dwyer Gardens*        Brooklyn Community Services (BCS)       2945 West 33 Street     
Langston Hughes*        Research Foundation of CUNY     301 Sutter Avenue       
Tilden* Research Foundation of CUNY     630 Mother Gaston Boulevard     
Breukelen*      Police Athletic League (PAL)    715 East 105 Street     
Independence Towers*    El Puente       114 Taylor Street       
Van Dyke*       Research Foundation of CUNY     392 Blake Avenue        

MANHATTAN

Manhattanville* Graham Windham  530 West 133 Street    
Clinton*        Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN)   120 East 110 Street     
Johnson Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN)   1833 Lexington Avenue   
King Towers*    Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN)   2 West 115 Street       
East River*     SCAN-New York Volunteer Parent-Aides Association, Inc. (SCAN)   404 East 105 Street     
Drew Hamilton   The Children’s Village  220 West 143 Street     Manhattan
Dyckman*        Children’s Arts & Science Workshops, Inc. (CASW)        3782 Tenth Avenue       
Baruch  Grand Street Settlement 605 FDR Drive   Manhattan
Polo    Police Athletic League (PAL)    3005 Frederick Douglass Boulevard       
Rutgers Grand Street Settlement 200 Madison Street      
Grant*  Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC)      1301 Amsterdam Avenue   

QUEENS
Astoria*        HANAC   4-05 Astoria Boulevard  
Ravenswood*     Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement   35-40 21 Street 
Ocean Bay*      Child Center of NY      57-10 Beach Channel Drive       
South Jamaica II        Southern Queens Park Association (SQPA) 109-04 160 Street       

STATEN ISLAND
Todt Hill*      Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Staten Island  255 Westwood Avenue     
South Beach     United Activities Unlimited (UAU)       155 Norway Avenue       
Gerard Carter*  Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Staten Island  230 Broad Street        
West Brighton I United Activities Unlimited (UAU)       230 Broadway