Politics & Government

VIDEO: Officials Cut Ribbon at New Brooklyn Navy Yard Learning Lab

Time Warner Cable's learning lab will provide locals with free access to computers and internet.

 

A new learning lab equipped with multiple laptops, state of the art software and job training programs opened Friday at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, providing local residents with free access to computers, internet and the means to enhance their knowledge of the latest technology available. 

Funded by Time Warner Cable (TWC) through a $65,000 donation, the new learning lab will be intergrated by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation into its employment center's offerings provided to yard tenants and the surrounding communities' residents.

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The lab will help to increase the Yard's services offered to residents in search of employment and Yard businesses looking for candidates, said Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.

Ken Fitzpatrick, president of Time Warner Cable Business Class, East Region, agreed, saying the lab is will provide a "state-of-the-art facility where [people] can learn the latest computer applications and receive important job training and gain the skills local employers need to be competitive in a worldwide economy." 

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Elected officials also joined in on the day, including Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-50, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. 

"With the ever-expanding world of tehcnology, our children need to be equipped for the future and access to computers and internet is essential to their development," Lentol said. "Technology start-up companies and jobs are flourishing right here in North Brooklyn, and providing children with the necessary tools will ensure they are prepared to compete for these jobs in the future." 

Markowitz applauded TWC for opening its second Brooklyn Learning Lab (the first is in Park Slope) in the Navy Yard, which he predicted "will overtake the Silicon Valley and become the nation's hub for hi-tech ingenuity."

As part of its franchise renewal with New York City in 2011, TWC committed to open 40 learning labs in the city by 2020. The Brooklyn Navy Yard's lab is the seventh such facility. 


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