Time Warner Cable Announces $50,000 Grant to Bring a Learning Lab to Residents of the Rockaways

TIME WARNER CABLE ANNOUNCES $50,000 GRANT TO BRING A
LEARNING LAB TO RESIDENTS OF THE ROCKAWAYS

State Senator Malcolm A. Smith Applauds Partnership with Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation to Help Area Continue its Recovery from Hurricane Sandy

Far Rockaway, Queens, March 4, 2013 – Time Warner Cable, as part of a multi-year effort to ensure that New Yorkers have access to computers and the Internet, today announced a $50,000 grant to the Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation (RDRC) to open a Time Warner Cable Learning Lab. The Learning Lab will be integrated into the RDRC’s community development activities that help local residents acquire important computer skills, acquire job training and job placement services, and provide important youth and educational programs.

“We are very pleased to announce this $50,000 grant to help the RDRC enhance the critical services it provides to the people in the Rockaways,” said Brien Kelley, Time Warner Cable’s Area Vice President for Queens and Brooklyn. “Time Warner Cable is committed to helping this area fully recover from Hurricane Sandy. This Learning Lab will help bring many job placement and educational benefits to local residents and we look forward to opening it later this year.”

The Time Warner Cable Learning Lab at the RDRC will consist of computers fully equipped with software and the latest computer applications, as well as other technologies that will provide the organization with a state-of-the-art facility to better serve local residents. The Learning Lab will be located within the RDRC facility at 1920 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, NY, and is scheduled to open later this year.

Kevin Alexander, President and CEO of Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corporation, said, “We are ecstatic about our new partnership with Time Warner Cable that will significantly increase our community's access to 21st century technology. The Time Warner Cable Learning Lab will provide thousands of community residents with the opportunity to improve employment skills, research companies, apply for jobs, research and apply to college. We appreciate efforts by New York State Senator Malcolm Smith to recommend RDRC as a viable organization to house a Lab."

State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, Chairman of the Independent Democratic Conference, said, “Far Rockaway is still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy and residents are in dire need of numerous resources. I am very pleased that Time Warner Cable has stepped up to the plate and is offering to help the community with a new Learning Lab funded by a $50,000 grant. By teaching people computer skills, giving them job training and providing employment placement services, Time Warner Cable is bringing hope back to Far Rockaway. This is a great educational value to the Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation (RDRC) and the residents of Far Rockaway and I applaud Time Warner Cable for being a good corporate citizen and I hope it encourages others to do the same.”

Time Warner Cable Learning Labs is an initiative to invest in communities to provide New Yorkers with free access to computers and high-speed Internet to help enrich their lives. The company has committed to have 40 Learning Labs open by 2020 within its New York City service area, and has already opened seven such facilities. Time Warner Cable expects its overall capital investment to equip all 40 Learning Labs with computers and technology will exceed $2 million, with Time Warner Cable Business Class increasing this amount by powering each lab with high-speed Internet and HD TV services.

Non-profit partners, such as the RDRC, oversee a lab’s daily operations and utilize their technologies to provide important educational and instructional courses for local neighborhoods. A Learning Lab at the Brooklyn Navy Yard opened last month, and another location in Brooklyn was opened in 2012 at Good Shepard Services in Park Slope. Learning Labs have opened in Manhattan at the Police Athletic League and James Weldon Community Center, both in Harlem, as well as at the Chinese-American Planning Council in Chinatown. Learning Labs have also opened in Queens at Sunnyside Community Services and on Staten Island at the Gerard Carter Community Center. A Learning Lab is expected to open later this year at a Manhattan facility operated by the Ali Forney Center.

Time Warner Cable’s New York City service area includes Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and western Brooklyn, Mt. Vernon, NY, as well as Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey.