PRESS POINTS

Still no internet access at shelters

Posted

Learning in the days of the coronavirus pandemic requires not only an electronic device to connect remotely, but internet access as well.

While many less fortunate have found themselves being supplied with laptops and computer tablets, many more are still trying to just find a little bit of Wi-Fi.

City officials have reportedly admitted to the Legal Aid Society that it has no timeline right now on when all shelters housing families and children will have access to the online world.

That’s 240 sites in total that are missing it, and the de Blasio administration says it’s aiming to get each one of them connected by summer.

“The city’s plan is simply insufficient, and families in shelters will continue to grapple with shoddy internet for weeks and months, impairing access to remote learning,” said Susan Horwitz, supervising attorney of the society’s education law project, in a release.

“This is another problem solely of the city’s own making that could have been avoided months — if not years — ago if decision makers at City Hall actually listened to our client’s concerns.”

 

Builders open wallets to pay safety fines

The city’s buildings department hit S&J Construction Service with more than $5,500 in penalties recently, over safety violations observed at a facade repair work site at 35 Dash Place.

Buildings department inspectors said they found workers performing those repairs without properly notifying the city about the use of a C-Hook suspended scaffold system — scaffolding that attaches to the top of a building, and generally requires a specific application through DOB.

Inspectors also cited the company for using a sidewalk shed that was missing parapet walls.

It was all part of more than $575,000 levied in fines in September by the department across the city. Another contractor at 1472 Boston Road near Charlotte Gardens were hit with more than $31,000 in penalties after a large section of concrete stucco laminate reportedly fell from the ceiling of a commercial building there.

Legal Aid Society, Bill de Blasio, Michael Hinman, Susan Horwitz, S&J Construction Service, buildings department,

Comments