NEW YORK - A new state-of-the-art facility is helping some Manhattan residents take a giant step into the digital age.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday for the opening of a new Spectrum Learning Lab at the National Action Network's House of Justice in Harlem.
There, trained instructors will help residents hone their digital skills by accessing the Internet through the use of new computers, software and services as part of Charter Communication's $100,000 donation.
The goal is to create a stronger community by focusing on workforce development and youth engagement.
"Today on Martin Luther King Day Spectrum is partnering with us right here in the headquarters. We are setting up three rooms, Spectrum's CEO and I are gonna set up where young people are gonna come after school and on weekends and we will teach them how to be tech-savvy," said Rev. Al Sharpton.
"We work with community groups in setting these facilities up so people can learn how to use the Internet effectively. It’s a major tool. It’s as significant a change in society as printing was 500 years ago," said Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge.
The Harlem Learning Lab is the 25th launched in the city by Charter Communications, the parent company of NY1.
The company says it plans to launch about 40 learning labs in the city by 2020.