NYC WiFi hotspots hit the streets

By Brittany Corl

NEW YORK –  New York City is debuting WiFi hotspots across the city today. The new pilot program will offer residents and visitors of the five boroughs access to free public WiFi using existing infrastructure the city already has in place.

"What we are doing is kind of taking the current infrastructure that we have already have, leverage it up, add few more technological advance and, frankly, with the new information age you can put so much information and pack it up into small devices," said Rahul Merchant, Citywide Chief Information and Innovation Officer.

There are ten already in use in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn and more planned in the Bronx and Staten Island. Each is located at a payphone already in use across the city with a WiFi radius of 100 to 200 feet from each kiosk.

Rachel Sterne, New York City's Chief Digital Officer, says public WiFi is the number one request from residents. The city is partnering with Titan, its largest payphone provider, and Van Wagner Communications.
"We believe deeply that New York City deserves to have great technology on the streets and the payphone franchise is an excellent way to provide that," said Scott Goldsmith, Titan's Executive Vice President.

NYC Bans Smoking in Parks, Beaches and Times Square

After a lively debate Wednesday, New York's City Council voted to extend the city's smoking ban to parks and beaches and public squares -- like Times Square.

The Council voted 36-12 to approve the ban.

The city outlawed smoking in bars and restaurants in 2002. It has now joined cities like Los Angeles and Chicago in banning cigarettes in public outdoor areas like beaches and city parks.

It covers some 1,700 parks and 14 miles of public beaches plus boardwalks, marinas and pedestrian plazas.

Backers of the ban say that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can pose serious health risks, including cancer.

Many smokers say the law would infringe on their rights.

After the vote, the American Cancer Society applauded the move, saying "New Yorkers will soon have the chance to take their children to the playground or spend an afternoon walking along the beach and breathe clean air."

Big Day for Lawyers in NYC

The FBI calls it the biggest mafia round-up in New York history. More than 100 suspected mobsters are being arrested this morning (Thursday) in connection with numerous federal investigations into New York area mob groups.


FBI agents along with NYPD and State Police officers, and US Marshals were conducting raids that began in the early morning hours. Federal charges are expected to range from gambling to racketeering to murder.

Law-enforcement officials said members and associates of all five New York mafia families - as well as New Jersey's DeCavalcante family - are among those being arrested.

The arrest operations stretch across the tri-state area with many of the suspects being processed in Brooklyn. US Attorney Loretta Lynch is expected to announce details of the federal charges later Thursday.

Everyone Should SEE THIS - The RUBBER ROOM in NYC

Deal Reached to Eliminate Rubber Rooms by Fall
A deal has been reached to eliminate rubber rooms before the fall school semester begins, a source familiar with the negotiations tells NBC New York.

The source said the deal is expected to be outlined at an announcement this morning.

The longtime practice, which essentially pays teachers accused of misconduct to do nothing and costs taxpayers $30 million annual, has been under scrutiny for years. Some critics think the concept is absurd, but a new documentary, "The Rubber Room," from filmmakers Justin Cegnar and Jeremy Garrett, is stone-cold serious about the subject.

"To me the thing that's most shocking," says Cegnar, "is how long people can spend there. You can spend five years or ten years-- a decade in the rubber room at full salary."

The rooms are officially known as reassignment centers. And New York City's Department of Education has said there's a reasonable explanation. If a teacher is accused of yelling at a student, or throwing a chair, or incompetence, he or she is innocent until proven guilty. But in the meantime, parents wouldn't exactly want those instructors to continue supervising their kids. So, while the investigation takes place...teachers are assigned to the rubber rooms.

"We need to balance our obligation to safeguard children with our legal obligation for fairness to teachers," a Department of Ed spokeswoman told nbcnewyork.com.

But the bigger problem is many teachers don't know why they're sitting in the rubber rooms, co-producer Garrett said.

"Some teachers have been there for three years without having been given a reason for knowing why they're there."

Garrett acknowledges he was a substitute teacher in the Bronx until he snuck a camera into one of the rubber rooms. He was arrested for trespassing and fired. He's hoping his new job-- as a moviemaker-- makes more people aware of the rubber rooms.

The movie has upcoming screenings at NYU and Harvard. In the meantime, the Department of Education and United Federation of

Teachers are blaming each other for the controversial centers. The city says the union has refused to cooperate with certain cases, bogging down the system. The union counters the Department of Ed has refused to hire more investigators, which would speed up the process.

I don't think that it is mentioned that the teacher draws full pay and benefits while sitting there, pension plan and everything. Is that a great plan, or what? I don't want to think why they call it a "rubber room."