Free Digital Computer Lab Opens In Harlem For Students

HARLEM, NY — A digital computer and learning lab opened Tuesday in Harlem with an effort to bridge the digital divide of students in the neighborhood.

The AT&T Digital Learning Lab at the Silicon Harlem building at 2785 Frederick Douglass Blvd., near West 148th Street, gives students free access to 25 new desktop computers, 25 laptops, and tablets.

Here's what else the lab offers.

• Printers
• Video screens
• A smartboard
• Robotics
• Drones
• Digital cameras
• Tools for digital literacy classes

The lab is open to the public from 4 to 8 p.m. during the summer and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the school year.

AT&T teamed up with the New York Urban League and Silicon Harlem to open the lab.

“For far too long Harlem and other communities of color have been a part of the digital divide that has impeded the progress for our residents in an industry that has taken over the world,” Assembly Member Inez Dickens said in a news release.

Silicon Harlem opened in 2013 with the goal of closing the digital divide in the neighborhood.

The building partners with the private sector, academia, nonprofits and the community to help build technological infrastructure "to meet the challenges that urban centers face today and will face tomorrow."

"I am thrilled to partner with AT&T and the New York Urban League to open the AT&T Digital Learning Lab in Harlem," Clayton Banks, the CEO of Silicon Harlem, said in a news release. "This initiative represents a significant step forward in our collective efforts to close the digital divide and ensure that all children have access to the tools and resources they need to succeed in the digital age."