Stephen Rex Brown There it is: free wi-fI!Many East Village residents have expressed their dismay over the Time Warner cable outage that occurred this morning. Well, The Local is here to give you good news (if you can manage to get it without internet service): free wi-fi is now available in Tompkins Square Park.
A spokesman with the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications said that the service quietly launched on Sept. 29, and a stroll through the park confirmed that sure enough, “attwifi” is an available network there.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable said that the outage was the result of a fire in the Lower East Side, which melted a portion of the fiber-optic network. Read more…
When Paul and Monica Shay were gunned down July 2 in their country home in Montgomery County, Pa., it quickly became clear to those who knew the couple that their loss would be felt especially deep in the East Village.
What longtime friends remember most about the Shays — who lived on East 10th Street — is their roles as leaders in the fight for housing, which in the 1980’s and 90’s included frequent clashes with the police during demonstrations for the rights of squatters in and around Tompkins Square Park.
“There’s a short list of people who when they say, ‘let’s do something,’ they mean they’re going to do it,” said Seth Tobocman, an activist artist and friend of the Shays.
“Kathryn and Paul were always on that list,” he continued, referring to Ms. Shay by her nickname.
Since the shooting, crowds of friends and neighbors have twice gathered publicly to remember the Shays, most recently July 9 in Tompkins Square Park.
Ms. Shay died July 7, while Mr. Shay remains hospitalized and in critical condition. Three other victims include Mr. Shay’s nephew Joseph Shay, the younger Mr. Shay’s girlfriend Kathryn Erdmann, and her 2-year-old son Gregory Erdmann. Ms. Erdmann and the elder Mr. Shay are the lone survivors.
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