{"id":200046,"date":"2025-09-04T17:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T17:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200046\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T17:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T17:05:12","slug":"nyc-cellphone-ban-frankie-focus-visits-new-york-city-middle-school-students-in-brooklyn-for-1st-day-of-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200046\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC cellphone ban: Frankie Focus visits New York City middle school students in Brooklyn for 1st day of classes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">EAST WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) &#8212; New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had a special friend join her for the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/post\/back-school-first-day-new-york-city-students-amid-cellphone-ban\/17737164\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">first day of school for New York City students<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Mascot Frankie Focus joined the governor at M.S. 582 in East Williamsburg as the new bell-to-bell cellphone ban goes into effect across the state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He was on a special assignment: to get students excited about not having their cellphones in school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I&#8217;ve got a friend here, one of my best friends who I want you to get to know, Frankie Focus, he&#8217;s introduced here today for the very first time,&#8221; Hochul said. &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t say a lot, he&#8217;s kind of quiet &#8230; But he is very focused on learning in school, focused on the teachers, focused on making friends.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR zFTjo hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/17739895_54764934471_1646831f13_c.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Susan Watts\/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Hochul previously <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/post\/nyc-cellphone-ban-gov-hochul-believes-new-phone-restrictions-will-profound-change-students\/17731192\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">spoke to Eyewitness News<\/a> about the phone ban and said she believes it will be transformational and a &#8220;profound change&#8221; for students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">She told the students at M.S. 582 that the ban will help them keep learning in a distraction-free environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;You don&#8217;t realize it right now, but at the end of this school year, you&#8217;re going to be happier, have more friends, be smarter, and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re here in school for,&#8221; she told the Bulldogs on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The middle school will use Yondr pouches for students to keep their phones locked up for the day.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR zFTjo hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/17739892_090425-wabc-frankie-focus-img.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Susan Watts\/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">*<strong class=\"vtkaO \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Get Eyewitness News Delivered<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">*  <strong class=\"vtkaO \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/new-york\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">More New York City news<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">* <strong class=\"vtkaO \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/7ny.tv\/submitnewstip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Send us a news tip<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">* <strong class=\"vtkaO \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/apps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">*<strong class=\"vtkaO \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCrlIS7z20CnVaCrMvdkig_g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Follow us on YouTube<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p><br class=\" \"\/>Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below.    If attaching a video or photo, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/image-video-solicitation-and-rights-terms-of-use\/5101040\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">terms of use apply.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2025 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) &#8212; New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had a special friend join her for the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":200047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[110796,5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-200046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-110796","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkcity","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115147120601821528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}