To mute or unmute. That was the vexing question for the ANC 3D, holding its April meeting online due to concern about spread of Covid-19.

In fits, starts and reboots, the public meeting concept was put to a challenge, especially when it came to a decision to award a $1,000 grant to Palisades Village.

Moderators were caught trying to recognize local citizens with legitimate concerns and screen out perhaps scores who sought only to disrupt the proceedings with foul comments.

Mute buttons, and “chat” and video disabling skills got a workout. Email previews of input were imposed. “I would not unmute anyone we don’t know,” one commissioner said. “There are a lot of people in the meeting who should not be here,” said another.

As part of the fallout, a resident’s dissent about the Palisades Village grant was, as it turned out, unmuted, but moot.

Palisades Village, which provides services and programs for the elderly, received a unanimous vote on its request for the money to buy a laptop and tech support to aid remote operations in the wake of the corona virus.

Andrea Saccoccia, the Palisades Village executive director, responding to commissioners’ questions, said the organization’s office computers worked fine but that the office manager needed the additional equipment to work from home.

After the vote, a person, identifying themselves as a 48^th Street resident and business operator, was given the virtual floor, telling commissioners the grant did not seem appropriate, given the current demands on resources. The person said that they had faced the corona virus directives and brought home from their office the equipment they needed to do their job.

Commissioner Troy Kravitz said the point was valid. But Commissioners had already satisfied themselves that the grant would meet a worthy public purpose.

ANCs receive public money to award grants, within certain guidelines. The most recent budget data posted by ANC 3D shows $6,000 proposed for 2019, up from $4,000 the prior year