Book burning threat
Decade of delays postpone installation of NYPL fi re alarms
BY REUVEN BLAU AND
FARAH JAVED
THE CITY
The scariest story at the
oldest library in the city
is a tale of bureaucratic
red tape delaying the installation
of fi re alarms for more
than a decade and counting.
Working fi re alarms don’t
exist and neither do functional
overhead sprinklers inside the
New York Public Library’s Ottendorfer
branch in the East
Village. The two-story building,
dating back to 1884, has
long been exempt from updated
building codes.
But the fi x at the historic building
has been delayed for more
than 12 years. The city Department
of Design and Construction
now says full completion is
fi nally set for this spring.
“A project that is for a fi re
alarm should get the highest priority
in terms of the resources
that DDC has to fi nish it,” Iris
Weinshall, chief operating offi cer
of the New York Public Library,
told THE CITY.
The construction safety saga
at the Ottendorfer Branch — 147
months and counting — makes it
the longest outstanding construction
project in the city’s library
LOCAL NEWS
The Ottendorfer Branch in the East Village was the city’s fi rst free public library.
system, according to a DDC review
obtained by THE CITY. But
it’s not the only one dragging on
longer than “War and Peace.”
The records also revealed two
other projects that date back to
2009: a lobby renovation that
shuttered the Jefferson Market
Library in Greenwich Village
and another fi re alarm upgrade
at the Muhlenberg branch
in Chelsea.
DDC offi cials said the stalled
sites are remnants of a different
era at the department when it
“bundled” similar projects across
multiple sites to address needs
cited by other agencies.
“DDC no longer does business
like this, and we haven’t for three
years,” said department spokesperson
Ian Michaels.
Scary Story
Library offi cials contend that
a lack of money to make topto
bottom fi xes on aging buildings
forces them into piecemeal
repairs that extend closures to
accommodate additional work
down the line.
“Libraries are going to be
BEN FRACTENBERG/THE CITY
crucial to ensuring an equitable
recovery in New York but they
can’t help anyone when they are
closed for years on end,” said
Jonathan Bowles, executive director
of the Center for an Urban
Future, a policy group that has
highlighted library branches’
challenges.
The Jefferson Market Branch
was partially closed in April
2019 and fully shuttered after the
pandemic hit to avoid logistical
complications.
At the Ottendorfer Branch,
the fi re alarm repair reminds
good government watchdogs of a
Stephen King horror novel.
“These examples are mindblowing,”
said Bowles.
The plan to upgrade the
137-year-old branch dates back
to October 2009, shortly after
Michael Bloomberg was re-elected
to his third term as mayor.
It then took three years for
DDC and the library to put together
the design and issue a
bid for proposals for interested
contractors, records show.
Another three years were
needed for the city’s budget offi ce
to set aside the money needed for
the fi x at the site and at three
other branches, according to a
timeline of the project.
In 2017, construction fi -
nally began and 80% had
been completed.
But it was stopped two years
later after the city’s Department
of Transportation rejected a
work permit because of a new
bus lane in front of the building
on Second Avenue.
When the pandemic hit in
March 2020 everything was once
again put on hold, records show.
“Do you know any construction
job that doesn’t have scope
change?” asked Weinshall. “And
we are not talking about structural
changes. We are often talking
about things like changing
the fl ooring.”
This article was originally
published on Feb. 7 at 7:24 pm
EST by THE CITY, an independent,
nonprofi t news outlet dedicated
to hard-hitting reporting
that serves the people of New
York. Read more at thecity.nyc.
COVID-19 cases keep plummeting
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Over a 15-day period,
New York City saw a
more than 60% decline
in COVID-19 infection races
and new cases — a further indication
that the worst of the
Omicron peak experienced
during the holiday season is
behind the Big Apple.
The latest data from the
city’s Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene found
that the city’s 7-day positivity
rate on Feb. 1 was down
to 6%. Just two weeks earlier,
on Jan. 17, that number
had been 18.84%. The Feb. 1
rate represents a 68.2% drop
in the positivity rate from the
Jan. 17 fi gure.
Back on Jan. 17, the city tallied
10,740 new COVID-19 cases,
but on Feb. 1, the city’s Health
Department reported just 1,969
new infections that day. That
means the number of new COVID
19 cases are down about
82% over the past 15 days.
The citywide transmission
rate is now on the verge of falling
below “very high” levels.
The transmission rate for Feb.
1 was 223.73 cases per 100,000
residents, down from the Jan. 17
rate of 1,184.4 per 100,000 — a
decline of about 81%.
Just six New York City communities
tallied a 7-day positivity
rate of 10% or higher
between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1. A
week earlier, 53 areas across
the Five Boroughs had positivity
rates above 10%.
Seven NYC communities
also saw 200 or more new COVID
19 cases between Jan. 26-
Feb. 1.
On the fl ip side, 17 areas of
the city had less than 20 new
COVID-19 cases detected between
Jan. 26-Feb. 1. The fewest
in the city were found in a
portion of Manhattan’s Financial
District (10006), which
had just 5 cases and a 3.4%
positivity rate.
City Island in the Bronx
(10464) followed with 6 new
cases and a 4.88% positivity
rate, and Tribeca, Manhattan
(10007, 9 new cases, 2.59%
positivity rate) was tied with
Breezy Point, Queens for the
third-fewest new diagnoses in
the city.
Unvaccinated New Yorkers
continue to face higher risk of
COVID-19 cases continue to drop around Manhattan.
infection, serious illness and
death than vaccinated residents,
but even the number of unvaccinated
residents contracting COVID
19 has fallen signifi cantly
in recent weeks. The case rate
among unvaccinated residents
was down from 7,403.68 per
REUTERS/CARLO ALLEGRI
100,000 on Jan. 15 to 2,293 per
100,000 on Jan. 22.
Even so, by contrast, the vaccinated
case rate has been considerably
and consistently lower
— dropping from 625.93 per
100,000 on Jan. 15 to 460.21
per 100,000 on Jan. 22.
10 February 10, 2022 Schneps Media