Queens Public Library working on
cracks and leakage at new $41 million
Hunters Point branch
BY BILL PARRY
The president of the Friends of Hunters Point
Library believes that reports of design flaws
at the newly opened waterfront have been
overblown.
The $41 million Queens Public Library branch
does have multiple cracks on the floors and water
leakage in some areas, but when the 60-member
group meets in the new building for the first time on
Nov. 14, the organization’s leader doubts the flaws
will even dominate the agenda.
“I see some issues that are easily resolved but it’s
minor stuff,” Friends of Hunters Point Library President
Mark Christie said. “The building in still a work in progress
because they opened when it was still incomplete so stuff
like this was bound to happen.”
Soon after it opened on Sept. 24, a fiction section
was found to be inaccessible for the handicapped with
no elevator service, only steep staircases, in violation of
federal mandates. The books have since been moved to
another section of the library.
“Our goal is to be inclusive and welcoming, and to
provide opportunity and access to everyone,” Queens
Public Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott said.
“As we move ahead with the current and future renovation
of libraries in our system, we are going to ensure that all
of our customers can fully and safely use our resources.
We are focusing on how to meet the needs of all our
customers at Hunters Point as we settle into the building
and see what is working and what can be improved.”
Library staff recently discovered puddles of water in
the children’s area of the building and they noticed the
cracks in multiple areas including one that a New York
Post reporter said was more than 10 feet long. A QPL
spokeswoman said they are working with the city’s Depart-ment
of Design and Construction to remedy the situation.
“We can confirm there is no water coming from the
roof,” Elisabeth de Bourbon said. “DDC determined that
water in part of the children’s area was the result of a
26 NOVEMBER 2019 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
problem with a ceiling fire sprinkler, which has been
fixed. DDC is also engaging its contractor on how to
repair the cracks in the floor, as well as addressing
punch list items.”
The new branch was plagued by cost overruns, con-struction
delays, an overly grandiose design by Steven
Holl Architects and other problems for nearly a decade.
“Hunters Point Library is a unique, visually beautiful
building, and our goal is to be inclusive and welcoming and
provide safe access to all,” de Bourbon said. “It has drawn
more than 30,000 visits since opening day in September,
already making it one of the busiest of QPL’s 63 libraries.”
Christie was confident that the necessary fixes are
being worked on and that the public will continue to
embrace the new addition to the neighborhood.
“To me this is something of a non-issue, but for all the
money they spent on this project it should have been a
pristine diamond,” Christie said. “That said, it is a beautiful
jewel box of a building that has become a beacon for
our community.”
Feature
Mark Hallum
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
