WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 15
Hunters Point Library fi nally opens in LIC
Dennis Walcott emcees the opening of the new Hunters Point Library. Photo: Max Parrot QNS
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
After almost two decades after its
initial conception, the Hunters Point
Library has amassed a long list of
people who deserved thanks for its
existence.
So the emcee of the library’s
opening ceremony Dennis Walcott
had a tall order. Walcott’s tenure as
president and CEO of the Queens
Public Library only stretches back
a quarter of the project’s timeline.
“You’ll hear a lot of arc of history
conversations — people who have
been here many years ago, people
who are no longer with us now but
who fought hard for this library
and people who are currently with
us who fought hard,” said Walcott in
his opening speech.
A crowd of several hundred
gathered around the glittering silver
exterior to tour the library for the
first time on Tuesday afternoon.
The library’s price tag of $41.5 million
explains both its architectural
allure and the budgetary setbacks
which delayed its construction. Now
the 82-foot-high concrete prism, dotted
with lopsided glass cutouts will
provide the Long Island City waterfront
with another immediately
recognizable landmark.
At the grand opening, Mayor de
Blasio, local electeds, and other
library and city officials involved
with the project commemorated the
many people who jumped in the ring
to push the forward project over
construction and planning.
The politicians lining the podium
each presented a different snapshot
of the challenges facing the project.
Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, who
has been in office since 1984, recalled
having conversations with fellow
parents as the idea for the library
was starting to gain steam.
It was going to be great to have a
new library for their kindergartenage
children to have, she remembered
one saying with a laugh.
“Even though we didn’t get the
benefit of it, that’s part of the privilege
of living in New York City. You
don’t just do it for you and your own
family, you do it to pass it on to the
people who are coming after you,”
said Nolan.
LIC Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer, who has been working on
this project since he was a staffer at
the Queens Public Library, said that
library “is the single most important
project of my life.”
During his time as a librarian, Van
Bramer said that he first heard from
Fausta Hippolito, a Long Island City
mother of two who worked to gather
signatures and support for the project
when the nearest library was the
one inside the CitiBank building.
Ippolito was one of a few key players
in the library who received tribute
from the majority of the speakers
over the course of the ceremony.
Another popular acknowledgment
was Lorraine Grillo, the Department
of Design and Construction
commissioner.
“If you want to get things done, call
Lorraine Grillo,” said Nolan.
In this case, Grillo helped construct
a library that will not only
function as storage for its 52,000
books, but a community center and
a tourist destination.
“Today is of vital importance to
the community in that it confirms
the commitment to the continuity of
humanity,” said Gary Strong, former
president of the Queens Library.
October 5 & 6
LOCATED AT
LIC FLEA & FOOD
5-25 46TH AVENUE
LONG ISLAND CITY
BUY TICKETS www.QueensBeerFest.com
/WWW.QNS.COM
/www.QueensBeerFest.com
link
/www.QueensBeerFest.com
link
