After nearly a decade of delays, the Richmond Hill Library\u2019s long-promised renovation remains mired in planning and city processes, with library leaders projecting another three years before neighborhood residents see a renewed facility at 118-14 Hillside Ave.<\/p>\n
Frustration boiled over at the Jan. 12 Queens Borough Board meeting, where officials from the Queens Public Library faced pointed questions from Community Board 9 Chair Sherry Algredo and other area leaders.<\/p>\n
The Borough Board is made up of Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., councilmembers representing Queens and the chairpersons of the area\u2019s community boards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m supposed to be representing the voices of the community board, and I\u2019m here to tell you that our voices are not being heard,\u201d Algredo told QPL President and CEO Dennis Walcott. \u201cThis has been a nine-year project. The community deserves to know what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Community leaders have said the project\u2019s repeated delays deprive the neighborhood of much-needed accessible library space, noting longstanding promises going back to 2016.<\/p>\n
For Algredo and others, the lack of \u201cswing space\u201d \u2014 a temporary facility during renovations \u2014 has become a top concern, with many preferring that over proposed temporary trailers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re frustrated. We don\u2019t want trailers at this point. We want a swing space. We deserve it,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we want to have a safe library space, if or when this ever happens, we need a swing space.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe share your frustration,\u201d Walcott said. \u201cWe understand that. Trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he\u2019s been asked about the Richmond Hill Library while at the \u201cYMCA pool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walcott acknowledged the confusion around a swing space, clarifying that \u201cthe money comes out of our expense budget, and it takes a long time for us to put in place a swing space, no matter what the location is. Every now and then we\u2019ve been able to do that, but I want to be very clear and have it on the record that it\u2019s not capital money that funds a swing space. It is expense money, and our expense dollars are not that great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Library officials confirmed that the renovation is fully funded at $18 million. Initial 2016 projections had a $6 million price tag.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project is currently in bid packaging, so we\u2019re beyond the construction documents phase,\u201d said John Katimaris, the library system\u2019s vice president of capital projects management. \u201cWe expect to be out of bid packaging by the end of May.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katimaris said the project would then move into legal review at the city\u2019s Department of Design and Construction, and that the bid should be awarded sometime in October. After that, the contractor will have to fulfill administrative requirements with the city, followed by a 60-day notice to close the library location for construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am forecasting substantial completion of construction for Richmond Hill to occur in November of 2029,\u201d Katimaris said, adding that shovels could be in the ground in June 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything from today until June of 2027 is really part of the New York City construction procurement bidding contractor award process,\u201d Katimaris clarified.<\/p>\n
Board members extracted a promise for quarterly updates \u2014 a commitment that went unfulfilled last year \u2014 and closed the discussion with an insistence that the community be kept more closely informed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI truly respect the frustration,\u201d Walcott said. \u201cTrust me, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the meeting had a positive outcome because \u201cit\u2019s finally through the bureaucratic maze and the back and forth that you talked about to a point now of having the steps that John laid out.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Richmond Hill\u2019s saga dominates community concern, the schedule for the Woodhaven Library\u2019s $24 million renovation remains similarly uncertain.<\/p>\n
Katimaris expressed doubt about the city\u2019s estimated schedule for the Woodhaven renovation, at 85-41 Forest Pkwy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking at dates provided to me by DDC last week, and these dates I\u2019ll present right now, but I want it understood that I am very skeptical these dates will be realized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Katimaris said the DDC told him the work on the Woodhaven Library would start in July 2026 and is projected to be completed by July 2028.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dates that the DDC provided to me are far too suspect. They do not pass my stress test right now,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I do not have dates that I can present with confidence regarding the Woodhaven project.\u201d<\/p>\n
A DDC representative later told the Chronicle that construction on Woodhaven Library is expected to begin in 2028, and that he would be in contact with the library about the discrepancy.<\/p>\n
At Community Board 9\u2019s meeting the following day, Jan. 13, Seth Wellins, a member of the group\u2019s Education Committee who was also in attendance at the Borough Board meeting, expressed concerns about both the Richmond Hill and Woodhaven libraries potentially being closed for construction at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t supposed to happen 10 years ago,\u201d Wellins said. \u201cI don\u2019t know the logistics of how they\u2019re going to deal with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the lack of a swing space, Algredo told the board, \u201cWe\u2019re going to work on it because we won\u2019t accept it, so we\u2019re going to work on it with electeds. We\u2019re going to tap into them and some money, and we\u2019re going to get it because a trailer is not accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cristal Rivera, the chair of the Education Committee, added, \u201cWe\u2019re going to get some things in that library, because the trailer will be unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly a decade of delays, the Richmond Hill Library\u2019s long-promised renovation remains mired in planning and city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49196,49197,609,9,24,63,122,124,123,25799,6908,29388],"class_list":{"0":"post-109445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-community-board-9","9":"tag-ddc","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-queens","15":"tag-queens-headlines","16":"tag-queens-news","17":"tag-queens-public-library","18":"tag-richmond-hill","19":"tag-woodhaven"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}