Queens Public Library and NYC agree to make Hunters Point branch ADA compliant: Feds

Construction is underway to make the Hunters Point Library ADA-compliant after a settlement between the city and Queens Public Library was agreed to on Friday. (File/Queens Post)

Jan. 15, 2025 By Bill Parry Following years of litigation, the city and Queens Public Library reached a settlement over federal claims that the Hunters Point Branch on the Long Island City waterfront failed to comply with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of the Eastern District of New York announced on Jan. 10. Work is already underway to make the most expensive library branch ever built in Queens ADA-compliant. Steven Holl Architects designed the Hunters Point Library Branch, located at 47-40 Center Blvd, adjoining Gantry Plaza State Park, under a contract with New York City. Construction on the $41.5 million library was completed in the fall of 2019 after years of delays. Originally scheduled to open in 2009, the construction of the Hunters Point Library was plagued by cost overruns, construction delays, and an overly grandiose design by celebrity architect Steven Holl, community leaders complained. At one point, the project was paused due to a dockyard strike in Italy, so the specially designed glass panels for the building’s sculpted exterior could not be shipped to Queens on time.

The library will remain open while construction on the mezzanine area will make it accessible to people with mobility issues. (File/Queens Post)

Among the library’s unique architectural features is a two-story high, five-tiered mezzanine area that houses the branch’s periodical and adult fiction sections. But only the top and bottom levels are accessible to visitors or library staff with mobility impairments, in violation of the ADA. The ADA applies to the Queens Public Library because it is a “public accommodation” as defined by Title III of the ADA and to the city because it is a “public entity.” The first lawsuits were filed by advocates soon after the library opened. “The design and construction of the Hunters Point Library Branch of the Queens Borough Public Library blatantly violated the ADA’s requirement that individuals with disabilities have equal access to public accommodations,” Peace said Friday. “Today’s settlement agreement ensures that access. My Office will continue to enforce the ADA and its protections against discrimination for people with disabilities.” The federal government conducted an ADA compliance review in December 2019, shortly after the branch opened to the public. The review identified 95 violations of the ADA’s accessibility requirements, which the City and QPL have now agreed to remediate. According to the settlement, the City and QPL will construct a platform lift from the fifth tier to the fourth tier on the mezzanine area and a sky bridge to the third tier. The platform lift and sky bridge will provide stair-free access to the third and fourth tiers. QPL will not house any portion of the library’s collection on the second level of the mezzanine tiers, which remains inaccessible to people with mobility disabilities. Additional remediation will include creating wheelchair-accessible spaces in the children’s area and on the rooftop terrace. Under the terms of the agreement, all remediation work will be completed within five years. The city’s Department of Design and Construction and QPL released a joint statement following the settlement: “DDC and QPL continue to work at Hunters Point Library to improve the building for all patrons. Construction work started last summer and is being done overnight so that the library can remain open during the work, which includes a new sky bridge and chair lift to create access to the mezzanine area. Work is being supervised by DDC’s new Office of Accessibility and QPL staff and is scheduled to be completed this summer.”

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