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Hunters Point Library Branch Project Gets an Extra $3 Million in Funding

By Jeanmarie Evelly | July 28, 2015 4:19pm | Updated on July 28, 2015 6:58pm
 A model of the future Queens Library branch at Hunters Point.
A model of the future Queens Library branch at Hunters Point.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

LONG ISLAND CITY — The budget for construction of the new Queens Library branch in Hunters Point is getting a $3 million boost, officials said Tuesday.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer allocated $1 million from his discretionary capital funding in the city's most recent budget, with City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito providing another $2 million — bringing the budget to $33 million for the future library, the only branch in the growing waterfront neighborhood.

"Every single resident of this city deserves a state of the art community library," Van Bramer said Monday, when he and Queens Library officials unveiled a small model of the future library, an elaborately designed building from well-known architect Steven Holl.

"This library, as you can see, is going to be one of the most beautiful, one of the most architecturally significant libraries not only in Queens, but in the city, if not the nation," Van Bramer said.

The extra money will go towards the overall costs of the project, including paying for final purchases like books, furniture and computers, Van Bramer said.

Construction on the new library at Center Boulevard and 48th Avenue started in May, after the project was delayed in 2014 when its first round of construction bids came in over budget.

Officials tweaked some of the building's design plans in order to lower costs, including using a different finish on the building's facade than originally planned.

But a Queens Library spokeswoman said Tuesday that the rest of the library's proposed amenities will still be included in the finished project, like an amphitheater performance space, a garden and a rooftop terrace as well as separate areas for kids, teens and adults.

Community members have been pushing to have a library built in busy Hunters Point. The next closest Queens Library branch is located in Court Square. The library has previously hosted mobile and pop-up libraries to serve the neighborhood in the interim.

The new branch is expected to open in 2017.