QUEENS — Former Queens Library trustees withdrew a lawsuit they filed against Borough President Melinda Katz, who removed them from the board earlier this year.
Katz booted the six board members in July for supporting the library’s ex-president, Thomas Galante, who was criticized for his high salary and spending. The trustees also refused to provide the library's financial documents to auditors.
Galante, who makes $392,000 a year, was put on a paid leave in September.
The board members — Jacqueline Arrington, Joseph Ficalora, William Jefferson, Grace Lawrence, Terri Mangino and George Stamatiades — claimed in the lawsuit that their removal was "unconstitutional." They demanded their positions back and sought unspecified damages from Katz.
Katz used a new state law that gives her and the mayor — the two elected officials who appoint the library's board members — the power to remove them and replace them with new members.
“This lawsuit was a bitter attempt by the removed Trustees at personal retaliation devoid of consideration for the public interest,” Katz said in a statement.
“We are committed to further improving the services provided by the Library to Queens residents in a transparent and inclusive manner," the Queens Library Board of Trustees stated in a statement.
According to Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP, a law firm which represents the booted members, the group decided to withdraw the lawsuit last week for a variety of reasons, including litigation costs.