ASTORIA — The city will be installing elevators at two local Queens Library branches over the next few years, according the area's city councilman, who said the change was spurred by complaints from elderly and handicapped residents who had trouble accessing the buildings.
The elevators will be built at the Steinway branch on 31st Street near Ditmars Boulevard and the Astoria branch, located on Astoria Boulevard and 14th Street, Councilman Costa Constantinides said.
"[I] heard from many of our seniors that 'We love the library but its hard to get there,'" the lawmaker said during a community council meeting Tuesday night.
"The Astoria library, at 14th street and Astoria Boulevard, there's a huge staircase to get up to it, and if you can't climb that staircase, you cant get into the library," he added.
The projects will be funded in part with $1 million set aside as part of an agreement between the city and the developers behind Astoria Cove, a large residential project to be built on the neighborhood's waterfront, Constantinides said.
Construction is expected to start at the Steinway branch in January 2016, while work at the Astoria branch should start in the fall of 2017. Both projects will take about six months to complete, a Queens Library spokeswoman said.
