QUEENS — Rego Park will get a long-awaited two-story library to replace the current site, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday at a town hall held in the neighborhood.
For more than a decade, local residents and elected officials have been pushing for expansion of their neighborhood library at building at 91-41 63 Dr. near Austin Street, which they said is too small to accommodate the growing population in the area.
The new $32 million library will be about 18,000 square feet, more than double the size of the current building, constructed in 1975.
“Libraries are at the heart of neighborhoods across the city, and I am thrilled to announce that Rego Park will have a new facility to meet its needs,” de Blasio said.
The Rego Park library is among the busiest branches in the borough. Last year, it served 189,000 people, lending about 194,000 items, officials said.
“I have been working on providing the residents of Rego Park with an enhanced library structure since the 1990’s and finally it’s happening,” said Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, who called libraries "community, job placement, and adult literacy centers."
Funding for the project was allocated by the City Council, the Borough President’s office and the Mayor.
It was not immediately clear when the new library will be built.
