The skyline of Long Island City will be gaining an iconic structure designed by a world-class architect — and we could not be happier!
The Queens West Development in Hunters Point will be the location for a new community library approved by the Queens Library Board of Trustees and to be constructed by architect Steven Holl and his partner Chris McVoy. It will stand across the East River from the United Nations building.
Nice neighborhood.
The library’s $28 million cost was paid for by donations from nearly every elected office from the governor, the mayor, the senate, the assembly, city council to the borough president’s office.
Thomas W. Galante, chief executive officer for Queens Library, said that the 20,000-square-foot library will include book stacks, reading areas, a gallery and a public assembly multipurpose meeting room for community programming. Giant, abstract windows are carved out of the library’s façade, giving readers a glimpse of the adjacent waterfront park and the view of Manhattan.
We cannot wait for the ribbon cutting on the finished edifice – projected for November 2013 – which will immediately become the anchor for the whole Long Island City community and Queens. Bravo.
CONGESTION PRICING DÉJÀ VU
Some politicians are circling the wagons again. The enemy is again the boondoggle known as "Congestion Pricing."
Nearly four years ago, in April 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed charging drivers an $8 fee for cars and commercial vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street on weekdays between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. as part of his PlaNYC 2030 initiative. Trucks would have faced a steeper $21 fee when entering the “congestion zone.”
The plan met much opposition from political and civic leaders, business owners, civilians and the press – the publication included – who viewed the fees as an unfair tax on working and middle class families and small business owners.
“Five years ago, a Queens Chamber of Commerce-commissioned report found this proposal today called traffic pricing, ‘A Cure Worse than the Disease.’ This congestion tax remains a business killer and impacts unfairly on smaller businesses including the thousands of businesses and firms of all sizes who do business from and/ or in our vibrant borough,” said Jack Friedman, executive director, Queens Chamber of Commerce.
We agreed with Friedman then and we do again. Kill this idea before it kills Queens.
