After library budget fight, city breaks ground on Hollis branch renovation
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Mayor Eric Adams and Queensborough President Donovan Richards, were joined by Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, City Councilmember Linda Lee, Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, and Queens Public Library CEO Denis Wallcot to break ground on the Hollis library renovation on Friday. Photo via mayor’s office
By Noah Powelson
The city broke ground on a $7.4 million renovation of the Hollis branch of the Queens Public Library, months after the project was threatened by the mayor’s proposed cuts to the library system’s budget.
The major renovation, which will take two years to complete, will be funded with the $900 million budget allocation for city libraries as part of the library system’s 2025 to 2028 capital plan. The Hollis library renovation is just the most recent library investment projects following budget disagreements earlier this year that threatened to hamper city library services.
Mayor Eric Adams, however, did not bring attention to the heated public demonstrations against his proposed budget cuts in June in his remarks on Friday. Instead, he briefly highlighted the services libraries provide to the community.
“We know the role libraries play,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “Schools and libraries are two of the accessible and safe spaces that everyday New Yorkers are comfortable walking inside…Let’s continue to invest in libraries, and continue to invest in people.”
Commissioner of Design and Construction Thomas Foley called the upgrades a “full gut renovation” for the1973 building. Improvements will include new insulated walls, new flooring and ceilings, embedded light fixtures and a new reception area. The renovation will also create more reading rooms, computer workstations and wireless internet throughout the building. Officials said the new facilities will follow the latest ADA-accessible standards, including upgraded restrooms.
The project is expected to finish in the fall of 2026. Until then, the Hollis library will operate remote services every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the next two years.
Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, City Council member Linda Lee and Queensborough President Donovan Richards joined the mayor in celebrating the project.
Dennis Walcott, president and CEO of the Queen Public Library, praised the mayor’s contributions to the library system across the five boroughs, calling it a “great investment into our teenagers and New York City.”
Yet the celebration among elected officials painted a different story from the 2025 budget negotiations, when New York City libraries faced funding cuts that incited public demonstrations. When the mayor’s executive budget was unveiled in April, New York City’s three public library systems faced a combined $60 million in cuts.
Previous budget cuts to the QPL had already caused reduced library hours and services, and library officials at the time said the additional $12.9 million that Queens’libraries faced from the initial proposed budget would further delay library branches from reopening.
Prior to the passage of the budget in June, Lee was one of several councilmembers who spoke in open criticism of the budget cuts during a rally, saying further library closures endangered New Yorkers by depriving them of essential institutions that provide safety and vital community resources.
Walcott was also a vocal opponent of the budget cuts at the time.
“It is unacceptable for us to have budget cuts,” Walcott said during the June rally. “It is unacceptable for us to be in this discussion at all, and our budget should be fully restored. The [money] needs to go back to our libraries so we can do our job.”
Adams and the City Council eventually agreed to restore $58.3 million to the three library systems. QPL received $16.6 million, which extended library hours across the borough, allowed for a number of branch reopenings and also allowed them to pursue additional renovation projects, like the one unveiled on Friday.
Among the branches to reopen in recent months was the Far Rockaway Library, which had been closed for six years due to construction delays caused by COVID. Astoria’s Broadway library branch, which shut down for renovations in 2022, reopened this past August. The Broadway branch was originally planned to reopen in 2023, but budget cuts kept the library in limbo.
A rendering of the soon-to-be renovated Hollis Library. Rendering courtesy of DDC
The Hillcrest library branch also reopened in September, and the Bay Terrace Branch is expected to reopen soon.
Some officials warned on Friday that similar budget fights in the future may delay the reopening of the Hollis branch.
“We need to make sure that every year we are not doing this budget dance when it comes to libraries,” Richards said during Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony. “Our libraries must be fully funded because safety is predicated on having institutions like our libraries open seven days a week. You can’t incarcerate your way out of poverty, my friends. The way to do that, to make sure we have real public safety, is to make sure our libraries and institutions are being invested in 100 percent.”
But Adams’ commitment to funding libraries in the future was questioned multiple times during the groundbreaking.
At one point, Adams was asked if he was attending the groundbreaking as a way to distract from his ongoing criminal indictment.
“No,” he said.
