After years of delays, Far Rock gets new library
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Queens and Rockaway elected officials cut the ribbon on the new Queens Public Library Far Rockaway Branch on Tuesday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Nearly 120-years after Far Rockaway got its first library, the Queens neighborhood got to see a new, state-of-the-art Queens Public Library branch open in the old one’s place.
Queens Public Library reopened their branch in Far Rockaway on Tuesday, a two-floor structure that is the culmination of six years of construction and years of advocacy from locals and the elected officials.
The new Far Rockaway library, which is twice the size of its predecessor, will be home to 30,000 books, 32 computers and resource centers in a community that has long struggled with underinvestment.
“This library is here for you, the community, and we will make sure we serve your needs,” said Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott. “This dynamic building is a work of art designed to welcome, inspire and connect everyone who comes through its doors.”
Rockaway locals celebrated the opening of the new $39 million Far Rockaway library on Tuesday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Nearly 120-years ago to the day, in August 1904, money from industrialist Andrew Carnegie was used to build the library at the corner of Mott Avenue and Central Avenue, in the heart of what is now known as Downtown Far Rockaway.
Destroyed by fire in 1962 and replaced six-years later, the Far Rockaway branch shut again in 2018 to make room for the new building.
Initially, the plan was to complete construction in mid-2021, but the project faced delays largely attributed to the COVID pandemic.
Around $39 million later, local Rockaway residents and officials on Tuesday celebrated the opening of the new 18,000-square-foot library.
“Promise made, promises kept,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “We delivered a state-of-the-art library for this community, something you deserved a long time ago.”
Richards said that the new library is indicative of the “rebirth” of the Far Rockaway community, one that took damage during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and was among the communities with the highest COVID deaths in the city. The library was once used as a relief center after Sandy.
“This library has always served a purpose for this community,” said Richards. “It has always been an oasis for this community.”
Officials on Tuesday said that they believe the library will have a wider impact than just serving as a place where residents can read or use a computer.
“This library is going to lead to fewer people in the criminal justice system, because it educates and brings the programs,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, who contributed to the project’s efforts while she was serving as borough president.
Richards and other Rockaway elected colleagues remembered using the Far Rockaway Library themselves before entering politics.
“I was a woman looking for work relying on the local library's resources,” said City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers. “I used the free internet and printers to complete job applications until I finally landed a position. Without access to the library, I would not be standing here today.”
The interior of the new Far rockaway library. eagle photo by ryan schwach
“This new library is more than just a building, it is a beacon of hope, of opportunity,” Brooks-Powers added. “It reflects our community, investing in the Far Rockaway community, which has historically been overlooked and underfunded. Despite the delays, including those caused by the pandemic, this community has persisted.”
Although, officials believe the final product was worth some of the delays.
Inside the new library, designed by European architect Snøhetta and constructed by the Department of Design and Construction, is a new teen room, a backyard and a community meeting room.
Art on the building’s second floor pays tribute to one of Far Rockaway’s most accomplished residents, theoretical physicist Richard Feynmam, who contributed to the Manhattan Project under J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The library will also be the third branch in Queens to be open seven days per week, joining the Flushing and Central library branches.
“It is rich inside,” said State Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato. “It is something that you're going to say, ‘I can't believe this is Far Rockaway.’”
With the restoration of QPL’s funding in the city budget earlier this year, the new library won’t be the only new kid on the block for long.
After months of fighting for the library's funding restoration in the budget, the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams agreed to give the city’s three library systems – Queens, Brooklyn and the New York Library – a total of $58.3 million in restorations.
That funding included $16.6 million in restorations for QPL alone, and will allow three more branch reopenings to take place this year after they were threatened by the cuts.
On Aug. 12, Astoria’s Broadway Branch will be reopening after more than two years of closures. QPL said earlier this month that construction is already complete at the branch, and once staff are in the building, the branch can open.
By the end of the year, QPL also hopes to reopen the Bay Terrace and Hillcrest libraries but does not have concrete dates for their reopening as of Wednesday.
