It's been like a year since the Kew Gardens Hills public library branch on Main Street was closed down for renovation. Local residents have to either use the postage-stamp temporary library set up across the street or tool around Queens looking for a regular branch in which to nab a couple of books. No one has seen ANY construction workers, construction, any sign of work progress going on for MONTHS at the library. All they did was tear off the front of the building and leave it like that. Does anyone have any idea of what's going on? Or who to call about what's going on? I asked at other branches and they don't know. I asked at the temporary library across the street and they know nothing. I don't feel like wasting my time talking to one of the 311 "Dial-an-Imbecile" folks. Does anyone HERE have any idea of what's going on or who to call?
Thanks,
-Anonymous
13 comments:
Funding was pulled to build Gallante a new house in CT.
Just in case anyone missed it, it looks like Galante is hiding behind an agreement from the late 1990s between the Queens Library and former Comptroller Alan Hevesi - in order to gain access to the slush fund account from overdue fines, Hevesi agreed that any accounts with private (non-City) funds would be off-limits to him and future Comptrollers. Scott Stringer is trying to get it overturned.
This gives us an opportunity to also mention the larger issue of the controversial Queens library system and the response of the borough to this inexcusable state of affairs.
Tony introduced a perfectly good bill to clean up the system which has received almost no notice.
Meanwhile, the press in Queens mentions the problems in passing as they urge the public to think of all the wonderful things the library does.
The big cultural organizations (big in the sense that they get tons of money and very little show for it) sing praises of the library trying to get it in their little clique with everything they do.
Does it buy books?
Treats its staff like crap?
Open with limited hours compared to the other boroughs?
Has an out of control capital budget that tears down Carnegie library buildings (while Manhattan is trying to save theirs?
A board of developers that would be hard pressed to get through a 6th grade spelling bee (or even know what many of the words mean)?
Yup, that is OUR library! What a better example to show the world what Queens is all about.
Nut don't worry. Mystery Man Gianaris of Stop Sign - Street Renaming Fame is submitting legislation in Albany to clean it up. There is a fine young man who they tell us is becoming quite the name in the State Capital.
People still, like, use libraries?
Get Galante out! Ship him to Connecticut or Long Island already.
"Tony introduced a perfectly good bill to clean up the system which has received almost no notice.
Meanwhile, the press in Queens mentions the problems in passing as they urge the public to think of all the wonderful things the library does."
You really should do your homework before you make baseless assertions. Here's a link to pretty heavy coverage from a Queens weekly, including an editorial calling on Galante to step down. The same paper has put the issue on the front page several times. What more do you want?
http://www.qchron.com/search/?s=start_time&sd=desc&t=article&d1=1+year+ago&q=galante
You might read the articles and become better informed.
Anon No. 4:
Yes, particularly people who still, like, use proper grammar in their sentences.
You might read the articles and become better informed.
^^^^
Far better informed than you are my friend.
I read ALL the weeklies and get a fair amount emails from cultural groups as well as the politicians.
The fact the one politician, and one paper came out against the transitivity that the current library administration has made of that institution - while the rest of Queens leadership (from journalism to politics to culture) - tries to act like nothing has happened makes those few standouts even more glaring - and everyone's stance worse.
The fact is that people have gone on record that this behavior is not acceptable. The big question is why are they the few rather than the norm.
The bottom line is that the leadership in Queens thinks it is above the rules.
This blog shows that things are beginning - ever so tentatively -to become cleaner.
The fact is that Queens is changing and we want our leadership to be held accountable. This drumbeat over time will become louder and louder.
The Daily News has been all over the story, and it was their reporter, Juan Gonzalez, who first broke the story and has stayed on it. Just yesterday, the News called on the library to open all of their books so Comptroller Stringer can audit them.
Ask Rory Lancman, your new councilman. He was happy to grin and smile at the groundbreaking last year, now let's see him hold the library up to its deadline.
Yes, people still use Queens libraries as day care centers to drop off their undisciplined, bratty children and moody, wisecracking teenagers.
A YEAR LATER...Absolutely NO progress on Kew Gardens Hills public library. A couple of pieces of small construction equipment have been parked there but never observed in action. No workmen have been seen in this intervening year. No sign of any construction. Councilman Rory Lancman's office was notified and some flunky told me to call some office of construction. Why aren't THEY doing that? Obviously Lancman is the do-nothing libtard I predicted he would be. Meanwhile, the tiny "temporary" library across the street is a complete misery to use, with few books, broken checkout machines, and very unprofessional staff endlessly chatting as though they were in a bridge game, not on the job. Can we get our library back, please???
I live right around the corner from the library site, and walk by it almost every day. I can tell you there are people working there most work days, and visible progress is being made.
That said, there's rarely more than 2-4 people working on site on any given day, and progress is glacially slow.
Did they contract this out to the lowest bidder or what?
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