New Library Is a $41.5 Million Masterpiece. But About Those Stairs. "It's chaos,"

[Demovictory9]

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New Library Is a $41.5 Million Masterpiece. But About Those Stairs.
“It’s chaos,” said one of the children’s librarians.

It has been heralded as an architectural triumph: A new $41.5 million public library in Long Island City that ascends over multiple landings and terraces, providing stunning Manhattan views to patrons as they browse books and explore.

But several of the terraces at the Hunters Point Library are inaccessible to people who cannot climb to them. A staircase and bleacher seating in the children’s section, judged too risky for small children, has been closed off. And the five-story, vertically designed building only has one elevator, creating bottlenecks at times.

The accessibility issues, some of which have been angrily called out in social media posts and elsewhere online since the library’s Sept. 24 opening, have left officials with the Queens Public Library hurrying to find solutions and the architects exploring ways to retrofit the building.

It has also raised the question of how the pricey public building, nearly two decades in the works, made it through the lengthy planning process without more consideration for accessibility.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/nyregion/long-island-city-library.html?fallback=false&recId=476929519&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=CA&recAlloc=top_conversion&geoCountry=US&blockId=published-assets-bq&imp_id=960814290&action=click&module=trending&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer


Queens Library officials responded that librarians could simply retrieve those books for disabled patrons, a solution in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and noted that the first of the four terraces did have elevator access.

But on social media and among advocates for the disabled, that rationale got panned.

“To me, that is the response of somebody who never had the experience of going somewhere and not being able to fully participate,” said Christine Yearwood, founder of the disability rights group, Up-Stand. “Part of what universal design is about is allowing everyone to independently enjoy spaces. Having to ask someone else to help you is, at worst, demeaning, and at best, a limiting experience.”
The disputed shelves are now bare; the library, responding to the criticism, has moved the 2,900 adult fiction books to an accessible area on the second floor, and is now figuring out how to use the vacated space.


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[jberryhill]

1. Hard to believe

What is wrong with the designers? Have they been living under rocks for several decades?

[Demovictory9]

2. designing companies excuse - building was designed in 2010

[jberryhill]

3. Accessible design was certainly a thing in 2010