Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today a settlement agreement with the Queens Borough Public Library (QBPL) and the City of New York (the City) to resolve violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) at the Hunters Point Library Branch of the QBPL (the HPL Branch). The ADA applies to QBPL because it is a "public accommodation" as defined by Title III of the ADA and to the City because it is a "public entity." Title II and Title III of the ADA require that newly constructed public accommodations are accessible to individuals with mobility impairments.

"The design and construction of the Hunters Point Library Branch of the Queens Borough Public Library blatantly violated the ADA's requirement that individuals with disabilities have equal access to public accommodations," stated United States Attorney Peace. "Today's settlement agreement ensures that access. My Office will continue to enforce the ADA and its protections against discrimination for people with disabilities."

The HPL Branch, located at 47-40 Center Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens, was designed by Steven Holl Architects pursuant to a contract with the City. Construction was completed in the fall of 2019. Among the library's unique architectural features is a two-story high, five-tiered mezzanine area intended to house HPL's periodical and adult fiction sections. However, only the top and bottom tiers are accessible to individuals with mobility impairments, in violation of the ADA.

The United States conducted an ADA compliance review in December 2019 of the HPL Branch shortly after it opened. That review identified approximately 95 violations of the ADA's accessibility requirements which the City and QBPL have now agreed to remediate. Among the work that the City and QBPL will perform is construction of a platform lift from the fifth tier to the fourth tier of the Mezzanine area and a skywalk/skybridge to the third tier. The platform lift and skywalk/skybridge will provide stair-free access to the third and fourth tiers. QBPL will not house any portion of the HPL collection on the second tier of the Mezzanine Tiers so long as that tier remains inaccessible to people with mobility disabilities.

Additional remediation will include creating wheelchair accessible spaces in the children's area and the rooftop terrace. Under the terms of the agreement, all remediation work will be completed within five years.

This matter is being handled by the Office's Civil Division Civil Rights Chief Michael J. Goldberger.