LIC library plans go forward despite lawsuit

Plans For A Library On Center Boulevard Between 48th Avenue and 47th Drive in Long Island City are moving forward, despite a possible lawsuit over who should pay for the clean-up of the 20,000-square-foot site, Crain’s reported. The state’s Queens West Development Corp. said it plans to sue Honeywell International to pay for the $5 million to $10 million clean-up of toxic waste on the three-quarter acre plot. The state claims that the predecessor to Honeywell used the site to make and store roofing materials, and says it will sue because yearlong negotiations with the company have broken down. However, the lawsuit will not impact the construction time line for the library, Paul Januszewski, president of Queens West Development Corp., told Crain’s, and the clean-up is expected to be done by next summer. Earlier this month, Steven Holl Architects was selected to design the new library and the city Department of Design and Construction is set to build it. [Crain’s]