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Volume XVIII • Number 26 • June 2 - 6, 2011 •
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Modern glass and stone library branch set to open By MIAWLING LAM A new chapter in The Bronx’s storied history book will be written when the borough’s latest library opens it doors later this month. The new $17.7 million Kingsbridge Branch, located on the corner of Corlear Avenue and West 231st Street, will boast all the bells and whistles normally reserved for its Manhattan counterparts. The state-of-the-art, two-story facility will feature copious seating, a large collection of materials and bright and airy spaces, thanks to the building’s signature curtain glass wall. In a sign of the times, the building will also be equipped with free wi-fi, and users can surf the web using one of the library’s 38 desktop computers or 25 laptops. New York Public Library’s Bronx Center Network Manager Jane Fisher said the facility would even be the first branch in the city to boast a green roof. “The roof is actually planted with grass and other succulents that don’t need a lot of maintenance,” she said. “It will make the library more environmentally friendly and reduce energy costs.” Fisher said the building’s sweeping curtain glass wall along the front façade would also boost its green credentials by keeping the heat in the winter and the cool in the summer.
She said she was extremely excited about opening day—projected to be in mid-June—and that the community was “hungry” for the new premises. The new branch will replace the aging 52-year-old facility across the street. While some books and furniture will be transferred from the old building, Fisher said the collection would primarily be made up of new materials. “The setting is just gorgeous, and I think the community is going to thoroughly enjoy it,” she said. “It’s got a lot of space, and we have some comfortable seating along the curtain window so that people can actually sit back and enjoy a magazine, newspaper or book. “I know they’re going to love it and use, it and hopefully we’ll see even more in the way of public programs and reading and talking about books.” Despite widespread suggestions that pubic libraries are becoming obsolete with the influx of technology, Fisher dismissed the assertion that the Kingsbridge branch would be one of the last-ever branches to open in the city. She said several new branches are slated to open in other boroughs and believed that demand for public libraries will only continue to grow. “Our libraries are busier than ever and our computers are busier
than ever,” she said. “One of the trends that I think we’re seeing is that people come to the public library because they want to come to public spaces. “They don’t necessarily want to sit at home or sit in Starbucks. They want to come to public space and they want to come to the library and feel like part of a community.”
Councilman G. Oliver Koppell funneled more than $3 million of his discretionary money to fund the project and said he was eager to step foot into the new premises. “It’s a wonderful library, and it’s much larger than the existing library,” he said. “The old library across the street is just too small. It’s very
crowded, and it doesn’t have the capability of the kind of technology that’s in the new library.” Data obtained from the New York Public Library reveals that circulation is already up 22 percent this year. Last fiscal year, the library also recorded 15.4 million visits to its branches and 25.5 million hits to its website.
New $17.7 million library edifice graces West 231st Street and Corlear Avenue in Kingsbridge. It will be the first NYPL building to boast a green roof. The branch will open in mid-June.
Misguided U.S. policies must not put Israel in mortal peril By REP. ELIOT ENGEL For the past couple of weeks, much has been said about the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks and the United States’ relationship with Israel. President Obama made two speeches on the subject – first at the State Department, and then at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also made two speeches – first at AIPAC and then to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Since I have been one of the leading supporters of Israel in my 23 years in Congress, I
would like to offer my thoughts on the relevant issues. First of all, the only way that peace can be achieved is if both parties – Israelis and Palestinians – sit face to face and negotiate. There cannot be a peace plan imposed on the parties from outside, or a declaration of a Palestinian state from the United Nations. So far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to have face-to-face negotiations with the Israelis, using every excuse possible and demanding preconditions before they even sit down and talk. There cannot be any preconditions when it comes
to the final status issues. These core issues – borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees – can only be resolved across the peace table and with the signing of a peace treaty. Recently, the Palestinians claim to have united both the Fatah and the Hamas factions into one Palestinian government. The problem is that Hamas is a terrorist organization, labeled so by both the United States and the European Union. Hamas’ charter calls for the elimination of the Jewish state. Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization whose
very existence calls for its destruction. Much has been made of President Obama’s remarks involving the 1967 armistice lines and the notion that negotiations would start with those lines but adjust them with land swaps. In my opinion, this is a terrible mistake. The 1967 lines were not only indefensible, but, once again, they insert another precondition. Mentioning the 1967 lines in the first place gives the Palestinians another excuse for not coming to face-to-face negotiations and unfortunately establishes another precondition that they
will hide behind to avoid talking directly to the Israelis. I agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he told the Congress that the question is not whether Israel will accept a Palestinian state. As the Prime Minister told Congress, “all six Israeli Prime Ministers since the signing of Oslo accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state.” The Palestinians have always refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. It will not be until the Arab world recognizes and accepts the fact that Israel is here to stay, as the homeland of the Continued on Page 19