Photo by Neidy Gutierrez / SOC Images.
On Jan. 8, 2025 the town of West New York began the renovation process for its new local library, marking the start of a major redevelopment project aimed at expanding educational resources and community spaces for residents.
Mayor Albio Sires, along with the West New York board of commissioners and the library board of trustees, had a ceremonial event in January along with the police department to celebrate the reconstruction and development of the new public library.
But now over six months later, the building isn’t open yet. Slice of Culture spoke with West New York Mayor Albio Sires who said that the project remains under construction due to the extensive renovations needed inside the former retail space.
“There’s lots of demolition, uneven floors, asbestos removal and walls that need to be torn down,” Sires explained. While the original timeline anticipated completion around the end of 2026, the project is now expected to continue into 2027.
The new library will be located at the former Modell’s Sporting Goods building, which was acquired after being put up for bid. The project includes extensive renovations, with demolition costs estimated at up to $1.1 million and total renovation costs projected between $7 million and $8 million. The State of New Jersey is contributing approximately $6 million toward the project.
The new facility is expected to include modern upgrades such as:
- Handicap accessibility
- Expanded technology resources
- Makerspaces
- Additional areas designed to serve the town’s approximately 8,000 students
Plans also include rear parking improvements and expanded programming opportunities for the senior community.
Beyond serving as a traditional library, the new building is also expected to provide residents with expanded research opportunities. The mayor mentioned plans to link The Library of Congress located in Washington D.C. to the new library.
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“One of the things I wanna provide, while I was in congress … [is] the Library of Congress, we want to link the Library of Congress so people can do research,” Sires added.
In addition, it will also be next to the brand new West New York Multicultural Center, which had its grand opening on April 23, 2026. It’s the first time where the West New York mayor’s office collaborates with the WNY’s arts, a local nonprofit which promotes local talent and art, and creates a center where musical performances, film screening, book presentations, children’s shows and more will be offered to its residents.
“I think NJ is.. an untouched area where you can do so many artistic things. I think it’s a great achievement and i hope it bears great fruit.. [as] it’s important for the city and the Latino community here in the area of NJ,” artist William Perez mentions.
Once the library is completed, the town of West New York plans to convert its current library, located at 425 60th Street, into the new police department headquarters.
“The old police station is really crowded,” Sires explained. “With the new library being ada compliant, handicap accessible… with all communications, detectives office, and etc all being in one building.”
With the development of the new library, multicultural center and future police headquarters, West New York officials told Slice of Culture that the projects represent a larger effort to modernize public services and create more accessible spaces for residents.
