At 6 p.m. on Friday, December 4, the lights on Maspeth's community Christmas tree come on in Maspeth Memorial Square, at 69th Street and Grand Avenue. The Maspeth Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 2026 ceremony, with free raffles, entertainment and a visit from Santa. The tree lighting takes one evening. The library on the same stretch of Grand Avenue runs on a much longer clock.
Five weeks before the tree lighting, on October 26, the city's Department of Design and Construction showed Queens Community Board 5 a preliminary design for a full renovation of the Queens Public Library's Maspeth branch at 69-70 Grand Avenue. The Queens Chronicle reports that design work runs until early 2028 and construction is expected to start in late 2028. That means this holiday season at 69th and Grand still happens in the library as it stands today. It also means the time to have a say in its renovation is now, while the drawings are still preliminary.
A month of holiday programs, one corner
The tree lighting is the busiest night of the season here. The branch across Grand Avenue keeps a schedule on either side of it. Here are the Maspeth Library programs from mid-November through December 17, all at 69-70 Grand Avenue, with the tree lighting across the avenue included for reference:
- Wednesday, November 18, 3 to 4 p.m. Uncle Tony's Reptile Show, for kids ages 6 to 11.
- Saturday, November 21, 10:15 to 11 a.m. The adult Book Club discusses Lessons in Chemistry.
- Tuesday, November 24. Preregistration opens for the December ornament workshop below.
- Thursday, December 3, 4 to 5 p.m. Holiday Wreaths for Adults, a hands-on workshop with supplies for up to 20 people.
- Friday, December 4, 6 p.m. The tree lighting in Maspeth Memorial Square.
- Tuesday, December 8, 4 to 5 p.m. Diamond Art Painting: Holiday Ornaments.
- Wednesday, December 9, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Paint Workshop for Kids with Juan Ortega.
- Thursday, December 17. International Holiday Classics with Jiayi He from 4 to 5 p.m., then a screening of "Home Alone" from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m.
The wreath workshop takes only 20 people, and the ornament session needs preregistration, so both are worth planning around. The branch's page has the current listings.
Why the tree goes in this square
The square was a gathering place long before it had a name. A city record dated April 29, 1986 named Maspeth Memorial Square, a sitting area on Grand Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets. The naming made official a space that was already used for community parades and speeches. The Juniper Park Civic Association calls the 69th Street and Grand Avenue intersection Maspeth's town center. Its history of the square lists war memorials, a flag, the community Christmas tree and a memorial to Maspeth's September 11 victims. The Queens Chronicle has reported that the 9/11 memorial honors the 19 members of Squad 288/Hazmat 1 who died that day, along with four other firefighters who lived in Maspeth and two civilian residents.
Maspeth's best-known World War I monument stands somewhere else. The memorial dedicated in 1931 to local servicemen who died in that war is at Garlinger Triangle.
The tree lighting has kept a familiar format. The Queens Examiner's coverage of the 55th annual lighting in 2021 describes carols, performances, families in the crowd, a countdown, raffles and Santa. The 2026 announcement promises the same mix. The library is the one thing on this corner that is about to change.
What the city put in front of Community Board 5
The project is labeled LQMARN-23. DDC's presentation calls it a community library renovation and marks the design as preliminary. According to the Queens Chronicle, Nick Steshyn of MBB Architects said the design responds to the current building's limited natural light and its need for better accessibility.
| Element | What the preliminary plan shows |
|---|---|
| Main reading room | Under a clerestory "lantern" that brings in daylight from above |
| Youth space | Separate children's and teen areas |
| Community use | A multipurpose room |
| Access | Accessible restrooms and a proposed new entrance |
| Returns | A new book drop |
| Building systems | Electric heating and cooling, with federal funds planned for solar panels |
| Outside | Planters at the entrance |
The city is funding the project. The Chronicle puts the budget at $13.9 million, with about $9.8 million of that for construction. With design wrapping in early 2028 and construction expected late that year, the branch should host the 2026 and 2027 holiday seasons in its current form before it closes. Both dates are projections attached to a design still in its early stages.
Why Maspeth gets a mobile library and Ridgewood does not
The same Community Board 5 meeting also covered a second branch. The Queens Chronicle reported that the Ridgewood library is also scheduled to close for construction, for parapet walls and repairs to its terra cotta and brick facade. That work is expected to start next fall and run through late 2029. Queens Public Library does not plan mobile service for Ridgewood during that closure.
Maspeth will get mobile library service while its branch is closed. Officials explained the difference by scope. Maspeth is a full renovation with a bigger job and a longer timeline than Ridgewood, which makes it the kind of project that usually gets interim service. For a Maspeth household that relies on the branch for story times, book club or school-age programs, the closure years should come with a stopgap rather than a complete gap.
Where your comments go
The design team said directly that the plans are still open. In the Queens Chronicle's account of the meeting, Steshyn told the committee:
"There are many elements that are still yet to be designed, and we're eager for feedback."
The Chronicle reported that the project team will receive feedback from the Public Design Commission. Committee members also talked about collecting comments at the Maspeth branch itself. If that happens, December is an easy time to weigh in, since the wreath workshop, the ornament session and the "Home Alone" screening all bring people into the rooms the renovation would remake. DDC's presentation names Anna Killion, Outreach Coordinator, as the contact for project questions, at 347-374-0930 or [email protected]. The full deck is posted on DDC's community presentations page.
The preliminary plan already points at the features a regular visitor can speak to from experience: the clerestory meant to fix the branch's limited natural light, the separate children's and teen areas, and the proposed new entrance.
Two days at 69th and Grand
The first week of December brings the most activity to this stretch of Grand Avenue, back to back. On Thursday, December 3, the adult wreath workshop runs from 4 to 5 p.m. in the branch. On Friday, December 4, the crowd gathers in the square across the avenue for the 6 p.m. lighting. Patrizia's is on Grand Avenue at 69-35, a short walk from the tree if you want dinner after the countdown. On December 17, the library's holiday calendar continues with an evening screening of "Home Alone" that ends at 7:15 p.m.
At Alan Mann's EverymannsRealEstate.com, we follow changes at the corners Maspeth uses most, from the tree in Memorial Square to the library across Grand Avenue. If you'd like to know how a long-term civic project like this one tends to factor into home values on the surrounding blocks, reach out for a Value My Home conversation with an agent who works this neighborhood.