Stack: new uptown library will have computers, books, rooftop cafe as steel goes up on 43rd

UNION CITY — Steel is going up on 43rd Street for a new uptown public library, Mayor Brian P. Stack said in a Facebook video filmed at the construction site.

Stack said the project has been in the works for five years and thanked Gov. Phil Murphy and Gov. Mikie Sherrill for helping make it a reality. He said the city added space on the side of the lot and another floor on top of what will replace the old library at New York Avenue and 43rd Street.

“This will be a state-of-the-art library, computers, books, you name it, and a rooftop cafe,” Stack said. “This is gonna be a great gathering place to the entire Union City community, but especially for uptown Union City.”

According to Union City Planning Board materials from February 2026, the new building is planned at about 15,000 square feet over three stories — larger than the prior library, which those materials put under roughly 10,000 square feet. The same public records describe a young-adult room, a third-floor computer lab, a large community meeting room that can be used after hours, additional meeting and study rooms, bathrooms on each floor (including a family bathroom), a side garden, elevator and ADA access, and a roof deck.

Stack’s video does not give a price. A 2022 New Jersey State Library construction-bond record listed about $6.47 million in total project cost and a $3.24 million grant for a Union City Public Library “renovation and addition,” an earlier figure that may not reflect the final cost of the full rebuild. February 2026 planning materials cite Library Construction Bond Act and state library capital funding; Hudson TV has reported the project is being paid with grants and some of the library’s own funds. After the old building was demolished in March 2026, Hudson TV reported construction was expected to take about 18 months. The Summit Avenue branch remains open during the work.

Two blocks away, Stack said, the city is putting a small soccer field for children ages 3 to 6 at 41st Street and Powell, with a passive park next door.