Queens Library Board Fires Embattled CEO

The Queens Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to fire embattled president and chief executive Thomas Galante on Dec. 17.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorney's Office are investigating Galante, whose annual salary had been $392,000.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, borough President Melinda Katz and the City Council had pressured the library management and board the past few months after the Daily News reported that Galante had built a $27,000 private smoking deck next to his executive office and held a consulting job for a Long Island school district that paid him more than $100,000 a year.

"The termination of Thomas Galante is long overdue and ends a sordid chapter in this library's history," Stringer said in a statement. Stringer, who is a Queens Library ex-officio trustee, has begun audits of all three New York City library systems.

Queens' library operates separately, as does Brooklyn's, from the New York Public Library, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island.

De Blasio and Katz replaced several of the 13 voting members on the 19-member board over the summer. They also won a court battle brought by the fired board members challenging the moves. The board, under its earlier composition, had given Galante a vote of confidence in the spring and opposed Stringer's audit.

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New York
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