This in from City Council Member Steve Levin’s office:
On Monday, September 30th, the City Council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations will hold an oversight hearing on capital construction needs and the potential disposal of libraries in New York City. While this hearing is not exclusive to the proposals for Brooklyn Heights and Pacific Branch, I anticipate that these branches will be the topic of much of the discussion. I encourage all who can to attend this important hearing. I understand that many will not be able to attend because it’s in the middle of the day. If you can’t attend, please feel free to email me [Ashley Thompson, Council Member Levin’s Chief of Staff: AThompson@council.nyc.gov] your testimony prior to the hearing and I will submit it for the record for you.
The hearing will be held beginning at 1:00 p.m. at 250 Broadway (across from City Hall Park and next to the Woolworth Building) in Manhattan, in the 16th Floor Committee Room. If you have any questions, please call Ms. Thompson at 212-788-7348 or 718-875-5200.
Update: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that library supporters will be present in force at the hearing Monday. Mary Frost’s story quotes Justine Schwartz, a frequent user of the business library at the Brooklyn Heights branch who suffers a handicap that prevents her from climbing stairs, as saying the proposed removal of the business collection to the Main Library at Grand Army Plaza will make it inaccessible to many people with handicaps because there are no elevators at nearby subway stations.
