This Memo From The BPL President Says The New Brooklyn Heights Library Will Be Awesome

By on December 3, 2013 10:36 pm in Government

A BHB tipster sent us this memo from Brooklyn Public Library president Linda Johnson. In it, she says that they’ll be sharing the details from their RFP earlier this year for a new building at its current Cadman Plaza location that would house a new library (and condos) soon.

Here’s the full memo –

December 3, 2013

Dear BPL Patron,

The recent reopening of the last of our hurricane-damaged branches was a strong reminder of the critical role Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) plays in our lives, whether we live in Coney Island, Red Hook or Brooklyn Heights. Libraries today are more vital to our communities than ever, but they can only serve that role if they continue to reflect our diverse, dynamic and rapidly changing borough. Libraries must be accessible, flexible, comfortable and inspiring public spaces, and they must to be equipped with the modern resources and up-to-date technology our patrons use to access information. At the same time, our branches must also continue to offer unparalleled access to a wide array of print materials.

Unfortunately, our Brooklyn Heights branch no longer meets our standards and requires nearly $10 million in repairs just to maintain the current, less-than-adequate footprint. Many people have asked me why we haven’t repaired and modernized the branch yet. With $300 million in maintenance needs across BPL’s 60 locations, we cannot afford even the cost of installing an air conditioning system to keep the branch open all summer. Unless we do something, this situation will not change anytime soon, and will only get worse. Brooklyn Heights deserves better.

And so, as I wrote to you in April, we are embarking on an exciting project to build a new branch at the current site on Cadman Plaza to ensure we provide the best library service possible in Brooklyn Heights and throughout our 60-branch library system. At the end of June we released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select a development partner for this project. We received a tremendous response to the RFP, confirming the property’s value and giving us confidence that we can create a better Brooklyn Heights Library, bring a world-class building to the neighborhood and generate revenue to support the needs of the system as a whole. We are reviewing the proposals now and will soon be sharing the details with the community.

Today I am making a number of promises to you about the future of your library, commitments that are included in the RFP:

• The new library will be at least a 20,000-square-foot branch, making it among the five largest branches in Brooklyn.

• We will provide uninterrupted library service to the community throughout construction, and safeguards have been put into place to ensure work moves quickly.

• The height of the new development will be similar to other buildings on Cadman Plaza West.

• The new library interior will be designed in collaboration with the community. BPL also will engage its own architect to build the new branch interior.

This is your library, and I hope you will all stay involved in the process as we move forward. Earlier this year, we launched a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for the new library with representatives from your elected officials and many community organizations. Our CAC meetings are open to the public and we encourage you to attend. The next meeting is Thursday, December 12 at 6pm at Brooklyn Heights Library. At that time we will share information on the building proposals we have received. Click here to find updated information about this initiative.

Thank you for your continued support of Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to working with you to deliver the best possible library for the Brooklyn Heights community and the entire borough of Brooklyn.

Very truly,

Linda E. Johnson
President & CEO

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  • Martin L Schneider

    We should be very leary of the assurance that
    “• The height of the new development will be similar to other buildings on Cadman Plaza West.”
    This assurance is a go-ahead to close the last open sky space from the south-west to the Parks. There should be shade studies so that we all can see how much such heights will further block the sun.

  • hh

    Just because there’s already some tall buildings in the area doesn’t automatically mean there should be more of them built. Condos in the park, Condos in the library, maybe Condos in the hospital. Enough already with this privatization of public assets!

  • marshasrimler

    First:, Assurances from Linda Johnson who may be gone soon mean nothing, Second : Tell Anthony Crowell the Mayors mouth piece to remove Jordon Borowitz from the Board. Jordon who works for Durst and formerly worked for Bloomberg is a rep of the real-estate industry. Third: this needs to be put off till after we have a new Mayor and Borough President-Just weeks away.

  • Monroe PL

    Eric is very much in favor of this project.

  • marshasrimler

    who is eric.

  • marshasrimler

    I urge you to research the hiring of Linda Johnson
    She was supposedly a top notch fundraiser. Read the New York Daily News article on 6/24/10 where Anthony Crowell (chair of the BPL board) (formerly
    Bloomberg’s Lawyer and I suspect also a Philadelphia
    native) describe her as ” a highly successful fundraiser”
    If this is the case why she unable to raise the funds needed to maintain and expand the Brooklyn Business Library and the Brooklyn Heights Branch both at Cadman Plaza. Why is she hiding behind this Real Estate giveaway where our library will be forever lost.
    Lets renovate ( like red Cross building) and improve the first library folks see in Brooklyn. If she and the Board cannot mange the system properly-goodbye to all that

  • Reggie

    That gal has her finger on the pulse of the borough.

  • garden pl

    uhm, the new borough president? Eric Adams? jeez

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    Talk about name dropping! Jeez. BTW, I knew who you meant — but really.

  • marshasrimler

    If you mean Eric Adams I heard him speak against this

  • marshasrimler

    No need to get nasty

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    He’s also against saving LICH.

  • HicksOnHicks

    Really – You’re going to re-argue the bogus argument against condos in BBP? There would be no BBP without the condos. How much are YOU personally willing to contribute to the BBP and how much do you think your neighbors are willing to pay? I’m happy that the city has found a dedicated funding source so that our park’s maintenance won’t be competing with roads, NYCHA, PD, FD and other municipal functions.

    And if the BPL weren’t to take advantage of its real estate, how much would you be willing to fund the renovations to the Heights branch? I applaud the BPL’s economic re-use of its property rather than an additional demand on the public purse. I do believe though, that “The height of the new development will be similar to other buildings on Cadman Plaza West.” may block substantial amounts of sunlight and should be scrutinized.

  • marshasrimler

    The BPL can sell library bonds to save itself

  • HicksOnHicks

    How does more debt allow BPL to “save itself”? Isn’t this just kicking the can down the road? Leveraging its property to secure a funding source seems like a clever idea, as long as we don’t lose much sunlight.

  • marshasrimler

    The library does not have debt. It has needs for capital improvements. Isn,t that what bonds are for… Capital and infrastructure improvements. Once we give the library and the land away .. we the citizens loose it forever

  • Michael D D White

    We really don’t know what they’re going to tell us in the future. We know that they say they’re going to tell us good things. But we also know that the library probably shouldn’t be torn down at all. We know that there are straining to exaggerate the cost of repairing air-conditioning, really stretching to do so. We know that the BPL was not forthright in presenting the fact that most development rights were sold to Forrest City Ratner and 1968 (and they still hold onto Them) so that the benefit is probably going mainly elsewhere than to the public,

  • garden pl

    Exactly. Lets saddle an important cultural institution with decades of debt so that poor people in Brooklyn Heights don’t have to have shadows in their backyards. NIMBYISM at its absolutly worst

  • Michael D D White

    Why would they insult de Blasio and Eric Adams by pushing this forward to completion when both of them have spoken out against it? Why? Because they are following through on their assignment from Bloomberg to sign a contract with the developer before the end of the year, his term. Are the people who are doing this providing us with evidence that they don’t have an expectation of continuing to be around after the new administration arrives?

  • garden pl

    Nice plan….load on the debt and hope someone years from now can pay for it. Smart. Worked great for Detroit!

  • marshasrimler

    this in NYC not Detroit.. we have lots and lots of folks that will buy bonds.. what is your plan..give away the asset to the developers and hope for the best.
    Like the affordable housing we are hoping for in Atlantic Yards.

  • garden pl

    BUYING the bonds isn’t the problem…PAYING for the bonds years down the road IS the problem. The library has seen its buget cut over and over and over….so now you want them to sink themselves in debt they’ll need to service for years, maybe decades to come?

  • marshasrimler

    gee is this Josh Nackowitz.. Of the BPL sounds like him,.. don’t be shy who are you?

  • marshasrimler

    you also sound like josh nackowitz of the BPL and the EDC and the person whose task it is to push this through.
    Do not be shy who are you?

  • marshasrimler

    do you work for BPL or mayor bloomberg or the Durst organization

  • marshasrimler

    Sure it will be awesome for the developers pocketbooks and for advancing the careers of those that are pushing this through

  • HicksOnHicks

    I can’t speak for GardenPl but I’m not involved in city gov’t or real estate development. I’m a consultant for IBM.

    Not trying to be nasty but you don’t seem to understand how bonds work. Bond are loans. They need to be repaid. Where will the BPL revenue come from? If you can only answer these questions by impugning our motives then the question remains unanswered.

  • HicksOnHicks

    If BPL sold the air rights, then the proceeds would accrue to BPL. Why do you assume that it didn’t benefit the public? Since 1968 I’m sure BPL had a few lean years and not much is left from the air rights sale.

  • marshasrimler

    so are you Josh Nackowitz of the BPL or Jordon Borowitz of the Durst Organization

  • marshasrimler

    the bonds will be paid off …by increased funding for the library and taxes.. We pay taxes for libraries, and parks. How are all the other bonds the government issued paid off?

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