In this instance, they’re going on an EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] that’s 10 years old. It [BBP] was a very different picture 10 years ago than it is today in terms of PS 8.
BHB: Should there be a new Environmental Impact Statement?
CM Levin: At the very least. I’m against housing in the park. I voted against John Street, I’ll vote against Pier 6. When I first ran for City Council I was against housing in the park and my position has not changed.
BHB: What more can concerned citizens do to fight housing in BBP?
CM Levin: I think they’re [People for Green Space Foundation who enticed Justice Lawrence Knipel’s to issue a Temporary Restraining Order related to housing at Pier 6] doing a good job making clear what their position is. They’ve been very effective, and there are times when concerned citizens go to court to prevent an action from moving forward…. I can’t predict where that court case will go—but concerned citizens in our republic always have recourse in the courts.
BHB: The fate of the Brooklyn Heights Library. How do you react to the Library’s request for capital funds?
CM Levin: This has been a long, ongoing issue. We should first take the long-term perspective, which is that going back as long as I’ve been in the council, and maybe even longer, predating Linda Johnson [BPL president] and her staff, the Brooklyn Public Library just did not do a good job petitioning the council—and other elected officials that direct capital funds—to get significant resources from the city for major capital issues throughout the [BPL] system.
Brooklyn Public Library is aging, it’s buildings itself are old, and there’s a lot of deferred maintenance. And what happens with deferred maintenance is if you don’t take care of it, then it gets worse and, if it gets worse then it gets expensive. Because it’s a publicly owned entity—they’re on public land—the cost of capital repairs are significantly higher than if you were to fix your house, for example. You have union requirements, it’s potentially city procurement; this costs significantly more. And I say that as a member of the council who has allocated capital funds to dozens and dozens of projects. They’re almost always more expensive than you think they might be, and they always take a lot longer to [complete].
That’s the long-term perspective….
[T]he numbers that I’ve seen seem really high…if you were just to replace the air conditioning, but the city procurement process, and having to pay prevailing wage, and because the New York City Office of Management and Budget and DDC [Department of Design and Construction]—they oversee the project—they’re not interested in seeing repair…. They’re going to want a full upgrade that’s basically re-installing a new air conditioning system. That’s why $3.5 – 4 million may seem like a lot, but it’s probably accurate. You’re not talking about a component or two, you’re talking about a brand new system. It’s not really the Library’s decision as to whether it’s going to be a component or two of the whole system, it’s DDC and OMB, and it’s public dollars.
BHB: The Library as a private entity supported by public funds?
CM Levin: The library system is a public institution and it has its own board, but it is in fact a leveraged public institution. Yes, the city needs to support it, but this is a question where this is expensive. That is not in and of itself a reason to tear it [the Brooklyn Heights branch] down and build a condominium in its place. But I believe it has to be taken into account. Unlike Pier 6, this does have to go to ULURP.…
But you can be certain that this is going to be debated in the proscribed format that we in the city have. The community board is going to have a say, the Borough President is going to have a say and the administration is going to have a say and at each of those steps—and then the city council has a say in terms of a vote—and in each of those steps the public has a public format to comment…. I’m not going to in any way prejudge the matter; it still has to go through a long process before it gets to the city council. And I will have a vote on this, and as the local member representing the area, I expect to have a certain amount of influence with my colleagues….
BHB: Decision on the BH Branch developer by October?
CM Levin: I don’t even know which decision, the decision to select a respondent [to the Request For Proposals]? And then the Department of City Planning has to certify it, and then it has to go to the Community Board. This is going to be a hotly debated issue for a long time. The air rights belong to the public, and so if they’re proposing to sell the air rights for a significant return, the public is giving up something significant—public space. And I’m sensitive to that because public resources and public assets, that’s an important part of what I was elected to do—to be a proper steward of public resources. These are very serious issues—and not just about air conditioning.
The opponents have compellingly pointed to the sale of the Donnell Library in Manhattan as a precedent where such a proposal has gone awry. That is certainly part of the discussion—what happened there—what are they proposing as guarantees?
BHB: Comments on BAM South [and its impact on the Library’s Pacific branch]?
CM Levin: I am 100% opposed to a sale of the Pacific branch. The Pacific branch is a Carnegie Library and it should be landmarked but [it’s] not. That gorgeous, historic building wouldn’t yield significant value. And there’s a functional HVAC [there]; it’s a very different circumstance [from Brooklyn Heights Branch].
BHB: The Pacific branch does need significant renovation.
CM Levin: I think to get it fully ADA-compliant, but at the same time it’s not in crisis. The Brooklyn Heights branch has to close when the heat index is over 82 degrees.
BHB: Thank you.
CM Levin: Yes, I am hands-free driving!
Come on, we had to run this photo.
