“Flatiron” Design Proposed For Library Site

By on June 16, 2015 11:38 pm in Architecture, Development, Real Estate

The Daily News has published this rendering by Marvel Architects (those wonderful folks who brought us Pierhouse) of the latest envisioning of the building that will stand where the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library now stands. Sadly, for your correspondent, it does not appear to include preservation of the lovely WPA-style friezes of “art,” “literature,” “science,” and “industry” that now adorn the doomed building.

Don’t forget the public hearing on Wednesday evening, June 17, on the transfer of ownership of the library.

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  • MaryT

    From the rendering, it looks like the approved setback has disappeared and the height increased. Does anyone know if this is the case? BTW – As much as I hate this outrageous deal, it’s nice to see the Saturday morning soccer men in the drawing.

  • Roberto Gautier

    The Marvels have made a clear statement about “preservation” with their stunning vision of a blob of hotel and condo apartments growing up and over the Brooklyn Bridge. Why would WPA friezes mean anything to them?

  • MaryT

    The friezes aren’t WPA era, but are strikingly similar in style, and deserving of preservation. I seem to remember that their integration into the new structure was ‘assumed’ at one point. Anyway, I’ll be at this meeting, and hope my neighbors will be, too. Our management is sending notices out now.

  • Bongo

    That thing is HUGE!

  • MontagueMarty

    I think its a nice looking building, a LOT better than the rest of the dreary brutalist architecture on Cadman Plaza. I also think the library looks spectacular. And yes its big…like every other building on Cadman Plaza is big and has been big for years. I hope this gets built.

    BUT seriously bummed about the decision to demolish the friezes…it would have been a really nice touch to keep them. As I recall the community has asked for this all along and the original design re-purposed them nicely. Bad call by BPL.

  • CassieVonMontague

    1. I liked the original rendering w/ the setbacks and greenery on top more.

    2. An earlier post on this site was right that the original rendering did not represent what would be proposed.

    3. The friezes should be saved, and more attention should be paid to the preservation of public art. I am still in disbelief about the loss of the City Tech murals.

    4. I don’t care how tall this building is as long as the developers build the best library in Brooklyn to go with it.

  • bethman14

    Beautiful, large new library, 114 units of affordable housing, a significant upgrade to the Cadman Plaza streetscape. A project that should be a no-brainier. Hopefully our elected officials will be able to see the bigger picture more clearly than the blinkered 1% at Citizens Destroying Libraries.

  • MaryT

    An additional argument for approving the building as a private venture was space for a school. My understanding is that St. Ann’s is now not participating, nor has the DOE shown interest. Selling public land, after finessing rationales and expanding proposed structures, is not good government.

  • AnnofOrange

    Taller than the Morgan-Stanely building and the Cadman Plaza Co-op building on the right of the rendering! Think about that!!

  • Willow Street Watch

    So now all the supporters of this project come out into the open and form a cheer leading section…how nice. (With all the spontaneity of a Hilary rally…)

    But consider some more sane facts;

    1) as said before, this and other such projects, are a BIG increase in pop
    ulation with NO increase in Police, Fire and EMS…good luck folks

    2) These building are No empire state bldns, they have lower fire safety
    and they are not built to be resistant to non accidental catastrophic
    failure. In an increasingly dangerous world do you want a tower over
    your family like that? And dispute a chorus of well heeled “supporters
    of development” denials, as many of the most distinguished experts
    in building safety have long warned, this is just the way this type of
    construction in reality is.. http://www.skyscrapersafety.org

  • Willow Street Watch

    3) All the real, legitimate questions on immigration apply here. What is
    planned is am influx of people from cultural and value backgrounds
    which are significantly different than the average existing Heights
    resident. The real estate sector, make no mistake, is planning to
    Surround the Heights with towers. This new huge population will
    Immediately do a thing called VOTE. This new population will over
    a few short years swamp the original Heights residents leaving them,
    again make NO mistake, an older marginalized minority if you are so
    mindless to allow these projects to go forward…

  • MaryT

    Dreary, perhaps, but surrounded by open space and foliage. The proposed structure doesn’t have anything approaching that.

  • ShinyNewHandle

    Bethman14, please don’t repeat falsehoods. You know as well as anyone who’s been paying attention that the current business section will be removed, and the new patron space will in fact be smaller than what we have now.

  • Danny K

    That building is great! If you want to live in midtown Manhattan.

  • DIBS

    Perspective is misleading. The Cadman Towers just in front of it and just to the right are respectively 36 (in the foreground) and 31stories (further to the right, the whiter building)

  • DIBS

    That Cadman Tower is 31 stories.

  • StoptheChop

    Advocates from all over NYC have urged proper library funding, yet deBlasio has ignored them all. If by some chance he were to add the necessary capital funding to his budget (after all, NYC has a $3B surplus, on top of the $1B rainy day fund), I wonder whether BPL would still insist on selling the building for private development anyway.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Huh? The Cadman building “just in front of it and just to the right” (10 Clinton) is only 12 stories. yes, the one to the far right (101 Clark) is 31 stories. Nothing misleading about the perspective, the building will be taller than the others around it.

  • Brixtony

    As an immigrant, words fail me – and I know many. You are one sad case. What is “an original Heights resident”?

  • Ben

    you know the 114 units of affordable housing, initially proposed to be in this building, have been moved to two locations, miles from Brooklyn Heights. You know, so they can make more money. Did the sale price go up when this switch was made? Nope!

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    That’s what she said!

  • Bornhere

    That thing certainly lends a wall-like, border appearance to the area. A very, very tall wall-like border…

  • stuart

    I’m beginning to despair for our city. It seems more and more that the developers have teamed up with the mayor to produce ugly and ordinary developments like this. The Big Lie is that these buildings are supposed to make housing more affordable. Clearly the opposite is true. I hope we can survive this very misguided administration.

  • Guest

    I had the same thought about the setbacks – they made the building more palatable. I asked the architect tonight and he said it was to increase the square footage.

  • Willow Street Watch

    The last people who thought that unmonitored influx of culture and values dissimilar arrivals were not a concern were various eastern American Indians in the late 17th century. While its doubtful they
    every heard the word displacement, they quickly found out what the term means…..

  • Willow Street Watch

    Well, given all sources, that’s the RE “industry’s plan, if this project works, then they will, building by building, erect a wall of high rises surrounding the Heights. Question is, what are you going to do about it? Whine and complain or take actions to stop these darlings……

  • MaryT

    10 Clinton Street is a 13-story building. 101 Clark has 31.

  • MaryT

    Thanks. I had to leave the CB2 meeting early. How’d it go?

  • Willow Street Watch

    Don’t give up….FIGHT. The forces assaulting us are seeming large but they are in reality much like a 1930’s airship. Huge looking, but remember the Hindenberg? Static electricity nothing; my vote is that one refugee some- nearby with one small action…

    The point here is that huge objects which are filled with a volatile mixture are for all their seeming size, very vunerable. In the case of the forces as-
    salting us, they are filled with legally VERY well, “questionable” practices.
    One disclosure, one sensitive document, and the whole stack of cards collapses…so? Instead of disparing folks, make that happen….hey, look
    At what wikileaks has done with the “unstoppable” TPP! Now it’s in mount-
    ing trouble because one or two good people did something intelligent.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    LOL

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