Court Dismisses Library Lawsuit

The Eagle reports that New York State Supreme Court Justice Dawn Jiminez-Salta dismissed a suit by community group Love Libraries, Inc., headed by local resident Marsha Rimler, that sought to enjoin demolition of the existing Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and its replacement with a high rise residential and commercial building that would house a new library branch in part of its lower floors. Justice Jimenez-Salta ruled that the plaintiffs’ claims that the city’s environmental review of the project’s impact on traffic, noise, air quality, and shadows lacked merit because the city demonstrated that the review “took a hard look at areas of environmental concern and contained reasoned elaborations of its conclusions.” She also ruled that the suit was barred by the statute of limitations.

The Eagle story quotes city spokesperson Austin Finan: “We are pleased that the court recognized that this suit had no merit. Now, a project that has undergone extensive public review, which will include a number of benefits to the community including more affordable housing, can proceed.” The Eagle tried to contact the attorney for Love Libraries, Inc. but, as of publication of the story, had received no response. A source close to the matter told your correspondent that he believes an appeal is likely.

Photo: C. Scales for BHB.

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  • Bornhere

    I posted this on another thread in a moment of angst … http://tinyurl.com/gufvave

  • Reggie

    Entirely predictable. SEQRA and CEQRA are clear-cut so it amazes me that people think they can win an Article 78 proceeding alleging non-compliance. Agencies comply for the very reason that a legal challenge is possible. “An appeal is likely.” How wonderful to live in a neighborhood that is so wealthy that it can spend its money on lawsuits that it has little if any chance of winning.

  • HereToStay

    Thank goodness. Marsha et al, PLEASE start putting some energy toward something positive. Your displaced anger hurts your neighbors.

  • Mark

    this is positive–I could say, equally:
    De Blasio, developers, HereToStay, trolls, etc., PLEASE start putting some energy toward something positive.

    what do you mean by “displaced anger”?
    displaced from what?
    anger–or civic responsibility?
    what neighbors are being hurt & how are they?

  • Mark

    Your comment “how wonderful…” is interesting. If somebody is able to pursue what they see as a civic responsibility, shouldn’t they do it? Also, you seem to be looking for support for your position by saying the neighborhood is bad. Why do that if your argument is as strong as you say it is?

  • DIBS

    And if it’s deemed a nuisance suit, the palintiffs should be financially responsible for court costs.

  • Reggie

    You completely misread my comment, Mark. I was making an observation and closed with sarcasm.

  • Concerned

    I always heard that the new library will be much smaller than the present one. Is that true? The Daily News (see Bornhere’s link) states: “The new library would make it the largest branch in Brooklyn measured at 26,620 square feet, according to court documents…” Is the present library is larger that 26,620?

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Seems to me that giving library sizes in square feet is about as useful a metric for the new library’s effectiveness as giving computer processing capabilities in cubic inches.

  • MPIERCE

    IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER
    lovebrooklynlibrariesinc.org
    We are not the first local group to have our lawsuit
    denied by Kings County State Supreme Court.
    Even a win meant an appeal.
    Or would the miniscule number of naysayers
    have told the City to give it up?
    If you don’t like tax dollars being pocketed
    by billionaires – join us, support us
    If you don’t like politicians who ignore the will
    of the majority – join us, support us
    If you don’t like government officials who ignore
    deeds, historic districts and violate contracts
    Join us, Support Us.

  • HereToStay

    99% of the hood wants the new, smaller library and the condo, which will breathe life into an empty stretch of CPW. It will also help property values because we have very little new construction and often loose out to other Brooklyn hoods that have it. A few select people are angry about it because they hate all development (mostly due, IMHO, to jelousy and a hated of anyone who makes money they don’t have) and that anger then hurts all of us who appreciate the hood being able to move forward.

  • Concerned

    I disagree. I would say that the square footage of a library is a pretty important variable, especially in NYC. There are other important variables, but size is a pretty big one.
    Also, I wasn’t commenting on effectiveness of the library. I seem to remember a big argument against the new library was that the size would be smaller. Do you know if that’s the case?

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    Just what Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill need — higher property values! Then developers can pay our politicians even more and rip out every “available” square inch in the area and build more over-sized skyscrapers supported by fewer and fewer services.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I do remember hearing it would be smaller. Could it be that this fact is being downplayed in releases somehow? FWIW, I talked to a librarian maybe a year ago, maybe more, maybe less–she seemed to be very enthusiastic about the redevelopment, that the [smaller] space would be used more effectively.

  • Concerned

    Interesting stuff. Thanks.

  • Reggie

    Opponents of the project like to compare the total size of the current building with the planned replacement and say the latter is less than half the size of what we have now. BPL likes to compare the square feet actually usable by library patrons now and in the future, in which case the replacement is only slightly smaller.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    “99% of the hood”…”a few select people”

    I don’t mind you favoring the redevelopment deal (everyone’s entitled to feel one way or the other about it) but please, if you’re going to use statistics as a basis for your arguments, cite your sources and don’t just throw statistical expressions around like they’re adverbs or something.

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    99%? Where is that statistic possibly coming from?

  • Concerned

    Thank you.

  • SongBirdNYC

    The smaller size of the library, from what I recall from meetings, is attributed to two things 1) The business library is being moved to the main branch at Grand Army Plaza and 2) much of the reference collections are available digitally. So supposedly less stack space is needed.

  • marilyn berkon

    The library case certainly does have merit. That’s why it will be taken up on appeal. It should be understood, too, that there are no benefits to the community from this, but only deprivation. We will be demolishing a solid, strong library that has served us, and all our neighboring communities, with the highest excellence. There is absolutely no need to tear it down. If it needs any repair, the city is flush with money now and can easily pay for any needs in our library and all the other Brooklyn Libraries. We will end up with a library less than half the size after four years of toxic construction. It will be stuck beneath a luxury condo over 400 feet high. The affordable housing required for this will be pushed two miles away, and it is not considered affordable at all. The other so-called benefits with a vaguely defined STEAM program and an absurdly small DUMBO library, 5000 sq. feet, end up robbing the Department of Education of Funds, which never requested any of these things. This project is meant only to fill the pockets of the greedy developer who recognized this as a lucrative site for enormous real-estate profit. We are the losers. At least the library issue is now part of Preet Bharara’s investigation into all of de Blasio’s quid pro quo favors to developers. We know that at least two contributions were given by this developer to de Blasio while his application to build was still pending. The low bid of $52 million was accepted over higher bids. Of course, we would not want it sold at any price. Now we will be housed in the miniscule interim library at Our Lady of Lebanon. And we may very well be denied certain books there, considering Bishop Mansour’s comment on News 12, when he stated that he would accept any content there, except if it was “outrageous.” Public libraries should not be housed in religious institutions. Let’s just hope that this beautiful library will not be demolished. Its destruction is utterly pointless and shameful.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    “the city is flush with money now and can easily pay…”

    It would be reassuring to see this assertion substantiated, if you don’t mind.

  • Clarksy

    The current library has 32,000 sq ft of “usable space,” (the building site itself is much larger, at 60,000 sq ft.), according to this article in the Brooklyn Eagle. So the proposed new library is indeed smaller at 26,620 sq. ft.
    http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/12/16/brooklyn-heights-library-deal-overwhelmingly-approved-full-city-council

  • Concerned

    Thank you!

  • Bornhere

    Even though I never was wild about this building, it is hard for me to be at all happy/encouraged about what is/has been happening in the Heights. And the City. Pillaging and change really are not the same thing.
    http://tinyurl.com/he23483

  • Andrew Porter

    You smoking some of that pseudo-marijuana?

  • Andrew Porter

    If you want to read about how easy it is to turn a library into a book desert, read this piece from Jeremiah’s Vanishing NY about the Donnell Library:

    http://tinyurl.com/he23483

  • gatornyc

    It would also be reassuring to see the assertion that the new library will by less than half the size of the current library substantiated as well.

  • marilyn berkon

    [PDF]The New York City Budget Structure and the Ten-Year Capital Strategy

    council.nyc.gov/html/budget/2016/ex/budget.pdf

    New York City Council
    May 18, 2015 – over $1 billion in Fiscal 2015 and 2016. Of the total … The net effect of changes in the Executive Plan creates a Fiscal 2015 budget surplus of ….. $4. $6. $8. $10. $12. City Reserves. Dollars in Billions; years are fiscal years.

  • marilyn berkon

    Below is a site you can google to see for yourself that the city is flush with money. The claim that a private developer is needed to pay for our Brooklyn Heights Library repairs, or any other Brooklyn library repairs, is clearly a false excuse and a shameful one. Linda Johnson, president of the Brooklyn Public Library system proudly states that she regards libraries as real estate possibilities and plans to use Brooklyn Heights as a model for libraries throughout the city. It is beyond belief that the president of the BPL can speak that way, but it is sadly true.