The Village of Sunset Park, a nonprofit community-based organization, rallied Wednesday in the basement of Zion Presbyterian Church with over 50 residents and supporters to save the Sunset Park Library from developers.
If a deal is reached, the current one-story Sunset Park branch of the Brooklyn Public Library will be demolished. An eight-story residential building with 49 designated affordable apartments will take its place. The library will occupy the first floor, the below ground level and part of the second floor, increasing its floor space from 12,200 square feet to 21,000 square feet, the first time an expansion has been included in a deal like this.
The Sunset Park Library is one of the busiest in the city, according to Brooklyn Public Library spokesman Adam Leddy, and has outgrown the community since its construction in 1978. Placing the new library at the bottom of a residential building prevents the library from expanding in the future. Library supporters are concerned that as the Sunset Park community grows, the library will be unable to grow with it.
The Village of Sunset Park and its supporters are distrustful of the developers. The community only became aware of the proposal after Citizens Defending Libraries, a blog in support of funding city libraries, published the information.
Ramon Acevedo, the president of the Village of Sunset Park, feels that the plan is purely about money, not about affordable housing. “Their concern is making money. They’re sugar-coating everything by saying that they’re giving us affordable housing, which we’re not going to qualify for. We’re not going to get it. It has to go through a lottery system. There are already 87,000 people on that list.”
Christopher Robles, a local lawyer, echoed Acevedo’s concern about community residents not qualifying for this housing. Robles claims that most of the apartments being rented out are listed at market rate, which many residents can’t afford. Certain qualifications, like credit scores, may prevent the local community for qualifying as well.
Robles referred to the library plan as “a disaster”. Robles said this plan will “do nothing to alleviate the problem of homelessness, overcrowding in housing, and access to affordable housing. We need a comprehensive housing plan in this city, not to use housing as a guise to sell our public assets.”
Robles also notes that the community doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure to support the wave of people that would follow the development. “No one is proposing more buses. No one is proposing more train service.”
Both Acevedo and Robles stressed how valuable of an asset the library is to the community. The library offers a multitude of services to the community, providing afterschool programs to the children and computers to those who cannot afford one, a reality for many in the working-class community. It serves as a senior center and a location for work force development. In the summer months, the library also doubles as a cooling center.
“We use the library as a backup source for education, to teach our kids, because our community keeps growing. We need more space. If we allow them to take over the libraries, we will have no space to expand any further, “said Acevedo, a lifelong resident of Sunset Park.
Robles has been going to library since childhood and now brings his own children. “Whenever you go there, it’s bursting at the seams. Young people, old people, immigrants are using the library. People who don’t speak English are learning English. Young children are getting help with their homework. “
Maria Roca, founder and chair of Friends of Sunset Park, is wary of the developer’s promise to build a library in light of a similar promise made to the community years ago that went unfulfilled. Roca recalls the old 68th Precinct station house on 4th avenue, known as “The Castle”, was sold to a not-for profit developer. The Brooklyn Chinese American Association bought the old stationhouse in 1999 with plans for a community center that never came to be. Roca claims the building is now owned privately and has been sold three times since January, without any money from the sales going to the community. “So, not to say that the same exact thing is going to happen at the library but it is the sale of a public asset, like the 68th precinct, to a not-for profit. There are no guarantees here,” compared Roca.
Residents in the audiences pointed out that the Sunset Park Library is under a Carnegie trust, meaning it was funded by Scottish-American business Andrew Carnegie and remains a part of his philanthropic legacy. Some wondered if the City, entrusted with protecting and funding the libraries, could be sued for breach of contract. Local lawyer Christopher Robles said that while legislation was possible, it has not been looked into and there are no plans to take that route. “What we’re hoping is that our elected leaders do the right thing and hear the people.”
However, library supporters fear that Sunset Park City Councilman Carlos Menchaca is not hearing their concerns. Councilman Carlos Menchaca is in support of the expansion. “I support the development of permanently affordable housing and an expanded library for Sunset Park residents,” said Menchaca. “It doubles the size of the borough’s second busiest library. I applaud the developer’s commitment not to start any construction until an interim library site is secured. This guarantees Sunset Park residents will not experience a lapse in valuable library services.”
A representative from Sunset Park Assemblyman Felix Ortiz was in attendance at the meeting and said the lawmaker was still studying the issue and isn’t ready to make a public comment yet.
Petitions in support of the library were passed around and signed by those in attendance. Supporters were encouraged to spread the word and garner more signatures. The signed petitions will be delivered to a local law office and later brought to Councilman Menchaca.
