City Council Greenlights Brooklyn Heights Library

The City Council today approved the controversial $52 million sale of both the site and air rights of the Brooklyn Heights Public Library branch at 280 Cadman Plaza West to developer David Kramer and his company Hudson Inc to build a 36-story luxury condominium.

The vote was 45-1 with three abstentions. Sheepshead Bay City Councilman Chaim Deutsch was the lone vote against it and Brooklyn Council Members Robert Cornegy Jr. (Bed-Stuy) and Jumaane Williams (Flatlands, East Flatbiush) were two of the council members that abstained. Published reports say Mayor de Blasio will support the deal.

The vote came after Downtown Brooklyn City Councilman Stephen Levin, in whose district the project lies, supported the after getting several concessions from the developers.

Those concessions include a new 21,500 square foot library on the first few floors where the current library is located, a brand new 5,000 square foot library to serve the DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, and Farragut Houses communities; a 9,000 square foot new building at Cadman Plaza West dedicated to STEM education labs administered by the NYC Department of Education and serving students in Brooklyn’s Community School District 13; and the library sharing some profits with the developer once a certain threshold of profitability is reached.

The three-way deal also includes the developer building 114 units of affordable housing off site on Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill.

Brooklyn Public Library President and CEO Linda E. Johnson declared the city council’s approval of the sale a victory for the thousands of Brooklyn residents who rely on their public libraries for essential programs, services, and resources.

“The Brooklyn Heights community will now have the largest branch library in the borough, with robust programming, extended hours, enhanced business and technology services, and a new library in the neighborhoods of DUMBO/Vinegar Hill/Farragut. The benefits extend to communities throughout the borough, as BPL will now be able to deliver much-needed funding for other branches in disrepair,” said Johnson.

“We are grateful for the leadership of Council Member Steve Levin and the support of the entire City Council, and we look forward to bringing this important development to fruition,” she added.

But several local grassroots community residents, including the organization Citizens Defending Libraries, decried the City Council vote and Levin’s deal with the developer because they feel, among other things, that the sale will set off a wave of public libraries being sold to developers,

“Today Stephen Levin became the first elected official in New York City history to promote the destruction and shrinkage of a library in his own district. That is his legacy,” said Brooklyn Heights resident Marsha Rimler.