PRESS RELEASE & ADVISORY- City Council Vote On Library Sell-Off & Shrinkage Program Prototype- Many questions to be asked about backroom deal involving de Blasio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York City 

WHAT: The New York City Council's expected vote is expected to vote this Wednesday,on the precedent-setting proposed fire sale of a major public asset, Brooklyn's second biggest library, the central destination library in Downtown Brooklyn.  A decision from Mayor de Blasio (who has been taking money from the developer and whose Department of Education as of Thursday per an announcement last Thursday is redeploying substantial resources to promote the library sale) is expected soon afterward if the Council approves. 
WHEN: Wednesday, December 16, 2015, 1:30 P.M. 
WHERE: Council Chambers, City Hall, City Hall Park New York, New York 10007  
WHAT ELSE?:  Citizens Defending Libraries will be on hand to provide facts about the decision before the City Council.

Last Thursday, the City a Council Land Use Committee and its subcommittee voted to approve the sale and shrinkage of the Brooklyn Heights Library (down to 42% of its current size) based on a complicated backroom deal kept under wraps until the last minute.

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 16th, the City Council will be asked to confirm the Land Use Committee's vote, its first ever of this kind, initiating a program of similar library sales based on this prototype.

Here are questions that we hope the City Council members, the NYC Comptroller, NYC Public Advocate and members of the press will be asking about the backroom deal (hopefully before the vote), and which Citizens Defending Libraries is distributing accordingly:

    1.    What is the now reduced amount available from the sale that could become available to other libraries?  When the backroom deal was announced Councilman Levin, Councilman Lander and Brooklyn President Linda Johnson all made statements to the public and press that they still expected an estimated “$40 million” netted from that sale that could go to other libraries.  However, at her Tuesday board meeting this evening Linda Johnson told her board the net amount will actually have to be appreciably less because the shrunken Brooklyn Heights Library will be 5,000 feet larger (“that much more to fit out”) than previously planned (and there will actually be “less money” to go elsewhere).

    2.    What is the amount of money that the BPL and Levin have agreed to redeploy to the enlargement of the Greenpoint Library (“earmarked specifically” from the Brooklyn Heights sale said Ms. Johnson)?  The Greenpoint library, another in Levin’s district, for which Ms. Johnson said Levin has an “affinity” is to be demolished and enlarged.  Why was this item on Levin’s backroom deal list not disclosed to the public with the rest?  Was it disclosed to the Land Use Committee and its members?

    3.    What exactly is the K-12 "STEM" facility that the de Blasio administration is putting into the developer's proposed tower when the Department of Education buys back from the developer (at what cost) previously public property pursuant to its commitment which involves also outfitting the space (at what cost) and operating it (at what cost)?  Linda Johnson told her board that “what exactly” a "STEM" facility "means" still has to be fleshed out.  Since disclosure of the deal, Steve Levin has said that, based on estimations, the space might be room for up to three (K-12) classrooms.  Also, since disclosure of the deal, he has said DOE will lease the space for ten years with an option to buy.  Levin did not say what the lease amounts would be (hopefully less than installment-to-purchase payments) and said that DOE’s outfitting costs were unknown.  Are they estimated? $6.75 million?

    4.    How long were plans spent working this out in City Hall with the Mayor's office?  How long was the plan that was reached kept undisclosed, specially in is major aspects?  Linda Johnson referred to "months" of prep work and refereed to many days sitting in City Hall working on it.  At the meeting the BPL trustees were told that Deputy Mayor for Development Alicia Glen had personally adopted this project as "her own." The item on the list that was saved for the last to put in place involved some (relatively feeble?) concessions to the unions.  Only days before Levin denied a deal was in the offing.

    5.    What is the story with the promised tiny new DUMBO library (which will also be  in Levin's district).  This will also be subtracting from what funds could (but can’t be guaranteed to) go elsewhere.  Linda Johnson said how this will be “executed” needs to be figured out. (She suggested that in the small space they would be at lot of children’s and tech services.)   Even for a library that is just 5,000 square feet, DUMBO is expensive.  Will it be leased as was the plan for it conceived in 2007 (the same time the Brooklyn Heights and Donnell sales were being conceived and implemented)?  How much will it cost to lease or buy?  How much will it cost to outfit?  $3.75 million?  What then is the overall estimated reduction of funds that might thus be available elsewhere?

    6.    Is the proposed DUMBO library still considered a model for much smaller libraries in the future as was planned in 2007?  With the shrinking 2,500 square foot library in the Walentas BAM South project (286 Ashland Place) we now seem to have two of these very small libraries.  (The DUMBO library was originally supposed to be just 1,700 square feet.)  (Anything less than 10,000 square feet for a library is considered “woefully small.”)

    7.    According to Johnson's report to the board, under its potential "profit sharing" deal with the developer, NYC will pay Kramer's development company $1.5 million for its slight reduction of rents for the off-site "poor door" style "affordable" housing, but only if the developer makes enough money.  Explain this.

    8.    How is this first sale and shrinkage offered for the Council's approval viewed as a “model” for other deals throughout the city and in all three systems as Ms. Johnson testified at City Council’s hearing on the matter?   At the BPL trustee meeting with the trustees applauding this sell-off, the trustees were reminded how sale of this library was chosen as a demonstration for what was possible.  They were told that this was a “huge turning point for the library system” and “across the city in general” with Johnson `pioneering’ the future of libraries.  They were told that Alicia Glenn, de Blasio’s Deputy Mayor for Development has been “one of the best resources to get the project across the finish line.”

That is a short list of the myriad questions surrounding the proposed sale and shrinkage the City Council is asked to approve.  Before this de Blasio/Levin backroom deal there were many more outstanding questions that have never been answered.

Big picture, it is important to remember that this is valuable, recently expanded and fully upgraded library, one of the most modern in he BPL system, that is being sold off for a minuscule fraction of its value to the public, a tiny faction of the more than $120 million it would cost to replace.

We hope that City Council members, the NYC Comptroller, NYC Public Advocate and members of the press will be asking the questions that need to be asked.

While those questions get mulled over we offer you a soundtrack: A new song written and performed by Judy Gorman specifically for the fight to save out libraries from real estate sales (an especially good addition to a radio or podcast news story).

See:

Judy Gorman's Don't Sell Our Libraries Song

CONTACT:
Carolyn E. McIntyre, Michael D. D. White
Michael White, 718-834-6184, mddwhite [at] aol.com
Carolyn McIntyre, 917-757-6542 cemac62 [at] aol.com

Follow us on Twitter: @defendinglibraries

For photos and videos of prior Citizens Defending Libraries rallies opposing the sale, shrinkage, underfunding of New York City libraries, and elimination of books and librarians in the two and a half+ years since its founding, see:

PHOTO GALLERIES- PAST EVENTS

                                                                  #   #   #

Citizens Defending Libraries
(718) 797-5207
http://citizensdefendinglibraries.blogspot.com
@DefendLibraries on twitter
backpack362 [at] aol.com

PRESS RELEASE & ADVISORY- City Council Vote On Library Sell-Off & Shrinkage Program Prototype Imminent- As Comptroller & Public Advocate weigh in de Blasio raids DOE funds to promote sales

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York City

WHAT/PRESS CONFERENCE: Citizens Defending Libraries will hold a press conference respecting the New York City Council's expected vote, probably this Wednesday, on the precedent-setting proposed fire sale of a major public asset, Brooklyn's second biggest library, the central destination library in Downtown Brooklyn.  A decision from Mayor de Blasio (who has been taking money from the developer and whose Department of Education as of Thursday per an announcement last Thursday is redeploying substantial resources to promote the library sale) is expected soon afterward if the Council approves.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 15, 2015, 3:00 P.M. (The City Council's vote is expected the next day.)
WHERE: Steps of City Hall, City Hall Park New York, New York 10007

The City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to approve the sale and drastic shrinkage of Brooklyn's second largest library, the Brooklyn Heights Library (includes the Business, Career and recently expanded Education Library), the central destination library in Downtown Brooklyn.

If the City Council votes in favor of this program prototype it is expected that Mayor de Blasio will approve it not long after that.   Mayor de Blasio has been taking money from the developer and his team while their application to acquire and shrink the library was pending.

Last Thursday, with the surprise announcement of a backroom deal that had been apparently kept under-wraps until the last moment before the pending City Council committee votes, a list of changes to the deal was announced, mostly involving ponying up additional public expenditures to promote this launch of New York City library sales.  City Councilman Steve Levin announced what had been non-transparently arranged.

Citizens Defending Libraries itemized responses to those changes is available here: 

Thursday, December 10, 2015, Citizens Defending Libraries Statement in Response To Councilman Levins' Decision To Approve Sale and Shrinkage of Brooklyn Heights Library (stated by BPL president Linda Johnson to be a "model" for future NYC library deals)

The most significant set of new public expenditures on the list involves a hefty raid on the budget of the mayoral-controlled Department of Education to 1.) acquire 9,000 square feet in Brooklyn Heights from the developer, 2.) outfit that space at significant expense, and 3.) operate that expense as a new K-12 educational facility (it would be entirely underground).

The City Council's vote will be the Council's first-ever vote on the proposed sale and drastic shrinkage of a major New York City library with the construction of a 400 foot luxury tower at the site to replace it.

NYC Comptroller and Public Advocate Weigh In

The last minute announcement of changes being thrown into the mix came as New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Pubic Advocate Tish James both weighed in with letters critical of the library sale.

The comptroller wrote that, “of particular concern” is the “lack of a comprehensive public plan to address the capital needs of the library system” and that the Brooklyn Public Library:

has not provided the public with a comprehensive capital plan that explains how the one-time revenue from the sale of BHL will fix those needs. Indeed, the projected revenue from the BHL plan will cover less than one-fifth of the stated need and will not increase revenue to the library over the long-term.

Days ago the Comptroller observed that the city is in a time of plenty, facing no out-year budget gaps.  Selling off libraries, de de Blasio is acting like these are lean years and the Comptroller noted that: “It is simply unsustainable for the City to rely solely on the disposition of property to cover capital needs without fixing the systemic causes for the capital gap.”

Public Advocate James wrote to say about the provision of “poor door” style off-site so-called “affordable” housing units being presented as an excuse to sell and shrink the library:

Supporting affordable housing and preserving public assets like libraries must not be competing imperatives. We should not be asked to choose between our need for affordable housing and our libraries.

Both the Comptroller and Public Advocate addressed the issue of the libraries value.



Public Advocate James wrote:

I am also concerned about the site is being valued accurately and whether New York City is receiving proper compensation from the developer. Moreover, I want to ensure that we end the underfunding of our libraries and give our libraries the financial support they badly need and deserve.

The Comptroller further noted that it is “essential that any sale of public land must be in the public's best interest and that the public receives the highest value possible, in both use and dollars.” Although the library, recently enlarged and fully upgraded, has significant value to the public (it would cost $120+ million to replace), the BPL is selling it to net a figure well below $40 million.

In this recent video the Comptroller expresses (12/3) serious concerns about the deal.

See:

Stringer: Serious Concerns w/Brooklyn Heights Library Plan

The Comptroller called upon the Brooklyn Public Library to do something it has so far refused to do, to identify the “additional properties (if any) that it intends to sell.”

Plan as Prototype With Other Library Sales Not far Behind

That challenge to the BPL from the Comptroller is all the more important because, at the City Council hearing concerning this sale, Brooklyn Public Library president Linda Johnson declared that the sale and shrinkage is looked at as a "model" for transactions underway with respect to libraries throughout the city, not just for other libraries in her BPL system, but also for Queens and the NYPL.

In the video below respecting the decision to be made by the Council, BPL president Linda Johnson says the sale is a "model" for libraries throughout the city, not only in her Brooklyn Public Library system, but also Queens and the NYPL.  And Johnson compliments Councilman Brad Lander, a promoter of the library sale, as being "very clever" before being shushed by her fellow library president Tony Marx of the NYPL.  Councilman Lander also states that for us to sell libraries developers "must make a profit."

See:

    Will Steve Levin Save the Brooklyn Heights Library?

Replication of Infamous Donnell Library Sale Debacle

The deal closely replicates (and was planned at the same time as) the infamous sale of the Donnell Library which did not require City Council approval because that library was not owned by the city as is typically the case, although city money had been used to renovate the Donnell not long before to provide a new teen center and state-of-the-art media center.

November 7th was the 8th anniversary of the announcement of the sudden, secretive sale of the Donnell Library.  Last March the luxury hotel, the luxury condominium building, the luxury restaurants replacing the Donnell Library all opened, but the promised shrunken (less than one-third size) "replacement" Donnell library is nowhere in sight. The NYPL's current, relentlessly postponed expected completion date for that library, to be mostly underground and largely bookless, is  "Summer 2016."  Like the proposed Brooklyn Heights transactions a pittance was received for the library's sale.

See: Priorities To Be Replicated?: Private Luxury Now Abounding Where Former Donnell Library Stood, A "Replacement" Library Is Nowhere In Sight,  Saturday, November 7, 2015.

See also our 3+ minute video about proposed library sales:

Selling Our Libraries!

Library Recently Expanded and Fully Upgraded

The Downtown Brooklyn library is a $120+ million public asset that was expanded and fully upgraded in 1993, one of the most modern in the Brooklyn system, but is being sold to net New York City's general fund considerably less than $40 million.  When the math is finally done there might even be a loss.  The library is now proposed to be shrunk to 26,620 square feet, 42% of the current 63,000 square feet.  (Until the announcement of the under wraps changes days ago, it was to be shrunk to 21,000 square feet.)  Although the proposed sale would lock in this preordained shrinkage, the Brooklyn Public Library has not yet designed a replacement library.

More Models for Shrinking Libraries

One more set of new public expenditures unveiled to promote this deal is the creation of a tiny new library in DUMBO.  Although Councilman Levin announced this plan as though it were newly conceived, BPL minute show that BPL's plan for it was conceived in 2007, the same time the plan for selling and shrinking the Brooklyn Heights Library and the Donnell library was undertaken.  The planned size for the DUMBO library (5,000 square feet) is exceedingly small for a library and is unfortunately viewed as a template for conditioning the public to accept smaller “Out-Post” libraries in the future, substituting for what we currently have.

It was referred to as “new library model” the BPL was piloting.  We'll see what future iterations of the tiny library model bring.  The BPL first version of what it wished for this model was for the DUMBO "Out-Post" library to be only 1,700 square feet.  (Anything less than 10,000 square feet for a library is considered “woefully small.”)

It wasn’t explained whether the city would own this library as is normally the case, or the process that will apply to its acquisition.  There is high likelihood its real estate would only be leased (as previously contemplated) with capital expenditures involved to outfit a temporary facility.

Councilman Levin inaccurately stated that the DUMBO library would be the first new library in Brooklyn in 80 years, ignoring the very small 2,500 square foot library planned for the BAM South project, the Two-Trees Walentas 286 Ashland Place project (down in size from a once promised 15,000 square feet) and ignoring the new Kensington Library replacing a facility that was previously leased.

Discrimination

Selling and shrinking libraries is an attack on Democracy, but with off-site so-called "affordable housing" to be built "poor door" fashion in another school district (to generate building rights bonuses) the project also raises serious issues of discrimination.  See:

Evicted From Library And Exiled To Unaffordable Housing

Citizens Defending Libraries finds pubic response consistent and nearly universal. Citizens Defending Libraries collected testimonies from over 2,000 individuals opposing this proposed sale shrinkage in just over two weeks.  Citizens Defending Libraries has over 25,000 signatories to its petitions opposing the sale of this and other NYC libraries.  Citizens Defending Libraries also has a widely signed letter of support calling for New York City libraries to be properly funded not sold, signed by, among others: The Committee To Save The New York Public Library, The Cobble Hill Association, The DUMBO Neighborhood Association, the Boerum Hill Association and the Park Slope Civic Association.

Critics of the Brooklyn Heights Library sale plans have included Common Cause New York and New York City budget expert Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute. 

Links to other coverage of  the pending City Council vote is available here:

Thursday, December 10, 2015, Links Respecting City Council land Use and Subcommittee Vote (and Steve Levin community betrayal) Respecting Proposed Sale and Shrinkage of Brooklyn Heights Library As Prototype For Future.

One thing the Council must wrestle with in voting Wednesday is how the traditional deference to the local City Council Member, which in this case is technically Steve Levin, conflicts with the interest all the Council Members have not to cast a vote that puts their own libraries in jeopardy from this program-launching precedent.  In this regard the Council Members should remember that the library in question is intended to serve New Yorkers all around, throughout all of Brooklyn and, at a minimum all of lower Manhattan.  That plus the ugliness of Levin’s backroom deal announced at the last minute should help them make the right decision.

CONTACT:
Carolyn E. McIntyre, Michael D. D. White
Michael White, 718-834-6184, mddwhite [at] aol.com
Carolyn McIntyre, 917-757-6542 cemac62 [at] aol.com

Follow us on Twitter: @defendinglibraries

For photos and videos of prior Citizens Defending Libraries rallies opposing the sale, shrinkage, underfunding of New York City libraries, and elimination of books and librarians in the two and a half+ years since its founding, see:

PHOTO GALLERIES- PAST EVENTS

                                                                  #   #   #

Citizens Defending Libraries
(718) 797-5207
http://citizensdefendinglibraries.blogspot.com
@DefendLibraries on twitter
backpack362 [at] aol.com
Citizens Defending Libraries
(718) 797-5207
http://citizensdefendinglibraries.blogspot.com
@DefendLibraries on twitter

Links Respecting City Council land Use and Subcommittee Vote (and Steve Levin community betrayal) Respecting Proposed Sale and Shrinkage of Brooklyn Heights Library As Prototype For Future

This page may get updated.

Chalk messages outside the Brooklyn Heights Library asked Councilman Steve Levin not to sell the library.  More below.  He did, approving shrinking it down to 42% of current size.

Here (below) is Citizens Defending Libraries statement about what was at bottom a major betrayal of the community by Councilman Stephen Levin in a backroom deal.

The 'replacement library under Levin's deal, slightly larger (5,000 square feet) than the proposal modified by Levin's deal will be just 42% of the current library's size (63,000 sq ft).  It will be just 15,000 sq ft above ground instead of the nearly 38,000 sq ft above ground now.

Thursday, December 10, 2015, Citizens Defending Libraries Statement in Response To Councilman Levins' Decision To Approve Sale and Shrinkage of Brooklyn Heights Library (stated by BPL president Linda Johnson to be a "model" for future NYC library deals)

This is the media advisory Citizens Defending Libraries issued before the vote that provides substantial background about the decision before the committee and subcommittee and Councilman Levin.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015,  MEDIA ADVISORY- City Council Votes On Library Sell Off Program Prototype This Week- Should Brooklyn's Second Biggest Library Be Sold and Drastically Shrunk? Comptroller weighing in.

Here is a media advisory Citizens Defending Libraries issued offering breaking news background on the Council's imminent vote including information about Mayor de Blasio raiding Department of Education funds to help push the library sale through:

Monday, December 14, 2015, PRESS RELEASE & ADVISORY- City Council Vote On Library Sell-Off & Shrinkage Program Prototype Imminent- As Comptroller & Public Advocate weigh in de Blasio raids DOE funds to promote sales

Here is a press release and advisory Citizens Defending Libraries issued identifying questions the city council and press should have asked including questions based on facts newly revealed to the Brooklyn Public Library trustees the day before about the backroom deal pushing the library sale through.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015, PRESS RELEASE & ADVISORY- City Council Vote On Library Sell-Off & Shrinkage Program Prototype- Many questions to be asked about backroom deal involving de Blasio

Here is Citizens Defending Libraries statement about the City Council vote.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015, Citizens Defending Libraries Statement About Today's City Council Vote Approving the Sale and Shrinkage of Brooklyn Heights Library (stated by BPL president Linda Johnson to be a "model" for future NYC library deals)

Here is the press release Citizens Defending Libraries issued about the pendency of the de Blasio decision breaking his campaign promise.  In it you can read quotes of what key city council members said when they voted to initiate sale and shrinkage of libraries.

Sunday, December 20, 2015, PRESS RELEASE: De Blasio, reversing campaign pledge, commences selling NYC libraries delivering, in Grinch mode, huge shrinkage

Here you can read the letter in which Comptroller Scott M. Stringer objected to the transaction. 

Wednesday, December 9, 2015, NYC Comptroller's Office Letter to Deputy Mayor Glen on the Brooklyn Heights Library

Here you can read the letter in which Public Advocate Tish James objected to the transaction.

Thursday, December 10, 2015, Tish James, Public Advocate To City Council: "Supporting affordable housing and preserving public assets like libraries must not be competing imperatives."

Here is video about the decision where you can see:

1.)  BPL President Linda Johnson saying that:
- This sale and shrinkage is a “model” for libraries throughout the city, not just future BPL transactions, but also for Queens and the NYPL
- Councilman Brad Lander is “very clever”
2.)  NYPL president Tony Marx “Shushing” fellow library Johnson about saying that Lander is “very clever”
3.)  Brad Lander saying about these library sale deals that developers “must make a profit.”

Will Steve Levin Save the Brooklyn Heights Library?

Here is video of NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer expressing his concerns. 

Stringer: Serious Concerns w/Brooklyn Heights Library Plan

Here is where you can watch video of the relevant City Council proceedings:

    •    This is the City Council Land Use subcommittee November 18, 2015 hearing on the sale and shrinkage of the Brooklyn Heights Library.

NOTE:  This posting of the hearing of this video was strangler delayed.  Then it was posted (finally up around November 25th). Then was even more strangely removed (at least as of December 22nd while de Blasio's decision is pending).  As of 5:00 PM December 23rd it has been restored again. This missing, now back again video is where you can watch City Councilman Stephen Levin ask a series of questions about the value of the library property that speak of it only in terms of its value as a vacant lot to the developer and side-step examining the value of the library to the public from its perspective.

    •    This is the December 1, 2015 City Council Land Use subcommittee meeting postponing the vote approving the sale and shrinkage of the Brooklyn Heights Library  (nothing much really happens).

    •    This is the City Council Land Use and subcommittee vote on December 10, 2015 approving the sale and shrinkage of the Brooklyn Heights Library

    •    City Council vote on December 16, 2015 approving sale and shrinkage of the Brooklyn Heights Library
 
Here is Councilman Steve Levin's unacceptable explanation for his backroom deal, plus reasons to believe he was working for other side against the public's interest fro considerable time.

    •    "An Open Letter Regarding the Brooklyn Heights Library Project"- Obfuscation From Councilman Steve Levin Concerning His Betrayal of The Community By Approving The Sale and Shrinkage of Our Library

    •   TOP TEN REASONS TO BELIEVE THAT COUNCILMAN STEVE LEVIN WAS REALLY ON THE DEVELOPER'S SIDE PROMOTING A SELL-OFF RATHER THAN PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AGAINST A BAD LIBRARY SALE


Do you find that when you are steamed you want to speaking your mind publicly to an elected representative who’s shafting the community?

Comments are possible on two issuances of Levin's explanation of why he sold the Brooklyn Heights Library for shrinkage.

You can comment on this Kings County Politics article:
    •   Kings County Politics: Levin Lays Out The Case Behind His Supporting The BPL Sale, December 30, 2015
And you can comment on Levin's own Facebook post of his open letter:

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.levin1?fref=ts

Here are press articles:

Councilman Dan Garodnick Tweet of Levin's "deal" making announcement.

In reading them, it is important to discern and bear in mind how many items in the basket of now-you-can have it goodies being trotted out to dress up this deal are being paid for by the public, not the developer.  They are being paid for by the public reaching into its own pocket and budgetary resources, not with money from the developer is paying for this public land.

Ponying up those public purse funds for expenditure now to sell this deal to the public is just a further lavishing of more handouts on the developer and it’s all without public process.  Really?: Should the Department of Education, without public process participation or review, spend considerable sums to buy back formerly public space, furnish and operate it as part of last minute backroom deal to make the developer’s thievery look good?

What’s more, to the extent the extent that the public is now being promised what it should have gotten all along, seven day service and “robust programming” at what has been a central destination library in Brooklyn’s downtown, it represents a cynical example of withholding public services, hostage-taking style, to manipulate the public into real estate deals something that Councilman Levin now seems to be endorsing with his wholehearted participation in these deceptions.

    •    Gothamist: After Closed-Door Negotiations, Brooklyn Heights Library Will Likely Become Luxury Condo-Library, by Emma Whitford, December 11, 2015

    •    Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Patch:  Brooklyn Library-Condo Hybrid Approved by City Council Committee- Only one City Council vote remains before the condo developer is given the go-ahead. By Simone Wilson (Patch Staff) December 10, 2015

    •    Brooklyn Daily Eagle: City Council committee approves Brooklyn Heights Library/ condo proposal- Levin sweetens the pot in library sale, By Mary Frost, December 10, 2015

    •    Brooklyn Daily Eagle:  Brooklyn Heights Library deal overwhelmingly approved by full City Council, Approval comes after three years of debate, by Mary Frost

    •    Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Levin pushes for bigger Brooklyn Heights Library at City Council hearing, - 'Most controversial issue' he has seen,  By Mary Frost

    •    Brooklyn Daily Eagle: City Council committee vote on Brooklyn Heights Library sale set for Thursday- All eyes on Councilmember Stephen Levin, By Mary Frost

[Michael D. D.] White says he is wary of deals.

"The public has wearied of `last minute' compromises that look like they were always contemplated from the beginning, and are basically last minute theatrics designed to draw attention away from the lack of public process throughout," he said.

    •     Brooklyn Paper: Council approves Brooklyn Heights library sale, By Ruth Brown, December 17, 2015

    •     Brooklyn Paper: Comptroller: Selling off libraries is not a sustainable solution, By Ruth Brown, December 17, 2015.

    •    Brownstoner: City Council’s Top 5 Concerns About the Brooklyn Heights Library Sale and Development, by Barbara Eldredge

     •    Curbed: Brooklyn Heights Library Redevelopment Gains Pivotal Ally, by Zoe Rosenberg, December 10, 2015.

    •     Noticing New York: Op-Ed: City Council Poised To Vote On City-wide Model For Library Sales and Shrinkage, by Michael D. D. White, December 14, 2015

    •     New York Post: NY libraries shouldn’t be selling land — especially to build ‘affordable housing’, by Nicole Gelinas, October 18, 2015.

    •     DNAInfo: New Deal For Brooklyn Library Proposal Includes More Space, New Library, By Nikhita Venugopal, December 10, 2015

    •    DNAInfo: 'Betrayed!' Councilman's Critics Write in Chalk After Library Condo Deal, by Nikhita Venugopal, December 11, 2015

    •    Daily News: EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn Public Library deal reportedly falls short of market value, leaves NYC shortchanged, by Erin Durkin, November 18, 2015

    •    Daily News:  Plan to sell Brooklyn Heights library to private developer moves forward after Council reaches deal, by Jennifer Fermino, Erin Durkin, December 10, 2015.

    •    Kings County Politics: Levin Horse Trades For Bklyn Hts Library Sale Approval, December 10, 2015

    •    PoliticoNewYork: Deal reached on hot-button plan to redevelop Brooklyn Heights Library, by Sally Goldenberg, December 10, 2015

    •    Citizens Defending Libraries: CONTEST! YES, WHOOPEE, A CONTEST!- $100 TO BE AWARDED TO The Best YouTube Video of. . . BPL's canvassers retreating, caught off base, when library defenders show up to ask whether they are telling the truth!

Chalk messages outside Steve Levin's office Monday, November 18th: "Dear Councilman Levin we trust and and depend on you to DO THE RIGHT THING"

WBAI Radio reporting

    •    Report on November 18, 2015 City Council Subcommittee hearing, by Mitchel Cohen, November 18, 2015

    •    November 30, 2015 Interview with Steve Levin About Selling off the Libraries, by Mitchel Cohen, November 30, 2015 

This includes Steve Levin’s denial that a compromise deal was in the offing.  It also include the story (activism and Domino project related) he met his wife.

    •    Report on Citizens Defending Libraries December 9, 2015 Event Gathering Outside Councilman Steve Levin’s Office evening BEFORE the City Council vote, by Mitchel Cohen, December 9, 2015

        This includes a street performance of Judy Gorman’s Library Song.

    •    Report on Citizens Defending Libraries December 10, 2015 Event Gathering Outside Councilman Steve Levin’s Office evening AFTER the City Council vote, by Mitchel Cohen, December 10, 2015.

This includes Councilman Mark Treyger explaining councilmen votes and discussion of Stephen Levin sellout of community.

On the right at back:  WBAI's Mitchel Cohen- NY1 covering the same story caught Mitchel in the background as Levin was taken to task for voting to sell the library on December 16th.  NY1 ran this footage (and scenes of Citizens Defending Libraries holding signs in the balcony of the Council Chambers) when it took phone calls from a complaining public about the council awarding itself a substantial pay hike.

NY1 December 16th- Rebroadcast when council raised its salary

    •    WBAI News: In the news tonight the New York City Council agrees to sell of the Brooklyn Heights Library, Linda Perry anchor, Mitchel Cohen reporting, December 16, 2015 (Library story starts at: 3:24)

This segment includes Councilman Steve Levin being confronted in the City Hall rotunda over his betrayal of the community and the lack of transparency he promoted.

    •    WBAI "The Morning Show":  Michael G. Haskins Interviews Citizen Dfending Libraries Co-Founders Michael D. D. White and Carolyn E. McIntyre, January 7, 2016 (interview, the last 1/2 hour about 3/4th through the two hour show was broadcast at 7:30 AM).

after the vote, Citizens Defending Libraries updated its previous chalk messages to Councilman Levin to note and decry how the Levin betrayed the community by coming out for this prototype for selling and shrinking libraries throughout New York.

Sunday meeting after City Council vote.  Later we were joined by more for a holiday party upstairs

As background, here is recently compiled information about the Brooklyn Public Library board of trustees:

    •    Brooklyn Public Library Trustees- Identified + Biographical and Other Information Supplied

Citizens Defending Libraries Statement in Response To Councilman Levins’ Decision To Approve Sale and Shrinkage of Brooklyn Heights Library (stated by BPL president Linda Johnson to be a “model” for future NYC library deals)

Citizens Defending Libraries updated its previous chalk messages to Councilman Levin to note and decry how the Levin betrayed the community by coming out for this prototype for selling and shrinking libraries throughout New York.

We are very surprised that the result of Councilman’s Levin’s last minute backroom deal is so much worse than we expected even when we thought that there might be a last minute so-called “compromise” to dress up what is at bottom a very bad deal and bad precedent for the city in terms of selling off and drastically shrinking an important central destination library.

There is no doubt that the deal is now fractionally better than what was proposed, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are selling off valuable public libraries or, more broadly, how bad a deal this is for the public.  The new bigger version of the smaller shrunken library will now be 42% of the current library’s size.  When you realize that the currently library would cost $120+ million to replace and that we are getting only 42% of that back you realize how much we have lost.  Remember that this is a library that was expanded to its current size (because it needed to be) and fully upgraded in 1993 . . .

. . .  Placed at the bottom of a luxury residential tower that is privately owned, this shrunken library can never be expanded afterwards to correct this mistake or keep up with city growth.

Further, the public will have to suffer through the demolition of a perfectly good, sturdy library, one of the most modern in the Brooklyn Public Library system, waiting years for the rebuilding of its shrunken replacement.

It is ominous that, as BPL president Linda Johnson says, this is viewed as a “model” for libraries throughout the city, not only other libraries in her own BPL system, but also Queens and the NYPL?

Distressingly, there was 20,000 square feet of unspoken for space within this project as currently proposed that could have readily have been added to the size of the shrinking library.  Did Councilman Levin add that 20,000 or even 10,000 as might be expected?  No!: He added only 5,000 square feet.

Not mentioned is that this added space is all underground.  The current library is nearly 38,000 square feet above ground.  Levin is approving shrinking that down to 15,000 square feet.  

We are most saddened by the lack of transparency.  Councilman Levin spent hours last night, this morning and probably the days before talking behind closed doors with the developer.  None of the options possible were presented or previewed to the public, nor did Levin spend comparable time with the public.  What we got was a lot of drama, but no transparency.  The lack of transparency compounds the problem of the utter lack of transparency leading up to this moment.

Over a year ago, Levin promised the community that he would insist on transparency from the BPL with respect to the library sales.  He has never followed through on that promise despite our repeated urging.  We think it is clear that this project would never have survived scrutiny had he done so.  So the question is what was Levin’s intention, who was he serving, when he did not demand the basic transparency the to which the community was entitled.

It is important to discern and bear in mind how many items in the basket of now-you-can have it goodies being trotted out to dress up this deal are being paid for by the public, not the developer.  They are being paid for by the public reaching into its own pocket and budgetary resources, not with money from the developer is paying for this public land.

Ponying up those public purse funds for expenditure now to sell this deal to the public is just a further lavishing of more handouts on the developer and it’s all without public process.  Really?: Should the Department of Education, without public process participation or review, spend considerable sums to buy back formerly public space, furnish and operate it as part of last minute backroom deal to make the developer’s thievery look good?

What’s more, to the extent the extent that the public is now being promised what it should have gotten all along, seven day service and “robust programming” at what has been a central destination library in Brooklyn’s downtown, it represents a cynical example of withholding public services, hostage-taking style, to manipulate the public into real estate deals something that Councilman Levin now seems to be endorsing with his wholehearted participation in these deceptions.

Here are some of the other concerns regarding the overly dramatized last minute compromise:

    •    The proposed new additional 5,000 square foot library in DUMBO, was proposed by the BPL long ago  (2007/2008 the same time the Brooklyn Heights and Donnell sale were planned).  It is exceedingly small for a library and is unfortunately viewed as a template for conditioning the public to accept smaller “Out-Post” libraries in the future substituting for what we currently have.  It was referred to as “new library model” the BPL was piloting referred to as an “Out-Post.”  We'll see what future iterations of the tiny library model bring.  The BPL first version of what it wished for this model was for the DUMBO "Out-Post" library to be only 1,700 square feet.  (Anything less than 10,000 square feet for a library is considered “woefully small.”) . . .  It wasn’t explained whether the city would own this library as is normally the case, or the process that will apply to its acquisition.  Would the property even be owned or would it be leased (as previously contemplated) with capital expenditures involved to outfit a temporary facility.

    •    There is no updated calculation of how little the BPL is netting from this sale.  Based on the BPL’s estimate that the replacement library space would cost $12 million to outfit the now proposed larger shrunken library should now cost $14.9 million to outfit, but based on the Donnell figures we think it will probably actually cost about $20 million to outfit.  Obscuring what should be the obviousness of this, BPL president Linda Johnson made this statement continuing to use her former, now antiquated over estimation of what will be netted from the sale: "We are one step closer to bringing a new, inspiring, state-of-the art library to Brooklyn Heights and a $40 million investment to libraries . . “ (emphasis supplied.)

    •    The “commitment” to seven day service and commitment to “robust programming” are both good, but should be presupposed and should always have been the case for a central destination library which this library has been up to this time.  Why this had not already been so in a time of plenty, of extraordinary city budget surplus, and a time of heavily increasing library use, requires explanation.  There is also nothing to prevent this from being a bait and switch promise if we face lean years in the future.

    •    Because it should have been done before and because it is more easily and quickly done now without demolishing and having to construct anew, it is also just eyewash that the the Brooklyn Public Library will partner with local business and entrepreneurship groups to create a new, 3,000 square foot ‘Technology & Business Services Center’ in the new Brooklyn Heights Library in order to preserve and enhance the technology-rich workspace and business-facing services of the current Business & Career Library and better meet the needs of a 21st Century workforce.

    •    The prettification (a standard ruse) that the developer will contract to a provision that will allow the Brooklyn Public Library to share in any profit above a benchmark rate of return is treacherous and likely to lose meaning in the details.  First the developer’s rate of return is probably set to be substantial anyway.  Then there are the pitfalls of “Hollywood Accounting” style or the kind of creative accounting you can also get in real estate where profit is drained off by the developer’s related companies of which the Hudson Companies has many.

    •    The deepened “affordability” of some of the units so-called “affordable” units, most of them very small, goes in the right direction but does not change the fact that these units are being built “poor door” style more than a mile away in a different neighborhood and less desirable school district.  As Public Tish James wrote about this project: "Supporting affordable housing and preserving public assets like libraries must not be competing imperatives."

    •    The construction unions must decide for themselves whether sufficient concessions were made with workforce safety assurances but we note the Hudson Companies’ bad record respecting these matters.

    •    We will temporarily withhold comment about the square footage that will be set aside in the building for a STEM education labs administered by the NYC Department of Education except to note that libraries support education and with the library shrinking almost 60% there is a lot lost to be made up for in this regard.  One question raised:  How does the promise of this facility square with all the previous representations (designed to forestall public discussion?) from the School Construction Authority to CB2 members and theoretically to Levin himself that this property could not be an appropriate site for educational facilities?  lastly, why should be be forced to choose?: We should not be asked to choose between our need for schools and our libraries.

The language reminding Steve Levin that transparency was importnat had to be changed to note that he never delivered the transparency from the BPL he promised he would insist on and only delivered a backroom deal instaed.

Tish James, Public Advocate To City Council: "Supporting affordable housing and preserving public assets like libraries must not be competing imperatives."

The same day the new York City Comptroller wrote expressing objection to the proposed Brooklyn Heights Library sale and shrinkage Tish James the Public Advocate wrote the letter below to the City Council.


* * * * 

The Public Advocate
for the City of New York
Letitia James - Public Advocate
The Public Advocate
for the City of New York


1 CENTRE STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10007
TEL: 212 669 7200
FAX  212 669 4701
WWW.PUEADVCCATE.NYC.GCV


December 9,2015

Members of the New York City Council:

Like many of you, I've been a proud champion of affordable housing and preserving public assets like our libraries. As a member of the City Council, I pushed for a development in Fort Greene, Brooklyn to include additional affordable housing, as well as spared the local Brooklyn Public Library Pacific Street branch from demolition. As part of the approval process for BAM South I helped ensure that the existing Brooklyn Public Library branch (Pacific St.) was preserved.

Now, the Council faces another important vote with respect to the Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn Heights. In my role as New York City Public Advocate, I continue to remain active in fighting for development to include affordable housing without harming our city's public assets.

With that in mind, I want to share specific concerns I have with regards to the Brooklyn Heights BPL plan. As I have previously expressed in public meetings like Community Board 2, I am deeply concerned about creating segregated communities by allowing developers to place affordable housing units off-site. I am also concerned about the site is being valued accurately and whether New York City is receiving proper compensation from the developer. Moreover, I want to ensure that we end the underfunding of our libraries and give our libraries the financial support they badly need and deserve.

Supporting affordable housing and preserving public assets like libraries must not be competing imperatives. We should not be asked to choose between our need for affordable housing and our libraries.

As members of the City Council navigate the approval process for Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn Heights, I respectfully urge you to take the aforementioned concerns into consideration.       

Lastly, as the city's watchdog, I will continue to work with the City Council, the Mayor, the Borough Presidents, and community advocates to ensure that the process of building affordable housing is fair, transparent, and not reliant on selling public assets. I look forward to continuing to working with you on this important issue.

Sincerely,


Letitia James
Public Advocate for the City of New York

NYC Comptroller's Office Letter to Deputy Mayor Glen on the Brooklyn Heights Library

Citizens Defending Libraries is very pleased to have a letter from NYC Comptroller Scott M. Stringer's office to the the Mayor's Office, Mayor de Blasio's Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development expressing concern that the proposed sale of the Brooklyn heights Library does not maximize public value and fails to address the needs facing the Brooklyn Public Library.

As seen in this video, at NYC Comptroller Stringer's December 3rd Brooklyn Town Forum Comptroller Stringer heard expression of concerns from the community and responded with his own expression of concerns about the proposed sale and drastic shrinkage of the Brooklyn Heights Library, Brooklyn's central destination Business, Career and Education library in Downtown Brooklyn.

VIDEO:  Stringer: Serious Concerns w/Brooklyn Heights Library Plan (click through for best view)


Here is the letter:

* * * * *

City of New York
Office of the Comptroller
Scott M. Stringer


ALAINA GlLLIGO
First Deputy Comptroller
Executive Office


December 9, 2015

Alicia Glen
Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Re: One Clinton Street- Brooklyn Heights Library- C 150399 PPK and C 150500 PQK

Dear Deputy Mayor Glen:

I am writing to share several concerns regarding the sale of the Brooklyn Heights Library (BHL). The proposal would dispose of city-owned property, currently operated by the library, in exchange for off-site affordable housing, $40 million for the library's capital needs, and a new library valued at approximately $12 million.

Libraries are vital resources - enriching our lives through education and connectivity and providing ladders of opportunity for New Yorkers of all ages. As a result, it is essential that government ensure the sustainability of these anchor institutions for future generations.

However, there are serious questions regarding whether the proposed sale of BHL is the most effective way to reach this goal in line with the needs of the community. Of particular concern are the following:

    •    The lack of a comprehensive public plan to address the capital needs of the library system;
    •    Questions about whether the plan secures fair and full market value for the property;
    •    The potential loss of services at this branch, both temporary and permanent;
    •    The siting of affordable housing offsite; and
    •    Questions over whether the project will produce good jobs and a safe work environment.

I believe that the Brooklyn Public Library has a responsibility to speak to these concerns prior to moving forward with the proposed project.

Capital Needs

City-owned authorities, non-profits, and agencies are increasingly leveraging the value of real estate to fund capital needs. While these strategies can be a useful tool to support public facilities and neighborhood needs, communities have a right to understand and participate in the development of these plans when they involve publically owned properties.

As a result, it is critical for entities to create and disseminate comprehensive long term plans prior to the disposition of their properties. These plans can help entities chart a path toward financial stability by exploring various methods-- including long-- term leases-that generate consistent revenue.

BPL has stated that it has $300 million of outstanding capital needs across its system, which includes the Central Library, Business Library, and 58 neighborhood branches. I strongly support efforts to find creative solutions to meet those needs. However, to date, BPL has not provided the public with a comprehensive capital plan that explains how the one-time revenue from the sale of BHL will fix those needs. Indeed, the projected revenue from the BHL plan will cover less than one-fifth of the stated need and will not increase revenue to the library over the long-term.

It is simply unsustainable for the City to rely solely on the disposition of property to cover capital needs without fixing the systematic causes for the capital gap.

As a result, the library's comprehensive capital plan should include:

1.    Which real estate strategies it considered from full disposition to long term leases;
2.    The financial gaps this plan intends to fill and how the revenue will prevent these gaps in the future;
3.    Additional properties (if any) that it intends to sell; and
4.    The amount of development it anticipates in these neighborhoods.

Only through this public disclosure can the community and elected officials understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of this plan.

Value

In many communities, there is a dearth of available publicly owned land that can be used to fulfill neighborhood needs. It is therefore essential that any sale of public land must be in the public's best interest and that the public receives the highest value possible, in both use and dollars.

Some groups have expressed concern that the City is selling the property for significantly below market value, even after taking into account BPL's estimate of the value of the new Brooklyn Heights Branch ($10 million) and the interim library ($2.7 million).

For major developments across the City, like those in Hudson Yards, the City has engaged independent appraisers to value properties in order to price complex issues like air rights.

The City should take a similar step here to ensure that BPL is getting full and fair market value for this public asset.

Services

Finally, I share the concerns expressed by many stakeholders concerning the potential reduction in the library's usable space and the shift of essential services to less accessible locations.

While the proposed plan includes a new library, the total space available for public use is being reduced. Currently, the Brooklyn Heights branch and the Business Career Library has approximately 32,000 SF of library, office and circulation space. As proposed, the new branch will have only 21,500 SF, with at least 18,500 SF open to the public. This reduction in size will limit the volume of services that can be provided at the site and limits flexibility for new or expanded services in the future.

The reduction in space will also require the relocation of the Business and Career Library to the Central Branch. While these services won't be discontinued, their relocation will have a detrimental effect on many members of the Brooklyn community. Unlike the Brooklyn Heights Library, which is 0.2 miles from the accessible subway station at Borough Hall, the closest accessible station to the Central Branch is approximately 1 mile from the nearest accessible stations at Atlantic Terminal and Prospect Park.

Given the greater accessibility of the Brooklyn Heights branch, BHL should be considered for more services, not fewer.

Conclusion

Our public libraries are essential to the well-being, education, and advancement of our populace and we must do everything in our power to ensure that they are maintained in sound fiscal health. At this time, I remain concerned that the proposed sale of the Brooklyn Heights Library does not maximize public value and fails to address the ongoing capital needs facing BPL.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter.


Sincerely.
Alaina Gilligo
First Deputy Comptroller

* * * * *

On the whole it's a good letter for which Citizens Defending Libraries is very grateful, and we know the Comptroller's Office faced a deadline producing it.

We have a few quibbles we must raise and at least one thing to add to the concern list.

On the subject of getting "market value" we have been straining to remind people that "tear-down" market value (which we are apparently not getting) is far less than value of an up and running asset to the public.  The first in regard to this sale is somewhere in the $52 to maybe $60 million neighborhood, the second in the case of this library is, we think from the public's point of view, far closer to the library's replacement cost in the vicinity of $120+ million.  The BPL has been particularly assiduous in side-stepping assessment of the latter. . .

. . .We think the letter does say this when its says any sale "must be in the public's best interest and the the public receives the highest value possible, in both use and dollars." nonetheless, this is something that we are seeking to be ultra clear about given the consequences that could flow from not bearing the difference in value in mind.

We also find the BPL's disregard for books, core to its mission, frightening, and something that echoes problems at the NYPL and its inability and unwillingness to provide straight, correct and non-misleading information about its book counts (per the recent New York Times article).  Further, as the NYPL's slowly emerging 990s are showing, there is a huge unpublicized expense to keeping books off-site.  In that regard, space for books in the Brooklyn Heights Library is important, including the two underground half-floors that also enable the library to fulfill its qualifications as a Federal Depository.

Ergo, we are not quick to dismiss the value of much of the space at the library, including the two underground half-floors that are very comparable to the seven floors of stacks at the 42nd Street Central Reference Library (with capacity for 3 million books) that are very controversially empty at present.

So, in terms of space valuable to the public we include the underground book storage space.  The above ground space at the library is just under 38,000 square feet and we areloath to par it down to to any 32,000 subcomponent as if nearly 6,000 square feet of it (or the underground space) might not be quite valuable.  We know that BPL president Linda Johnson disparages the space saying that the staircase is too large (like in City Hall?), but space has a way of being used: Today, we counted (and photographed) about eight strollers and one scooter tucked away into the stair space that would have to have gone somewhere.  Upstairs, the stairway area, with a window, was a nice place for one young woman to make a phone call about her notes (away from disturbing readers) while looking out the window beside the display case.

The fact that we are taking the time to be exacting about these issues of public value at stake should not detract from the fact that we think this is an excellent letter expressing especially profound insurmountable concerns and it encourages us as we look forward to working more with the Controller's office in the future.  We especially like the inclusion of the handicapped accessibility issue.

MEDIA ADVISORY- City Council Votes On Library Sell Off Program Prototype This Week- Should Brooklyn's Second Biggest Library Be Sold and Drastically Shrunk? Comptroller weighing in.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York City

WHAT: City Council Subcommittee on Planning, Disposition and Concessions (a part of the Land Use Committee) is scheduled to vote on the precedent-setting proposed fire sale of a major public asset, Brooklyn' second biggest library, the central destination library in Downtown Brooklyn.  A vote of the Land Use Committee is scheduled to follow immediately afterward.
WHEN: Thursday, December 10, 2015, 10:30 A.M. (followed by 11:00 AM vote)
WHERE: Committee Room (next to Council Chambers), City Hall, City Hall park New York, New York 10007
WHAT ELSE?:  Citizens Defending Libraries will be on hand to provide facts about the decision before the City Council.

The City Council Subcommittee on Planning, Disposition and Concessions (a part of the Land Use Committee) is scheduled to vote on whether to approve the sale and drastic shrinkage of Brooklyn's second largest library, the Brooklyn Heights Library (the includes the Business, Career and recently expanded Education Library), the central destination library in Downtown Brooklyn.  Immediately thereafter the Land use Committee will vote.

At the City Council hearing concerning this sale, Brooklyn Public Library president Linda Johnson declared that the sale and shrinkage is looked at as a "model" for transactions underway with respect libraries throughout the city, not just for other libraries in her BPL system, but also for Queens and the NYPL.

These votes of the committee and subcommittee will be the Council's first-ever votes on the proposed sale and drastic shrinkage of a major New York City library with the construction of a 400 foot luxury tower at the site to replace it.

The council's votes are expected to be determined by the traditional deference to the local City Council Member, which in this case is Steve Levin.

See:

    Will Steve Levin Save the Brooklyn Heights Library?

In this video: Councilman Levin's decision, BPL president Linda Johnson says the sale is a "model" for libraries throughout the city, not only in her Brooklyn Public Library system, but also Queens and the NYPL.  And Johnson compliments Councilman Brad Lander, a promoter of the library sale, as being "clever."

Last week the Comptroller expressed serious concerns about the deal and said he would weigh in with a critique of it.

See:

Stringer: Serious Concerns w/Brooklyn Heights Library Plan

The deal closely replicates (and was planned at the same time as) the infamous sale of the Donnell Library which did not require City Council approval because that library was not owned by the city as is typically the case, although city money had been used to renovate the Donnell not long before to provide a new teen center and state of the media center.

November 7th was the 8th anniversary of the announcement of the sudden, secretive sale of the Donnell Library.  Last March the luxury hotel, the luxury condominium building, the luxury restaurants replacing the Donnell Library all opened, but the promised shrunken (less than one-third size) "replacement" Donnell library is nowhere in sight. The NYPL's current, relentlessly postponed expected completion date for that library, to be mostly underground and largely bookless, is  "Summer 2016."  Like the proposed Brooklyn Heights transactions a pittance was received for the library's sale.

See: Priorities To Be Replicated?: Private Luxury Now Abounding Where Former Donnell Library Stood, A "Replacement" Library Is Nowhere In Sight,  Saturday, November 7, 2015.

See also our 3+ minute video about proposed library sales:

Selling Our Libraries!

The Downtown Brooklyn library is a $120+ million public asset that was expanded and fully upgraded in 1993, one of the most modern in the Brooklyn system, but is being sold to net New York City's general fund considerable less than $40 million.  When the math is finally done there might even be a loss.  The library would be shrunk from 63,000 square feet to about 21,000 square feet.  Although the proposed sale would lock in this preordained shrinkage, the Brooklyn Public Library has not designed a replacement library beforehand.

Selling and shrinking libraries is an attack on Democracy, but with off-site so-called "affordable housing" to be built "poor door" fashion in another school district (to generate building rights bonuses) the project also raises serious issues of discrimination.  See:

Evicted From Library And Exiled To Unaffordable Housing

Citizens Defending Libraries finds pubic response consistent and nearly universal. Citizens Defending Libraries collected testimonies from over 2,000 individuals opposing this proposed sale shrinkage in just over two weeks.  Citizens Defending Libraries has over 25,000 signatories to its petitions opposing the sale of this and other NYC libraries.  Citizens Defending Libraries also has a widely signed letter of support calling for New York City libraries to be properly funded not sold, signed by, among others: The Committee To Save The New York Public Library, The Cobble Hill Association, The DUMBO Neighborhood Association, the Boerum Hill Association and the Park Slope Civic Association.

CONTACT:
Carolyn E. McIntyre, Michael D. D. White
Michael White, 718-834-6184, mddwhite [at] aol.com
Carolyn McIntyre, 917-757-6542 cemac62 [at] aol.com

Follow us on Twitter: @defendinglibraries

For photos and videos of prior Citizens Defending Libraries rallies opposing the sale, shrinkage, underfunding of New York City libraries, and elimination of books and librarians in the two and a half+ years since its founding, see:

PHOTO GALLERIES- PAST EVENTS

                                                                  #   #   #

Citizens Defending Libraries
(718) 797-5207
http://citizensdefendinglibraries.blogspot.com
@DefendLibraries on twitter
backpack362 [at] aol.com
Citizens Defending Libraries
(718) 797-5207
http://citizensdefendinglibraries.blogspot.com
@DefendLibraries on twitter
backpack362