Pay-To-Play Library Sale Questions Loom Larger As New York Post Reports Uncovering Emails That Confirm “Probably Inappropriate” de Blasio Administration Communications With Favored Developer And Possible “Violation” Of Bid Process- Post Editorial Calls For Investigation

Deputy Mayor fro Development and de Blasio selling off libraries, our letter to prosecutors calling for investigation. .  just like the New York Post

Questions having been looming, pretty much from the get-go, about the probability of the de Blasio administration’s engagement in pay-to-play activity when it sold, for far below its actual value, Brooklyn’s second biggest library, the Business, Career and Education Federal Depository Brooklyn Heights Library in downtown Brooklyn.

As of last week those questions loom still larger and more starkly as the New York Post reported uncovering emails from 2014 (March & September) confirming that the favored developer who was awarded the library site for a fraction of its value to the public, David Kramer of the Hudson Companies, whose development team channeled money to the de Blasio campaign, was communicating with de Blasio’s Deputy Mayor for development, Alicia Glen, for her assistance before being given the contract.  Kramer thanked Glen for “being the expeditor” saying that “Ever since our call in August, it feels like momentum finally started happening” and that he was “quite pleased with the outcome (how’s that for understatement).”  Kramer had at least two conversations with Glen before being granted the property.  The Post says that such conversations were barred under state law.

Going back in time to put this in context, that August referred to in Kramer’s email to Glen was the same August that Noticing New York laid out the history of the BPL’s systematic marshaling up its library assets, including the Heights Library, for sale as real estate deals, benefitting developers, not the public.  The month before, in July, Noticing New York had written about Spaceworks as just one vehicle for turning New York City Libraries into real estate deals.  September 16th, Citizens Defending Libraries followed up with a press release about its follow-up with its Citizens Audit and Investigation of Brooklyn Public Library- FOIL Requests and held a rally in connection therewith outside the Brooklyn Public Library Trustees meeting as the trustees voted to give the city-owned library to Kramer. 

The Post article quoted “a source familiar with the procurement process” who called the contacts between Glen and Kramer “completely inappropriate, and depending on what happens, probably a violation of the procurement rules.”  The Post article also noted that it had previous reported that Hudson won the contract despite that fact that its bid “was not the highest bid.”  And it noted that “Hudson received $10 million in financing from the same Goldman Sachs division that Glen used to oversee.”

Two days after the Post article ran, it was followed up with by an editorial calling for an investigation again noting that Kramer’s bid was not the highest plus the troubling Alicia Glen-Goldman Sachs connection to Kramer’s financing and adding:

State law bars contacts between firms and officials during bidding competitions to prevent favoritism or even the appearance of it.

    * * *

Worse, the deal fits a pattern of de Blasio donors getting favorable treatment: Who can forget City Hall’s OK for a nursing home to be turned into condos, reaping the developer a $72 million windfall? Or the favors for fat cats and unions that gave handsomely to the mayor’s campaign and his Campaign for One New York slush fund?

Prosecutors have failed to find enough smoking-gun evidence to charge anyone at City Hall. Let’s hope they’re still trying.

Here are links to the article and editorial:

•    Condo developer’s chat with deputy mayor raises questions about bid process, by Yoav Gonen, October 9, 2018

•    Yet another case of de Blasio’s City Hall for sale, By Post Editorial Board, October 11, 2018

We are thankful for the Post article and editorial and for the freedom of information request effort through which the Post obtained this information (even if belatedly). . .  The BPL and de Blasio administration have stonewalled Citizens Defending Libraries' FOIL, never turning over information that would similarly be relevant to discovering more about the library sales. . .

We are thankful, but we have to point out that there is more of this story to be told, more dots to be connected.

The Post article could have made much more clear that what was being sold off was not the “site of the Brooklyn Heights library branch” the article mentions, or the “Brooklyn library site” the editorial mentions, but the actual, still standing library itself.  Furthermore, the Post is incorrect in referring to the site as merely the site of a “branch” library: It was the site of a huge central destination library, the Business, Career and Education Federal Depository Library.  Neither the article nor the editorial says that this was the second biggest library in Brooklyn.  We had nothing else close either in terms of size or its valuable location.

Yes, the Post does make clear that Kramer, the low bidder, paid less for the site than the city would have gotten if it had given the site to another developer bidding to take the site, thus making clear its implication that in return for campaign contributions the de Blasio administration was willing sell a city asset for less than its value. . .  It is probably not a surprise that the de Blasio administration in such an exchange would sell a city asset for less than its worth as indicated by the Post, but the only way to truly realize how much was squandered by the de Blasio administration selling this central destination library off to the low bidder is to realize the value that this still-standing library had to the public.

Developers bidding for the library “site” (not the library) were bidding only for the tear-down value of the property, to them that was less valuable than the value of a vacant lot.  But this central destination library had recently been greatly expanded and fully ungraded in 1993.  It was one of the most technologically advanced in the system with more computers and access internet access at exactly the time when library administration officials said this was what they needed much more of.   It was one of the most solidly built libraries in the system. The Post describes David Kramer as paying “$52 million” for the site, but after all is reckoned and the many expenses and losses of selling the library are subtracted out, it is likely the sale will perhaps net not much more than $20 million— We’ll one day learn more about this from future FOIL requests, we hope . .  

The Brooklyn Heights Central destination library would cost at least $120 million to replace.  But we are not getting back our Business, Career and Education Federal Depository library.  Its books are disappearing, so are the librarians.  It’s a huge public loss.

The Post editorial incorrectly says that the Brooklyn Public Library “owned the site” of the library.  It didn’t; the city did.  That’s an example of the bureaucratic fuzz behind which city and library officials are trying to hide and to baffle the public with.  (However, the BPL, as the library tenant in the property, could have easily fought the sale.)  But, because of quotes offered by David Kramer defending his contacts with Alicia Glen in the original Post article we can strip away the illusion that the Brooklyn Public Library board is somehow politically independent enough to represent the public interest rather than just taking orders from City Hall.  Kramer explained about his calling Glen about the library sale told the Post (emphasis supplied):

Eight months into the new administration, we kept on hearing that EDC and [Brooklyn Public Library] were awaiting direction from City Hall    

Carolee Fink appointed to BPL board

If the Post wanted an addition to its reporting to make more ominous the de Blasio threat to our libraries when contributing developers `lurk,' it could have gone on to report that this April  Carolee Fink, Alicia Glen’s Chief of Staff, was appointed to BPL board by Mayor Bill de Blasio.  Ms. Fink’s status as Glen’s Chief of Staff can be explained by her deep involvement in pushing through real estate development projects.

More about Ms. Glen who, as noted, came from Goldman Sachs to the city to do development. In December 2015 when BPL president Linda Johnson told the BPL board of trustees how the sale of that library sale went down, a shrink-and-sink deal replacing the central destination library with a luxury tower, Johnson told the BPL board of trustees that Ms. Glen had adopted the library sale and shrinkage deal as “her own” to “push it across the finish line.”  The secretive final negotiations at City Hall included raiding Department of Education funds for space in the luxury building to help the developer. 

Not mentioned by the Post is that Glen’s push “across the finish line” also involved a raid on Department of Education Funds to help push the deal through with the manipulative and cockeyed idea of writing a black check to the developer to put a “STEM” or “STEAM” facility in the building.
  
Moreover, the trustees were told that this sale was a “huge turning point for the library system” and “across the city in general” with Johnson `pioneering’ the future of libraries.  And previously Ms. Johnson had told the city council that the shrink-and-sink sale would be a model for all three of the city’s library systems.

The Post fits the de Blasio gift of the library to Kramer in the “pattern of de Blasio donors getting favorable treatment” referring to Kramer as “a donor and longtime pal of Mayor de Blasio.”  We would have loved the Post to use the images we obtained of a de Blasio fund-raising event Kramer’s development team held for him, that they bragged about.  Their bragging was posted online just weeks after de Blasio held a big campaign event with Citizens Defending Libraries telling people he opposed the library sales and that there were, “lurking right behind the curtain, real estate developers who are very anxious to get their hands on these valuable properties.”

Kramer team de Blasio fund raiser picture taken down hastily by Marvel Architects as pay-to-play investigation heated up.

As the pay-to-play scandal escalated Marvel Architects, working for Kramer on the sale took down the images and their posted brags hoping no one would remember, but we have the images already, and they won’t go away.  See:

As Feeding Frenzy Elevates NY1 Covers De Blasio “Pay To Play” Violation: Taking Campaign Contributions From Kramer’s Hudson Companies While Handing Out Brooklyn Heights Library Deal- Marvel Architects Runs But Can’t Hide

The Post editorial ‘hoped’ that “prosecutors” were “still trying” to “find smoking-gun evidence to charge” people in City Hall.  We would have loved it if the Post had mentioned our open letter to those potential “prosecutors” requesting the exact same thing. See:

Open Letter to US Attorney Preet Bharara, NYS Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, et al: Use Your Staggering Powers as Law Enforcers & Public Guardians To Immediately Halt the Corrupt Sale & Shrinking of Brooklyn Heights Library

One of the addressees we beseeched in our letter was Letitia James, currently Public Advocate for the City of New York, who with her likely step up to New York State Attorney General given her Democratic primary victory will have a lot more power to pursue this. . . if only she will.  We hope the Post will put pressure on Attorney General James to do so.

In February 2015, when the scandal about the facts pointing to a pay-to-play sale of the library were already getting press, Citizens Defending Libraries implored the Brooklyn Heights Association at its annual meeting to withdraw support for the library sale and back investigation of the sale, but the BHA refused.  See:

Annual Meeting of Brooklyn Heights Association- The BHA President Patrick Killackey Insists That BHA Will Continue To Betray Community By Supporting The Brooklyn Heights Library Sale & Shrinkage Notwithstanding Recent Scandals

The Post story and editorial about these emails breaks just as Kramer is about to market the luxury condos in the tower replacing the library sold for such a small fraction of its actual value to the public. See:

As Condo Apartments Set Brooklyn Heights Sales Records (You Heard About Matt Damon’s $16.645 Million Penthouse?) Central Library Sold To Build (Now About To be Marketed) Luxury Condos Nets Mere Pittance

Quoted in the above post, the Brooklyn Heights Association speaking through its executive director Peter Bray reiterated all over again its continuing support for the sale of the library saying, “We’ve taken a very close look at this project from day one.” 

The sale of the library could never have been pushed through without the BHA’s support.

New Brooklyn Public Library Trustees- Can You Imagine?; One of Them Is Carolee Fink, Chief of Staff to Alicia Glen (formerly of Goldman), DeBlasio’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development

Carolee Fink, Chief of Staff for Alicia Glen and now a Brooklyn Public Library Trustee by de Blasio's appointment

As of today the Brooklyn Public Library’s web page giving information about its board of trustees and who is on it is not up-to-date.  It is missing some new appointments.  And it doesn’t give the name of the board’s current chair, which is Susan Marcinek who has already chaired her first board meeting.  Ms. Marcinek’s spouse, David M. Marcinek once described as a “deal making partner” as Managing Director at Goldman Sachs connects her in multiple ways with politics and library sales.
               
But maybe the BPL is not too eager for the public to always be up-to-date with who is on the board of trustees.

Before telling you that one of the new BPL trustees is Carolee Fink, you should know that when the BPL sold the second biggest library in Brooklyn, the central destination downtown Brooklyn Business, Career and Education Brooklyn Heights Library, which was also a Federal Depository library to access federal documents, that deal was pushed through at City Hall by Alicia Glen, DeBlasio’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development.

Ms. Glen came to the city to do development arriving from Goldman Sachs.  In December 2015 when BPL president Linda Johnson told the BPL board of trustees how the sale of that library sale went down, a shrink-and-sink deal replacing the central destination library with a luxury tower, Johnson told the BPL board of trustees that Ms. Glen had adopted the library sale and shrinkage deal as “her own” to “push it across the finish line.”  The secretive final negotiations at City Hall included raiding Department of Education funds for space in the luxury building to help the developer. 

Moreover, the trustees were told that this sale was a “huge turning point for the library system” and “across the city in general” with Johnson `pioneering’ the future of libraries.  And previously Ms. Johnson had told the city council that the shrink-and-sink sale would be a model for all three of the city’s library systems.
                   
Who is Carolee Fink?  Ms. Carolee Fink is Alicia Glen’s Chief of Staff.  Ms. Fink was appointed to BPL board by Mayor Bill deBlasio.  She replaces another of deBlasio’s appointments, Rachel Lauter, de Blasio's appointments secretary, one of his first three appointment to the BPL board.  (Appointments Secretary is a powerful and key administration position.)  Lauter has reportedly headed off to the West Coast.

At their Tuesday April 17, 2018 meeting Ms. Fink was introduced to the BPL board by fellow BPL board member Jordan Barowitz from the Durst real estate organization who said that he had known Ms. Fink “for a number of years” and described her as a “City Hall All-Star.”   Ms. Johnson was quick to add that Ms. Fink was Glenn’s chief of staff and said that Ms. Fink “loves libraries.”

Ms. Fink has been heavily and continually involved in the city’s big and high profile development deals for a number of years.  When Ms. Glen first started Ms. Fink served as her senior advisor.  Before that Ms. Fink advised Glen’s predecessor, Deputy Mayor Robert Steel. Then before returning as Glen’s Chief of Staff Ms. Fink served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer of NYC’s real estate development corporation, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC).  That was a newly created EDC position for her to oversee EDC’s real estate activity as chief development officer.

Ms. Fink has worked on the dispensing of city property, and large-scale projects such as the Hunters Point South development in Long Island City, Queens.  Creating a lot of overlap with other BPL trustees who are involved in development projects, Fink was the lead City Hall Advisor for EDC, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Hudson River Park Trust.  Similarly she is involved with the Downtown Brooklyn partnership.  It has gotten her involved with issues like the failure to create Williamsburg waterfront parks that were promised in connection with development approvals.

Ms. Glen’s Deputy Mayor position gives Glen responsibility for overseeing and coordination with the operations of EDC, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York City Housing Authority, Department of City Planning, Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Department of Consumer Affairs, the Public Design Commission, and the Department of Small Business Services, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Housing Recovery Office. The Deputy Mayor also serves as a liaison with city, state and federal agencies and other agencies responsible for the City's economic development and infrastructure, including: NYC & Company, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Housing Development Corporation, Rent Guidelines Board, Hudson River Park Trust, The Trust for Governor's Island, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Board of Standards and Appeals, and Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The development oriented Fink also shows up on boards like the Trust for Cultural Resources of the City of New York, the Build NYC Resource Corporation, and the Moynihan Station Development Corporation and Snug Harbor.

Another BPL board member who does not currently show up on the BPL’s webpage is public finance investment banker David M. Womack (currently at Regional Municipal Finance boutique NYC and previously at Rice Financial Products Company, Citigroup, Gates Capital Corporation,
Fairmount Capital Advisors, Inc., Advest, Inc., Chemical Securities, Prudential-Bache Securities and JP Morgan Chase.) 

Like the new chair Ms. Marcinek, Womack is conveniently close for the BPL’s Grand Army Plaza Library trustee meetings, he's a Park Sloper (Ms. Marcinek is a Berkeley Carroll parent, a Park Slope school.)  Mr. Womack has served recently as Treasurer and Vice Chairman of Poly Prep Country Day School.

Citizens Defending Libraries also has some work to do to keep its web page with information about the BPL board members up-to-date.  We will add information about these two new trustees not yet listed by the BPL itself and perhaps beat them to the punch.

 BTW:  In terms of know knowing who is who or what is exactly what: On April 10th, just a few days before he attended the April 17th BPL Board meeting, BPL Trustee Michael Liburd, as Chair of Brooklyn Community Board 9's land Use Committee (where he is often criticized by the community for pushing through development proposals) was hosting a surprise presentation of the BPL's Central Library Plan, an overhaul that will make the Grand Army Plaza Library less familiar as a library. . .

Near the end of the CB9 Land Use Committee meeting Michael Liburd said “thank you very much library folks” as if these presenters were somehow separate from him---  On the contrary, what he doesn’t say is that he is a trustee of the Brooklyn Public Library, a member of the board to whom the “folks” must report and are accountable to.  If you don’t believe it without seeing it with your own eyes come to a Brooklyn Public Library Trustees meeting and watch these same presenting  “folks” deferentially report to Liburd and the other trustees.  In other words, Liburd is the BPL just as much as they are; he is himself one of these “library folks.”   

This is a particular concern in terms of what then happens immediately afterward—  Liburd tells the Land Use Committee that he is interested in giving “these folks” (he uses that term yet again) “what they are looking for.”  There was no quorum of the committee (a problem in an of itself), but then Liburd has the committee members who are present vote their approval of the proposed plan, himself leading off the vote with his own raised hand voting approval. . .

We throw that in just in case people think that myriad conflicts of interest on the BPL board may not matter.

Currently the BPL, not yet caught up, lists its trustees as such while misidentifying its chair: 

Peter Aschkenasy—Treasurer
Jordan Barowitz —Vice Chair
Michael Best
Nina Collins—Secretary
Anthony Crowell
Joseph Douek
Roseann Fodera
Blake Foote
Abe George
Nicholas A. Gravante, Jr.—Chair
Hank Gutman
Tim Ingrassia
Miriam Katowitz—Vice Chair
Kyle Kimball
Cindi Leive
Michael Liburd
Susan Marcinek
Gino P. Menchini
Cassandra Metz
Brian O'Neil
Kim-Thu Posnett
Lisa Price
Lisa Puleo
Hon. Alice Fisher Rubin
Sandra Schubert
Robin Shanus—Vice Chair
Christina Tettonis
Dr. Lucille C. Thomas
Patrick Train-Gutierrez
Antonia Yuille Williams
Ex-Officio Members & Designated Representatives
•    Hon. Bill de Blasio, Mayor of the City of New York Represented by Rachel Lauter
•    Hon. Eric Adams, President of the Borough of Brooklyn, Represented by Ingrid Lewis-Martin
•    Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council, Represented by Reginald D. Shell
•    Hon. Scott M. Stringer, Comptroller of the City of New York, Represented by Gregory Davidzon

Want to know more about them?

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.