Brooklyn Library Testing Ground for New Funding Model

A new model for financing public institutions such as libraries and schools is being tested in Brooklyn, where City officials want to sell off two public library buildings to raise money for repairs, reported The New York Times. Developers would then rebuild the branches inside high rise developments elsewhere, at no cost to the city. But as we have reported already, residents are objecting to the loss of the buildings, located in the Heights and Park Slope. Merely replacing the troubled air conditioning system in the Heights branch would cost $3 million; the City gives the entire Brooklyn library system only $15 million a year for repairs, according to the story; other funding comes from donations and other sources. The new approach fits in with current anti-tax sentiment and rising property values in brownstone Brooklyn, said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban planning at New York University. “Brooklyn is booming and the library system doesn’t want to sit on the sidelines,” he said. The Pacific Street branch, pictured above, would be relocated two blocks away into a 32-story high rise that Two Trees Management is building across from BAM. The old branch would remain open until the new library is completed, then would be torn down. One drawback of the new location is that it would require patrons from Boerum Hill and Park Slope to cross busy Flatbush Avenue. Over in Brooklyn Heights, meanwhile, the library would have to close for two or three years while a new building goes up on the same spot. Do you think this is a good way to raise money for the whole system, or do you regret the loss of these specific buildings?
Saving Schools and Libraries by Giving up the Land They Sit On [NY Times]
Library Reps Will Discuss Pacific Branch Next Week [Brownstoner]
Community Pushes to Landmark Pacific St. Library Branch [Brownstoner]