A rendering for the proposed Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn Heights that has apartments on top.Credit:Brooklyn Public Library

Plans for Brooklyn Branches Have Merit

Two proposals to sell and develop local library sites are wending through the Brooklyn Public Library pipeline, and, predictably, opponents have manned the barricades, citing the usual arguments about selling off public land to rapacious developers.But for a change, the plans look promising. There is good and bad development, after all, and sometimes, with foresight and some help from City Hall, a community asset like a public library can anchor positive development.

One plan envisions updating, but shrinking, a branch in Brooklyn Heights built in the 1960s. The other overhauls a popular, decrepit branch, from the 1970s, in Sunset Park. Both involve housing, a fair chunk of it subsidized, mostly on top of new storefront libraries.......Continue Reading

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