City Council green-lights controversial Brooklyn Heights library plan
Brooklyn Heights’ current Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) branch, located at 280 Cadman Plaza West, is in for a noteworthy, and much debated, re-write come 2019.
After months of feedback and support from some local elected officials, as well as backlash from residents, library advocates and elected officials opposed to the plan, the new Brooklyn Heights Library proposal was passed overwhelmingly by the City Council on Wednesday, December 16.
The goal of the plan — which will privatize the property, itself a controversial move — is to redevelop the current neighborhood branch with a new, state-of-the-art library built into the base of a residential building and provide 114 units of affordable housing along with it in Brooklyn’s Community District 2—serving the neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Fort Greene, Fulton Ferry, Navy Yard and Vinegar Hill.