Brooklyn Heights Library Closing Tuesday

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — It's official: The Brooklyn Heights Library at 280 Cadman Plaza West will be shutting its doors at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, in anticipation of the building's pending demolition.

Once the library is demolished, a developer plans to erect a 36-story luxury condo tower in its place. The building's first floor will be a new public library.

The June 26 closure of the Brooklyn Heights Library, long dreaded by neighborhood activists, was announced quietly this week on the library's website.

During construction, a temporary library for the Brooklyn Heights community will be located inside the Our Lady of Lebanon Church at 109 Remsen St.

The new branch will open at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27, and will be accessible at the following times:

• Monday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

According to Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) officials, the temporary branch will feature a range of library services and programs, including "Babies & Books, preschool story time, after-school programs, Teen Tech time, live performances, adult literacy series, technology classes and more."

The new branch will also host 30 laptops in a programming room that can be used for movies, presentations and performances. It will be staffed by current library employees.

Pictured: The future Cadman Plaza condo tower. Renderings courtesy of Marvel Architects

The takeover of the Brooklyn Heights property, located 280 Cadman Plaza West, has been highly controversial, and was vocally opposed by a number of community groups, key among them Citizens Defending Libraries.

A lawsuit questioning the environmental review process, filed by another community group, was thrown out by a judge earlier this month.

The land at 280 Cadman Plaza West was purchased from the city by Hudson Companies for $52 million. Under their agreement, the new first-floor library must:

• Be 26,620 square feet (around 5,800 square feet smaller than the neighborhood's current library)
• Contain STEM education labs
• Stay open seven days per week

Additionally, Hudson Companies is required to build a new 5,000-square-foot library in the vicinity of the Farragut Houses (a public-housing project on the border of Fort Greene, Vinegar Hill and DUMBO). The developer has also promised to build about 115 units of affordable housing at a separate location in Clinton Hill.

While BPL officials have portrayed the deal as a win for the community and library patrons alike, opponents have remained unconvinced. In short, they fear it will usher in a new era in which BPL assets needing funds and repairs are sold off to private developers.

Concerns have also been raised about the way in which Hudson won the development contract.

In May, the New York Post reported that city and state investigators were looking into the selection process — although both Hudson Companies and the BPL have fiercely defended the process.

“Hudson Companies offered by far the best proposal for our library patrons and the community at large," BPL spokeswoman Madeline Kaye said at the time. "We are confident that Hudson is a strong development partner that will deliver a world-class library to the Brooklyn Heights community."