Representatives from the affordable housing group Fifth Avenue Committee are meeting today with City officials to discuss their proposal totear down four single-story libraries in Brooklyn and replace them with larger buildings that have more library space as well as apartments for low- and moderate-income tenants. This is a great opportunity to look at a resource that is in every neighborhood and that has the ability to generate additional housing, said Rafael Cestero, deputy commissioner for development at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. You’re looking at pieces of property that have underutilized development rights, and libraries that need rehabilitation and expansion. The four libraries under consideration are in Clinton Hill, Red Hook, Sunset Park and Brower Park in Crown Heights (above). While we agree that this sounds like a win-win on paper, we’re concerned about the aesthetic implications for the Clinton Hill location. (Not sure about the others.) With the PACC buildings in the process of ruining lowering the design quality of the block of Washington between Gates and Fulton, it would be a shame to impose another eyesore just up the street. Granted, the existing “bunker-style” building is nothing to look at, but one story of cinderblock construction is a hell of a lot less obtrusive than four or five. At least in the case of the library, the site falls within the Landmark district so there would presumably be some control over what was put up there. Can someone point to some of the other projects that the Fifth Avenue Committee has built? What is its track record for building in historic areas? If the city gets behind a project like this, can it steamroll Landmarks or is LPC’s power sacred?
Stranger Than Fiction? [NY Times]