Nov. 3, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
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East New York resident Najim Shakeeb uses the 115-year-old Pacifi c Library in Park Slope for a quiet place to work. Photo by Kevin Duggan
Overdue repairs
Brooklyn Public Library struggling to meet $247 million funding shortfall
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Somebody lend them a hand!
Brooklyn’s more than century
old library system is feeling
its age, and the borough’s beloved
book lender is struggling under
the weight of decades-old buildings
that require multimilliondollar
renovations.
The city has committed an
unprecedented $278 million in
capital funding to prop up Brooklyn
Public Library over the next
10 years, but the book lender remains
$247 million shy of meeting
its repairs quota, and experts say
only the taxpayers can prevent
Brooklyn’s beloved libraries from
literally falling apart.
“We’re an old city, an aging
city, and the library is no exception,”
said Eli Dvorkin of the
Manhattan-based economic policy
think tank Center for an Urban
Future. “No matter how you
slice and dice it, the city has to invest
more.”
The nation’s sixth-largest booklending
system, Brooklyn Public
Library consists of 59 branches
with an average age of more than
60 years old. One of its most senior
branches, the Andrew Carnegie
built Pacifi c Branch in Park
Slope, debuted in 1904 and suffers
from nearly $12 million in unfunded
repairs, including interior
and exterior renovations, along
with needed heating and electrical
upgrades.
Meanwhile, the Williamsburg
branch on Division Avenue has a
$14.7 million shortfall, the Sheepshead
Bay branch needs $10.6 million
for drainage repairs, air conditioning
upgrades, and rent, and
the DeKalb branch on Bushwick
Avenue requires $9.4 million for
general repairs inside and out.
Worst of all is the library’s
grand Central Branch in Prospect
Heights, which the library lists as
requiring $63.5 million worth of
“various improvements.”
These unfunded repair tabs
are what remain after considering
the nearly $280 million in public
funds the city will provide the
library system between 2020 and
Flooded
with delays
Southern Brooklyn
remains vulnerable
seven years after
Sandy hit the boro
BY ROSE ADAMS
Flood-prevention infrastructure
in the People’s Playground remains
far from completion seven
years after Superstorm Sandy devastated
Coney Island, and what
safeguards do exist won’t protect
against a Sandy-sized storm —
leaving residents vulnerable to
fl ooding for years to come, according
to advocates.
“We’re very, very lucky that we
didn’t get hit by a hurricane this
season,” said Brighton Beach resident
and environmentalist, Ida
Sanoff, who criticized the lack of
substantial fl ood-prevention measures.
“It’s very minimal.”
Since the superstorm struck
the People’s Playground on Oct. 29,
2012, only a handful of initiatives
included in a $2 billion resiliency
investment have seen completion,
such as the installation of back-up
generators at public housing complexes,
the installation of a tidal
barrier at Coney Island Creek, and
the relocation of Coney Island Hospital’s
critical patient services to
a non-fl ood zone, according to the
Mayor’s Offi ce of Resiliency .
Other projects, including the
protection of subway yards to protect
fl ooding, the construction of
new sewer lines to improve stormwater
management, and the installation
of electrical lines and boilers
to the roofs of public housing towers
remain ongoing seven years after
the storm.
“We’re still lacking a regional
protection plan,” said Councilman
Mark Treyger (D–Coney Island). “I
believe that as a city, we’re better
Continued on page 10 Continued on page 10
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