Councilman David G. Greenfield joined Brooklyn Public Library President Linda E. Johnson and Community Board 14 Chairman Alvin M. Berk today to announce $250,000 in funding that Councilman Greenfield secured in this year’s city budget to create a new outdoor plaza and sitting area outside the Midwood public library branch on E. 16th Street. While the specific details and final plans are still being developed, the plaza is expected to feature benches, trees and plantings and other amenities to provide residents with a quiet place to sit while visiting the library. In addition, the plaza will provide respite for shoppers, pedestrians and commuters as a result of its location around the corner from the busy commercial strip along Avenue J and will bring much-needed green space to a very busy part of Midwood. The idea for a new plaza came after Councilman Greenfield visited the library to meet with seniors who took part in the Older Adults Technology Services program that he funded at the Midwood branch this past year. While there, Councilman Greenfield discussed the branch’s specific needs with staff members and decided that a sitting area and plaza would greatly improve the library and surrounding area.
“This represents a tremendous investment in our community and will serve thousands of residents and families in a busy part of Midwood. I am very excited to work with Brooklyn Public Library on a design that will truly add to the community and improve the library experience for everyone who uses this popular branch. I am proud to have secured funding for this great public space, and my thanks to President Linda Johnson and everyone at Brooklyn Public Library for their work on this project,” said Councilman Greenfield.
“We are deeply grateful to Councilman Greenfield for his very generous capital allocation of $250,000 to Midwood Library. This funding will allow us to build a beautiful new outdoor plaza and make the branch more inviting to the community. In the coming years, we look forward to attracting greater numbers of Brooklynites to Midwood Library to make use of the wealth of free resources we provide,” said Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO of Brooklyn Public Library.
“We are absolutely excited about this great announcement. Community Board 14 has long made Brooklyn Public Library one of its top priorities each year, so we are delighted that Council Member Greenfield has brought his support to this library. It is a vital part of the Midwood community and we look forward to the opening of the new pedestrian plaza once it is completed,” said CB 14 Chairman Alvin M. Berk.
Since taking office, Councilman Greenfield has made supporting and funding neighborhood libraries a priority, including fighting during this year’s budget negotiations in his roles as Chairman of the Brooklyn Delegation and a member of the Budget Negotiating Committee to restore critical funding for Brooklyn Public Library. In addition, he helped oversee the opening of the new $15 million public library branch on 18th Avenue in Kensington last year.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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6 Responses
Umm – where, exactly is this plaza supposed to be built? As I recall the building from my childhood, there’s not much space around it, other than the employee parking lot on the side. The space in front of the building was about enough for a bike rack, but not much more…
an Israeli Yid
#1: They did a complete and thorough renovation of that library branch about three years ago.
#2 – OK, but where is the plaza in question? Did they change the parking lot on the side into the plaza, or completely demolish the original building? If it’s in the same footprint as it was, there still wouldn’t be much space for a plaza, no matter how much they renovated it. As I recall, there was the Yeshiva of Flatbush HS building on one side, and a private garden, belonging to one of the buildings on East 16th, on the other – so not much space for a public plaza.
an Israeli Yid
I just looked on Google Street View, and see the space in front. Calling it a “Plaza” is really a bit of a stretch – and the supposed additional amenities that are described give a picture of something significantly more than what can be fit into that space. Overall, a nice thought, but this really seems to be making a big deal about not much at all.
an Israeli Yid
Another donation by the hard working taxpayers of the City of NY.
More traffic on ave j? Ugh. Councilman, building such a project will entail excessive hardship to an already impassable street. Please rethink this! Or, at least first go after the double parked trucks that stop traffic on the one lane road of ave j before you introduce construction vehicles to the street! E16th street is too narrow to accommodate construction vehicles that it will odefinitely spill over to ave j.
How about first fix the dangerous situation on ave j and coney island ave? That would do a lot more for the community than would planting grass on a small slab of concrete…