Dec 11, 2015 2 min read fort greene

We’re Getting A DUMBO/Farragut Library And Lower AMI For Clinton Hill Affordable Housing

Artists rendering of 1041-1047 Fulton Street. (Image via Marvel Architects).

Some great news for us came out of an updated version of the city’s Brooklyn Heights Library sale: developer Hudson Companies has agreed to lower the Annual Median Income (AMI) threshold for applicants to their affordable housing units in Clinton Hill, and the city will be building a brand new library branch — the first for the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) in 32 years — serving residents of DUMBO/Vinegar Hill/Farragut Houses.

First, the affordable housing: according to details released by Councilmember Stephen Levin, who voted in favor of the new proposal,

Units formerly at 165% AMI have been lowered to 125% AMI and units formerly at 100% AMI have been lowered to 80% AMI, deepening the affordability for New Yorkers.

This means that between the two buildings at 1041-1047 Fulton Street (between Downing and Irving Streets) and 911-917 Atlantic Avenue (between St. James Place and Grand Avenue), the updated affordability breakdown (see the previous breakdown here) is as follows:

60 percent AMI = 23 units at income level $36.246 to $60,065
80 percent AMI = 67 units at income level $48,328 to $80,086 (formerly 38 units, with 29 units at 100% AMI)
125 percent AMI = 24 units at income level $75,513 to $125,135

The Walt Whitman Library at 93 Saint Edwards Street is currently the closest branch for Farragut Houses residents. (Photo by Fort Greene Focus.)

Now for the new library: the brand new branch will be 5,000 square feet in an as-yet-determined location accessible to residents of DUMBO, Vinegar Hill and the Farragut Houses.

There is no timetable yet, and funding will come from “proceeds from the redevelopment that were not already earmarked for other capital projects,” said Adam Leddy, communications coordinator for BPL.

This means that no funds will be taken from the planned $40 million designated for upgrades to other BPL branches, including our own Walt Whitman Library. “Our plans for Walt Whitman, Washington Irving, Pacific and Sunset Park have not changed,” Leddy reassured us.

Other public amenities coming out of the sale are:

a larger rebuild for Brooklyn Heights Library — from 21,500 square feet to 26,620 square feet — that will include a 3,000-square-foot ‘Technology & Business Services Center’,
a brand new 9,000 square foot STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Math) Education Lab at 280 Cadman Plaza West to specifically serve students of School District 13.

What do you think of these changes and additions? Are they great or not enough?