July 12, 2013 Hon. Mayor Michael R.

Bloomberg City Hall New York, NY 10007 Dear Mayor Bloomberg, I am writing to express my deep concern over the proposed changes to the Citys library systems in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I am calling on the City to halt the New York Public Librarys plans at the Central Library, and for a thorough, independent cost audit and review of the proposed project. In addition, I am calling for a reconsideration of the Brooklyn Public Librarys plans for the Brooklyn Heights and Pacific branches until a similar review can be completed. The Citys three public library systems are critical public cultural institutions and have served our City well supporting scholars and independent researchers, providing resources and services for immigrants and job-seekers, and serving as an intellectual home and refuge for lifelong learners and avid readers. Over the past 12 years, these institutions have faced budget cuts and public divestment, struggled to meet operating costs, forced to reduce hours and services, and suffered from hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance on aging air conditioners, boilers, computers and roofs. But these fiscal challenges are not a rationale to engage in drastic measures if anything, they underscore the need for prudence, frugality and caution. The Central Library Plan, which involves a $150 million in dedicated City funds, would close and sell off the Mid-Manhattan Library and the Science, Industry, and Business Library, consolidating operations at the crown jewel of the New York library system the Fifth Avenue Central Library of the New York Public Library. The plan involves a dramatic alteration by architect Norman Foster and the relocation of a substantial portion of the sites distinguished research stacks. The NYPL claims this renovation would cost $300 million and save the system substantial funds in the long run. But recent testimony by Tony Marx, President of the New York Public Library, suggested this estimate has not been corroborated by independent sources, and that the figure is preliminary. Outside critics have identified the substantial engineering challenges associated with the proposed renovation and are skeptical that the plans $300 million price tag wouldnt grow much larger, potentially catastrophically so. The City should immediately halt all plans to sell Mid-Manhattan Library and the Science, Industry, and Business Library to developers until a thorough, independent, and publicly disclosed assessment is completed. This review should evaluate the complete financial risks associated with the current plan, and seriously consider alternative ways to use City funds to ensure the preservation of the NYPLs valuable collection stored at the Central Library and preserve the Mid-Manhattan branch as a functioning library. In the words of the New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman, the last thing

[library officials] want to be remembered for is trashing their landmark building and digging a money pit. Similarly, the Brooklyn Public Library system has explored the option of selling the Brooklyn Heights and Pacific Street branches to developers in order to raise money to support the system and alleviate the need to make repairs at those sites. These sales which would turn over public land permanently to private parties should not be rushed through in the waning days of the Bloomberg administration. The Brooklyn Public Library needs money, and a reasonable and sensitive plan involving the retention of community library space and partial redevelopment might be worth consideration. But a much more thorough review is needed. We need to ensure we are driving the hardest bargain possible with the developers and maximizing the publics return on the land. Thank you for your attention in these matters,

Bill de Blasio Public Advocate for the City of New York Cc: Tony Marx, President and CEO of the New York Public Library Linda Johnson, President of the Brooklyn Public Library