Groundbreaking: Brooklyn Public Library Sunset Park Branch Construction Begins

New, Mixed-Use Development Underway in Sunset Park, Brooklyn

A new library and 49 affordable housing units broke ground in Sunset Park, Brooklyn this week. JFK&M is providing full MEP/FP design for the 20,775 SF library currently in design working with the architect, Mitchell Giurgola.  Brooklyn Public Library and the Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), a nonprofit with extensive affordable housing and community development experience, partnered to redevelop the branch.

To facilitate the design, the Brooklyn Public Library engaged the community of Sunset Park to collect information through focus groups, surveys, and workshops.  Space separation, technology access, flexibility and ADA accessibility were some of the requests. The project offers the community with Wi-Fi, community spaces, powered reading tables, and even a recording studio.

“Today we begin again,” said BPL President and CEO Linda Johnson, who told attendees, “We are making a library that honors the intention of the original library from 1905 but updates it for the 21st century.

“Our new library will almost be double the size of the branch we just took down,” Johnson went on. “It will also be outfitted for the kinds of needs people have today. The one that was there recently only had 12 electrical outlets. The library that we are envisioning will not only be hospitable to the way people use technology but also flexible enough to accommodate the way people will use libraries in years to come.”

Read more on the coverage in the Brooklyn Reporter.