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Feb. 22–28, 2019 Including The Brooklyn Paper
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BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
The Brooklyn Public Library’s
Coney Island branch will close
for four months this spring
and summer to undergo more
than $1-million worth of renovations,
reading-room leaders
announced.
The construction will result
in a larger space that will
provide locals with even more
room to kick back and relax
with their favorite titles, according
to regional librarian
Sharron Lahey.
“Because it’s going to be a
more fl exible and bigger space,
I think we’ll have more opportunities
for more members of
the community to come and
use our space,” Lahey said at
a Feb. 11 meeting of the local
Community Board 13’s Education
and Youth Committee.
The two-story, more than
century-old library on Mermaid
Avenue at W. 19th Street
will fully shutter for approximately
120 days on April 1,
when workers will begin asbestos
abatement and demolition
work, according to Lahey.
Contractors will then renovate
and expand the branch’s
second-fl oor meeting room,
and install a new heating-andcooling
system in that space.
The makeover will also
transform the library’s second
fl oor into a tech hub with more
than 20 laptops, which locals
will be able to borrow, and
additional electrical outlets,
among other features. And redesigning
that fl oor will allow
librarians to turn the branch’s
entire fi rst fl oor into a dedicated
children’s space, according
to library spokeswoman
Fritzi Bodenheimer.
WHEE!: Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver took a ride down the slide during the unveiling of the new play-
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
They’re in love with this
park!
Local pols and offi cials
celebrated Valentine’s Day by
unveiling a $4.75-million renovation
of a beloved Coney Island
green space.
The upgrades to Asser
Levy Park, on W. Fifth Street
between Surf and Sea Breeze
avenues, will ensure that
Southern Brooklynites can
enjoy the meadow for decades
to come, according to the
city’s chief green thumb.
“The park is one of the
hidden gems of Coney Island,
and thanks to these improvements,
it has been renewed
for generations to come,” said
Parks Commissioner Mitchell
Silver.
Councilman Chaim
Deutsch (D–Sheepshead
Bay), Assemblywoman Mathylde
Frontus (D–Coney Island),
and Councilman Barry
Grodenchik (D–Queens) —
the chairmain of Council’s
Parks Committee — joined
Silver to cut the ribbon and
reopen the park’s refreshed
playground, which includes
two separate play areas and
swing sets, with one section
boasting equipment for 2- to
5-year-olds, and the other re-
Continued on page 12
Vol. 74 No. 8 BROOKLYNPAPER.COM
Continued on page 12
A FRESH LOOK
FOR LEVY PARK
Closing the
book lender
New playground, amenities unveiled inside meadow
Coney Island library shuttering
for four months starting in April
GETTING UPGRADED: The Coney
Island Library, seen here when it
reopened in 2013 after repairs following
superstorm Sandy, will fully
close for four months on April 1 for
new renovations.
File photo by Elizabeth Graham
/BROOKLYNPAPER.COM
/BROOKLYNPAPER.COM