Are you fucking kidding me? Is this really happening? Who is paying who, and how much?

From www.savenypl.org -

STOP THE CENTRAL LIBRARY PLAN

The Central Library Plan, at enormous cost to the city and its taxpayers, would irreparably damage the 42nd Street Research Library – one of the world's great reference libraries and a historic landmark. The New York Public Library administration plans to demolish the historic seven-story book stacks, install a circulating library in their stead, and displace 1.5 million books to central New Jersey. The new circulating library would be a reduced-size replacement for the Mid-Manhattan Library and SIBL (Science, Industry and Business Library), which would both be sold.

This plan was created through a closed process with no public input, and has been condemned by leading architecture critics such as Ada Louise Huxtable in the Wall Street Journal and Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times.

• It will cost $350 million (probably more), of which $150 million will come from New York City taxpayers.

• It will jam patrons into a new circulating library only one-third the size of the existing Mid-Manhattan Library and SIBL.

• It will threaten the 42nd Street Library’s role as one of the world’s great research libraries, and threaten the architectural integrity of the landmarked 42nd Street building.

• It does not take into consideration more efficient and less destructive alternatives, such as combining SIBL and the Mid-Manhattan into a rehabilitated and expanded building on the Mid-Manhattan site.

The NYPL administration allowed no opportunity for public participation or oversight when they formulated this plan. Despite the fact that the 42nd Street building is owned by the city and is one of our most iconic structures, the $150 million that the city has earmarked for the project was awarded without oversight by the City Council and with no public hearings. If alternatives have been considered they have never been disclosed, and no cost-benefit analysis or detailed budget has ever been presented.

The Committee to Save the NYPL calls for a halt to this plan until an independent agency can conduct a detailed cost analysis. This analysis should also evaluate the costs of renovating the Mid-Manhattan building. As Michael Kimmelman states in his scathing New York Times review of the CLP, "A new Mid-Manhattan branch should cost a fraction of gutting the stacks and could produce much better architecture.”

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NY Public Library Record Sale at Lincoln Center in August

 
Similar to the recently announced record sale by the Detroit Public Library on August 3, the NYPL will be hosting its own vinyl sale August 8-10 at the The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery, First Floor. 22,000 recordings will be on offer. For more information click here.

Rhapsodic City: Music of New York, Part 2

In case yesterday's post looked a bit unwieldy, here's a nice little succinct video about the Rhapsodic City: Music of New York program coming up at the NY Public Library.

Rhapsodic City: Music of New York - a new series at the NY Public Library

Here is an incredibly ambitious and fairly thorough program starting soon at the New York Public Library presenting a history of music in New York City via a mix of panels, films, documentaries, and performances. Scroll down slowly - I've attempted to present the schedule in a neat & easy to read format. Links are provided for each individual event. 

All events included in the Rhapsodic City: Music of New York series take place at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza) unless otherwise noted below, and are free and open to the public.

This spring, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts presents Rhapsodic City: Music of New York, a new six-week long interdisciplinary series exploring the city's distinct role in the formulation, emergence, and legacy of some of the most exciting music movements in the 20th century.

Tackling a different music style or subject each week -- hip-hop, punk, the folk music revival, Prohibition-era jazz, Mambo and Salsa, and the Brill Building's heyday -- Rhapsodic City: Music of New York features panel discussions with icons and experts, performances by leading artists, special film screenings and presentations of the Performing Arts Library's remarkable collections.

Highlights from the series include a discussion of punk style and sound with Blondie's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein; performances by Jazz Age Lawn Party founder Michael Arenella, Grammy-nominated bandleader Bobby Sanabria, and Joe McGinty from the Losers Lounge Band; a celebration of women in hip-hop; and an exploration of Greenwich Village in the '50s and '60s led by Elijah Wald, author of the book that served as source material for the Coen Brothers' latest film.

"At The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, we are deeply aware of how vital music is to this city's cultural fabric," said Jacqueline Z. Davis, Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleishman Executive Director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. "Using our vast archival materials -- including sheet music, films, recordings and more -- Rhapsodic City: Music of New York provides an opportunity for us to illustrate some of the most compelling examples of how New York inspires new genres of music, and how musical styles from around the world have become part of the city's own cultural narrative, creating a distinctly New York story."

All events included in the Rhapsodic City: Music of New York series take place at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza) unless otherwise noted below, and are free and open to the public. Continued after the jump.