Brooklyn Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza | also 415 Flatbush Avenue | Prospect Park | built 1941
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1912
Mayor Gaynor attends the groundbreaking for Brooklyn's Central Library
The groundbreaking for the Brooklyn Central Library took place on June 5, 1912, with Mayor William Jay Gaynor present, and a foundation contract was awarded that month. Surveyors found large amounts of peat moss on the site, and the building needed deep foundations because the Mount Prospect Reservoir was so close. The design was Raymond F. Almirall's Beaux-Arts scheme, of which only part would ever be built.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1925
The unfinished library becomes a campaign issue in the mayoral race
The library saw no construction from 1918 to 1925, the years John Francis Hylan was mayor. His refusal to fund the building became a point of contention in the 1925 mayoral election, with his opponents claiming he had doubled the city budget while giving the library nothing. By then only one story of one wing was finished, under a temporary roof.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1930
A new chief librarian arrives to find a library one-third built and full of pigeons
In October 1930 the library's trustees picked Milton James Ferguson, formerly chief librarian of California, to succeed Frank P. Hill as chief librarian. The building was only one-third complete, and thousands of pigeons had settled in the shell of the unfinished Flatbush wing. The New York Post described it as a "Roman ruin," while the Brooklyn Daily Eagle used the words "hideous old wreck."
“Thousands of pigeons had made the shell of the unfinished Flatbush wing their home. The New York Post called it a "Roman ruin…”
- 1932
Flooded foundations of the stalled library become a play area, and a boy reportedly drowns
Work stopped in 1931 once the foundations were done. After rain, the foundations of the Eastern Parkway wing flooded, and local children often played there with model boats; one boy reportedly drowned. By 1932 the library's directors were calling the site a monument to municipal procrastination, and it was also known as the Pigeon Palace.
“…local children often played with model boats there; at one point, a boy reportedly drowned in the foundations.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1935
Githens and Keally redesign the stalled library as an Art Deco building
In May 1935 Borough President Raymond Ingersoll announced a redesign of the library by Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally, who moved most main public rooms to the ground story and the offices and backroom work to the upper floors. By February 1936 their preliminary designs were done: the original Beaux-Arts design was scrapped for an Art Deco one with a fan-shaped plan.
“The original Beaux-Arts design was completely scrapped in favor of an Art Deco design, and the building was redesigned with a fan-shaped plan.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1936
About 200,000 people sign a petition asking Washington to fund the library
In February 1936 local leaders formed a committee to push for finishing the Central Library. From April to June 1936, roughly 200,000 people put their names on a petition to PWA secretary Harold L. Ickes, urging him to approve funding for the building. Ingersoll described the library at the time as Brooklyn's highest-priority needed improvement.
“Between April and June 1936, about 200,000 people signed a petition asking PWA secretary Harold L. Ickes to approve money for the building.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1938
The PWA authorizes $2.5 million to build the redesigned library
General contractor Cauldwell-Wingate Company was awarded the $1.3 million contract for the redesigned library. The PWA authorized $2.5 million for the building that June, with only the first story to be fitted out at first. To save money, the existing frame was kept.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1941
The Ingersoll Memorial Library opens, and borrowing is capped within two weeks
The Central Library first opened its doors to the public for previews on February 1, 1941, under the name Ingersoll Memorial Library, and limited service began two days later. No permanent library building in Brooklyn had opened for nearly two decades before it. Within two weeks patrons had borrowed so many books that the system limited how many each cardholder could take out, and the building was formally dedicated on March 29.
“Within two weeks of the building's opening, so many patrons had borrowed books that the BPL limited the number of books that cardholders could borrow…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1941
A bronze screen over the entrance shows characters from American literature
Above the triple doors of the library is a forty-foot bronze screen made of fifteen squares, each with a relief figure from American literature, among them Tom Sawyer, the Raven and Moby Dick, plus a portrait of Walt Whitman. Sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones designed it, and he also made two squirrel reliefs for the Children's Library gates. The flanking pylons carry gilded reliefs by C. Paul Jennewein showing the evolution of science and art.
- 1955
The second floor is finally finished, fourteen years after the library opened
When the library opened the second floor was largely unfinished, and by late 1946 it still lacked flooring, lighting and radiators and had exposed wiring. In August 1952 the Board of Estimate appropriated $900,000 to fit it out. The New York Times noted that readers often had to stand in the main circulating room while the floor above was used for storage. The second story was completed in 1955.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1997
The Central Library is designated a New York City landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Central Building of the Brooklyn Public Library a landmark on June 17, 1997, after a May 6 hearing at which three people spoke in favor, including a library representative. The designation report notes that the library, first proposed in 1888, took nearly six decades to build. It names the building among Brooklyn's best known and busiest public buildings.
- 2007
The Dweck Center auditorium opens beneath the rebuilt terrace
The library planned a 200-seat auditorium under its rebuilt terrace. Raymond Almirall's original design had included an auditorium, but it was never built for lack of money. The new one opened in October 2007 and was named for Dr. S. Stevan Dweck, who gave $1.5 million. The Dweck Center in the basement has hosted fundraisers and parties and, as of 2011, over 100 events a month.
“The auditorium, which was supposed to be completed in mid-2007, opened that October and was named for S. Stevan Dweck, a doctor who donated $1.5 million.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2011
The library becomes the first in New York City to issue passports
The Passport Service Center at the Central Library opened in May 2011 and was the first library branch in the city to process passports. In its first two years it handled applications for 21,000 passports. In 2015 the library added an enrollment office for IDNYC cards.
“The Central Library's Passport Service Center opened in May 2011, making it the first library branch in New York City to issue passports…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
The People's Ball, a free fashion show, debuts at the library
The People's Ball, an annual fashion show, held its first edition at the Central Library in 2018. Both the New York Times and Time Out have described it as a free version of the Met Gala. It joined Night in the Library, a performance and party the building has hosted since 2017.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2026
A 4,700-square-foot teen-only center opens on the second floor
The Brooklyn Public Library opened a teen center and a renovated Eastern Parkway Collection Wing at the Central Library on September 9, 2026, the second phase of a $67 million revitalization. Designed by Toshiko Mori, the 4,700-square-foot space is the largest dedicated teen space among the system's 62 branches, with listening and recording pods, a gaming center and a tech classroom. It is reserved for ages 13 to 18.
Source: brownstoner.com
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