Follow-up meeting held on plans to redevelop New Utrecht Library with affordable housing

The NYC Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) and Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) hosted a community engagement report-back meeting on the proposal to redevelop the New Utrecht branch, 1743 86th St., March 3.

Held at Il Centro, 8711 18th Ave., the HPB and BPL shared input collected during the community visioning phase and discussed next steps.

The plan is to build 220-290 affordable housing units atop a new library.

This project is part of the City’s “Living Libraries” initiative, which focuses on building new libraries and housing together to address the city’s housing crisis. 

The existing library, which is owned by the city, was built in 1956. 

The redevelopment will be initiated through a competitive process called a Request for Proposals (RFP) that asks developers to respond to a set of goals and guidelines that reflect community priorities.

Assemblymember William Colton attended the meeting to express concerns and ask questions about the projects.

“A lot of people have concerns about its size,” Colton said. “Anything that dwarfs the other buildings in the neighborhood is a concern. The other concern I have is parking, which is now scarce. Taking the public parking lot away and replacing it with 220 to 290 units would only exacerbate the problem and do a lot of damage to our local businesses. I would suggest considering a reduction in the number of units.”

The proposal is similar to the Sunset Park Library, 5108 Fourth Ave., which officially opened in 2023 after years of protests and meetings.

“All of this needs to be taken into consideration and accommodated so that the project is a successful one that aids our neighbors in need of affordable housing without creating a host of new problems for new and longtime residents,” Colton said.

Former mayor Eric Adams and BPL President and CEO Linda Johnson announced the plan back in September 2025.

The next phase of the RFP is open request and then submissions review.