The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission today approved The New York Public Library’s proposal to add a new public entrance and plaza on the 40th Street side of its iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
The Commission approved the plan, which also included a much-needed wider loading dock, at a public hearing; work on the new entrance and plaza—named for Library Trustee and former Board Chair Marshall Rose—will begin in 2020, and is expected to be complete in 2021.
“This project to add a public entrance and terrace to 40th Street will better connect our historic building to the community, make the library’s collections, exhibitions and programs more welcoming and accessible to the public, improve circulation for people and books throughout the building, and increase outdoor public space,” said New York Public Library Chief Operating Officer Iris Weinshall at the hearing. “All of this work is crucial for better serving the public now and in the future. As such, we are excited about this project.”
The approved exterior changes—subject to the city’s landmarks law—are part of an overall master plan for the library that will increase public space, add exhibition spaces, and double the number of seats in the building specifically earmarked for quiet, long-term research and collections use. The plan—designed by architects Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle and paid for with private funds—will also add a new education center, where students will learn how to work with primary sources, and be taught the importance of research and fact-finding.
No current public reading rooms will be altered.
