Libraries 'R Us

Orient Express Pulls out of Donnell Library Agreement

2009-03-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

Need I say more about a "public" library closed to the public since 8/30/08 on behalf of such sale?

Closed: http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/dlc/

Backed Out: Orient-Express Pulls Out of Donnell Library Purchase in New York City

At a crossroads with Andrew Carnegie

2007-12-18T18:38:00.001-08:00

I was awalkin' past Carnegie Hall, thinkin' about all the lovely musicians and artists that are most likely going to be promised a new and equivalent home, a nice way of saying no home or hardly a home at all.

I do so laugh, sadly for them. So many others have been talented and have been on the various lists, Stuyvesant, Peter Cooper, Battery Park for a decade, then once at the top they were told oh its open to the public now. And we've watched the nepotism of the lists. I think, just speaking for myself, I probably have more character than you because I've survived everything in New York, really survived, on my own. All I had was a violin and a quilt and $250 in 1972. The stories I could tell.

Still I feel your pain and uncertainty. I think though you should really, really look outside your wind section box, you might find the answer.

Oh for those who want to know, New York State courts have sided with the head guy at Carnegie Hall Corp., that would be last year's head guy at Citibank. They want to develop. Yawn. Mr. Weill and his wife have been quoted as on it, to take care of the whole thing.

And in that rather putrid, cigarette air that whispered "we don't care" that touched that tilt between nose an upper lip, ah I said is this not the avenue of "Donor Intent."

Unfortunately, inexplicably, Andrew Carnegie did not leave explicit instructions for the Carnegie Foundation as to Carnegie Hall and its following generation of leaders. Which seems totally odd to his character. He was a man who spelled out exactly what he would do with every ounce of his generosity. As of yet I do not know who his advisor or what the terms of the foundation were in the case of Carnegie Hall. Do You? If you did you could help the evicted tenants of Carnegie Hall. Just think someone might have the legal paper right in their family bible.

How would I know that it was rather odd for Andrew Carnegie not to dictate exactly how his money would be used?

Well in the case of New York Public Library it was Andrew Carnegie who left most specific instructions on how the Carnegie Foundation and monies he gave to this Private group of philanthropers, New York Public Library, was to be handled. He said and he wrote that upon his creation of New York City branch libraries that they must be run and maintained by the City.

Perhaps a most particularly ticklish problem in Court with New York Public Library selling Donnell Library, a branch library, is in at least my hand at the moment. In fact a whole basketful of problems lies before my tired and weary feet, the New York Public Library has slivered all of Mr. Carnegie's branch libraries down, even leaving out the liver. Why I have it first hand from a user of the Schomberg Library on 135th Street and Malcolm X that their hours and internet usage have been cut down to 17 minutes and the space has been even further diminished. They were talking about God worship. I said "Aren't you talking about the No. 7 tunnel at Time Square? And to think it was just a little before this time last year that someone was murdered, shot down right on their stairs. Bad Karma for sure." We both shook our head.

But back to the point, to be blunt, Andrew Carnegie's specific donor intent for Donnell Library and other diminished and sold branch libraries of New York City has not been served.

source: Wikipedia

"The newly established library consolidated with The New York Free Circulating Library in February, 1901, [that would be the New York Public Library, a consortium of private investors Oh, I do mean philanthropers] and the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $5.2 million to construct branch libraries, with the requirement that they be maintained by the City of New York. Later in 1901 the New York Public Library signed a contract with the City of New York to operate 39 branch libraries in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island."

And to think I have not received one answer after writing at the beginning of November 2007 to the Speaker of the City Council, Quinn and of course my Harlem/Washington City Council member, the one with the teeth, neither of which wrote so much as an acknowledgement or receipt to their registered voter New York City citizen. And since, ultimately, the New York State Governor will assume responsibility for the mayor's lacks or acts, I did write at that time the New York State Attorney General, the Ethics Board of New York State and the Governor, Eliot Spitzer. All of which after all of almost two months, not one has written me back. Houston, I think we have a problem here.

6.25 million tells the story, there is nothing like Teen Central

2007-11-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

Donnell Library Rocks as it is at the Rockefeller Center. Keep it like it is!

6.25 million google links for "teen central"

one of the links is to Teen Central in Phoenix, "Teens as Community Builders."

"This was an unusual experience. Usually we're not given many choices, everything is always for voters, with clubs at school, a lot of times it's more about the adults - like with a teen day, kids just do whatever the adults say, then they complain about how bad it is. Here there was a reason to stick with it, because we knew we were creating a place that we can use all the time."--Maria at the Burton Bar library

I do wonder how Phoenix teens would feel if they were ever told their library had been sold with no arrangements planned for where their Teen Central would be located in the future. Would they ask questions about why the Library was sold? And what would be the answer?

Libraries, Emperors and Baths

2007-11-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

And so it is, according to this wiki on libraries:

The first Western public libraries were established under the Roman Empire as each succeeding emperor strove to open one or many which outshone that of his predecessor...

Most of the large Roman baths were also cultural centers, built from the start with a library."

Aha!

The Appraisal of a Steal

2007-11-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

I was just reviewing my appraisal class notes:

"What are the potential cash flows the property can produce and what are they worth in today's dollars. This includes the cash generated by the sale of the property five or ten years out. These future values must be quantified and brought back to today based on a discount rate for the cash flows and a reversion rate for the future sale price."

"Discount rate and reversion rate are subjective judgments."

"Comparable sales method - What are comparable properties selling for in the market today, adjusted for any differences in location, size, utility and ownership structure and when the sale took place."

Below is a cache of interesting New York City real estate deals:

Altria on lower Park Avenue sells its building to a real estate developer for $624 million for 528,000 square feet, yesterday. Employees were allowed to smoke in that building even in 2003. Black gunk buildup removal in the ducts ahead. Global Holdings paid $816 per square foot (considered a steal). The building is smack in the congestion hub across from Grand Central.

41 story aluminum clad 666 Fifth Avenue (1957) between 52nd and 53rd, historic $1.6 million underwritten by Barclay's lenders in January of 2007. Its reviewers say it lacks the cachet of Seagrams.

Donnell Library (1954) last week, sold 58,000 square feet for $59 million (in cash) from Orient Express, that's $1,017 per square feet. "$220M Luxury Hotel Planned for Site of NYC Library Branch." Pravda wrote that rooms in the Hotel's five floors would rate from $700-$2,000 a night.

Donnell Library resides in the Luxe Area of Town -- Rockefeller Center -- across from MOMA -- which in November 2004 was constructed for $425 mil. Meanwhile the library is not saying what services it will have to offer in its remaining three floors (total 28,000 square feet) once construction completed 2011 (closing next fall). The third library community lost in New York City in a very short time. Permits for the Hotel 21 project in the works.

Not even the Library Journal knew of the sale in advance or of any notice to the public. I think alot of enterprises would have been interested in bidding for the library space, if its up for sale notice had been known. And whatever happened to the much more creative and lucrative option of leasing?

10 story Sotheby's (way over, way over to York Avenue) to RFR in 2002 for $175 million. Sotheby's will rent the space back for the next 40 years with a first right of refusal in 20 years.

Upstairs, Downstairs -- A Luxe Room is a Terrible Thing To Waste

2007-11-17T09:04:00.001-08:00

"It allows you to identify with the downstairs people while vicariously enjoying the life of the upstairs people."--Alistair Cooke of PBS "Upstairs, Downstairs"

"For me, the key advantage at this site — which offsets any potential negative about having a library in your basement — is that we're contiguous with the '21' Club, we don't want to be like everybody else, why not share a building with a major institution like the New York Public Library? I'd rather have them in my basement than a nightclub."--" Mr. White, Orient Express to NYTimes

"The Donnell Library will close to the public fall 2008, and the rebuilding is expected to be completed in no more than three and one half years.

Orient-Express noted that over the past several years, the conversion of many New York City hotels into condominiums has taken much high-end lodging supply out of the market. Smith Travel Research data shows 23 hotels have closed in New York since 2000, with many of the hotels converted to luxury condominiums during the housing boom. The hotel room reduction coincides with demand surging from overseas travelers capitalizing on a weak US dollar. This has resulted in higher rates and corresponding profits for the New York hotel industry. Recent industry studies show that New York City could absorb a further 10,000 room supply without affecting overall occupancy and pricing."--www.globest.com

Demystifying the Offices of the New York Public Library

2007-11-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Donnell Library as it is ROCKS -- SAVE THE LIBRARY AS IT IS!!! thurs 11/15/2007 cellphone photo by trendy

The Orient-Express has signed an agreement with the New York Public Library to purchase 58,000 square feet for $59 million dollars. It "will allow" the Donnell Library to retain the 28,000 square footage that Orient Express did not purchase.

Some statements from the highest paid offices at the New York Public Library have left me completely mystified. With such credentials why did they not get the Donnell Library a far better deal? Why was it done in secrecy and so quick? Yes, so quick as to leave Orient-Express still scrambling to the New York City Council to approve the 11-12 floor hotel plan at the Donnell Library's location.

"Dr. LeClerc’s salary increased in fiscal year 2005, which ended June 30 of last year, to $464,170 from $356,512, according to the library’s tax documents."--NY Times

"The library — which has a budget of about $300 million and an endowment of around $660 million — has 90 locations in Manhattan, in the Bronx and on Staten Island."--NY Times

The Orient-Express's high-end desireability is well known in financial circles.

"Sternlicht, (Starwood and Crillon in Paris) wants to expand luxury market presence. He owns 4.5% of OEH stock).
Schwartzman (Blackstone has billions of hotel company buyouts, they own Savoy Group in London).
Davis of Von Essen "hungry to add to its own collection."

This would put the Donnell Library in a creme-de-la-creme position as Orient Express Club 21's next door neighbor to hold steady for the best bid possible. Yet, no, only a $1,017 a square foot. Why? In its position across from MOMA, in the aura of the Rockefeller Center cachet, Donnell Library is worth a $1 billion or more to the Orient-Express. What went on behind those doors?

Why the pandering to the public about their perceived shortcomings of Donnell Library? Donnell Library is a beautiful library that serves its community well. Spacious, not any hotter than other libraries. Surely funds could have been raised to greenify the library as Time Warner's 59th Street station. Its a poor, poor excuse for a very bad deal.

Paul LeClerc the current holder of President of the New York Public Library speaks about the old parts of the building, non-working elevators, air conditioners, too expensive to fix.

David Offensend, Chief Operating Officer of the New York Public Library, left his position at Evercore Partners as co-head (along with Blackstone alumni founders, Austin Beutner and Roger Altman) upon taking the library officer position in 2004. (see more at zoom) He tells us the library "was down on its luck. The cost of renovating Donnell is prohibitive. With this agreement, we'll be able to embark on the creation of a technologically advanced Donnell Library for our users, one that can set the standard for the 21st century."--to the New York Times

Evercore Partners deals with real estate ventures and private equity loans.

recent Evercore history:

August 7, 2007 Evercore looms

November 1, 2007 Evercore Booms

march 2006 sea containers sold its shares of orient express - wiki

Hotel takes Teens Dream via 'Hush' deal

2007-11-17T08:33:00.001-08:00

During the Bloomberg administration library services have been the first to go. Now the actual real property is being quietly sold off. Three libraries to date have been split, the lesser part to the library, the greater part to some sort of deluxe sleeping arrangement with Columbia University, Soho Condos and Rockefeller Park Condos.

The latest move, to put a speakeasy's hotel and restaurant on top ("Club 21"), the two to lord over the basement, where a children's and teenagers library and internationally acclaimed media center of the Donnell Library has resided, is just plain without taste and cannot be tolerated.

Last Friday I started a multi-use campaign. You'll be getting some delightful wee bits of it each day. Trust me, the fat lady has not sung.

In 2002 the Donnell Library received $1 million to renovate its Media Center. That Center was abuzz on opening day with state and federal Senators, NYPL President and even Speaker Quinn when she was council person; all patting each other on the back for their fine technical achievement, a job well done.

Yesterday I quoted the COO (chief operating officer) of Donnell Library's remark on the November 2007 sale announcement. "Donnell Library was down on its luck" he said. This new, 70+% smaller space, would be finally, yawn, technically correct. Perhaps he doesn't get it but the community that uses it is just fine with the technicalities right now. They are happy. Donnell Library Rocks in the Rockefeller Center!

Again the reviews of the then "new" Donnell Media Center (14,500 sq ft), a mere five years ago in 2002, NYPL press, were, simply amazing.

"The renovation of the Donnell Media Center positions the Donnell Media Center positions the Donnell library Centers as a premier site for film, video and spoken word study and enjoyment,"--Dr. Paul LeClerc

"It reaffirms some of America's most cherished values--the free exchange of ideas and information and the opportunity for people to connect with each other and discover the tools to improve their lives...The Donnell Media Center is one of the true gems of the NYPL system."--City Council member (now speaker) Christine Quinn.

note: the renovation of the 14,500 square foot Donnell Media Center was designed by Sen Architects and managed by the New York City Department of Design and Construction.

In February 2004, a mere 3 years ago, a $275,000 renovation was made by Jennifer Nobis Architects along with team librarians and teens' dreams. The renovation created a teen center inside of Donnell Library that was every teen's dreams (adult were and still are green with envy, though they certainly did have their share of the bountiful Donnell Library).

Wowsa for a now 'down on its luck' library:

Complete redesign of the interior public service areas
· Surround Sound stereo system and a 36-inch TV with a DVD player
· Wi-Fi Access
· Two lounge areas
· Circulating collections of popular music CDs and teen DVDs
· 12 new computers for public use
· Glass-enclosed quiet/study room for teens who need a space to work without the music
· Attractive lighting, carpeting, and new finishes throughout
· Teen-friendly furniture, including a new Information Desk

and so much more see further NYPL press.

The truth is the Donnell Library until November 11 or whenever the signing of the agreement between the Orient-Express and NYPL was not down on its luck. Estates and individuals easily grant their largesse to this library.