NYPL’s Mid-Manhattan branch will be renamed following $55M gift

Things are moving right along with the overhaul of the New York Public Library’s Mid-Manhattan branch, despite complaints from its neighboring condo.

The NYPL announced that it will partner with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to complete the project, with a $55 million donation from the foundation—the second largest individual gift in the history of the library—putting the renovation on track for a 2020 end date.

It’ll also lead to the renaming of the library, which will become The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. It sits across from the NYPL’s main branch, which was also renamed—to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building—after the Wall Street exec donated $100 million to the library system.

The announcement also came with a few new renderings by the design team, which includes the Dutch firm Mecanoo alongside New York-based heavyweights Beyer Blinder Belle. Those show off a cross section of the building, plus the entrance, the library's "long room," a reading room and roof terrace, offering views of the NYPL's main branch across the street.

Courtesy Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle

Courtesy Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle

Courtesy Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle

Roof terrace

The library closed on August 1st to facilitate the renovation after years of planning, one much-disputed design, and plenty of speculation. (Recently, the condo building next door condo tried to coerce a $15,000 a month fee out of the library for the duration of the renovation.)

During the closure, services offered at the Mid-Manhattan branch have been made available at several nearby locations. And in late August, an interim space opened on the ground floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building across the street. It's labeled “Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street,” and contains the Mid-Manhattan branch’s circulating collections, plus computers and quiet study areas for patrons.

• NYPL’s Mid-Manhattan branch renovation may be held up by neighboring condo [Curbed]
• NYPL’s Mid-Manhattan library will begin its two-year renovation in August [Curbed]
• NYPL Mid-Manhattan branch will close this summer for two-year renovation [Curbed]
• NYPL reveals the spacious, $200M redesign of its Mid-Manhattan branch [Curbed]