NYC: Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library - Brooklyn Daily Eagle | This cast-zinc eagle, on view above the entrance to the Central Library, is the distinctive emblem of Brooklyn's historic newspaper, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Kindly loaned by the Brooklyn Historical Society, the eagle signals Brooklyn Public Library's position as the preeminent repository for materials on the newspaper. Weighing over 300 pounds, the eagle was sculpted in 1892 by the Piccirilli Brothers and cast at the Hecla Iron Works in Williamsburg. The sculpture, originally perched above the doorwawy of the Eagle's office at Johnson and Washington Streets, was removed when the building was demolished in 1955 and became the property of the Brooklyn Historical Society. It was was moved to the sculpture garden of the Brooklyn Museum, until it was restored and returned to the Historical Society in 1989.
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the fifth largest public library system in the United States. The main branch, the Central Library, is located next to Prospect Park, just off Grand Army Plaza, where Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue intersect. Each year, more than 1.5 million people use the central library, which contains more than 1.5 million books, magazines, and multimedia materials.
The site for the Central Library was chosen in 1905 to replace the small outmoded structure on Montague Street. Foundations, however, were not laid until 1914 and construction dragged until 1937. Finally opened on February 1, 1941, the $5 million neoclassic building, designed by Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally, resembles an open book, with the spine at the main entrance on the plaza, and the two wings running along the avenues. The stair terrace and concave entrance, adorned with impressive Art Deco reliefs by Thomas Hudson Jones and C. Paul Jennewin, were designed to reflect the ellipitcal configuration of the plaza.
The Central Library was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1997.
National Register #01001446
