By LJ Staff

Last year, the Brooklyn Public Library completed a $1.4 million renovation of its 40-year-old Gravesend branch, including new furniture and elevators. But the library neglected to ensure its future in the building by negotiating a new lease. When the 10-year lease expired last summer, the landlord, who wanted to raise the rent of the by almost 40 percent, from $10,178 to $14,000. (The landlord, Joseph Zelik, claimed he was coming down off market rate of $18,750.) Zelik said that a library lawyer had agreed the library would vacate the building by the end of November. Last week, State Sen. Carl Kruger announced that Zelik agreed to relent somewhat, charging $12,000 a month this year and $15,000 next year, according to the New York Daily News. He blamed library officials for a "comedy of errors." Library spokeswoman Valerie Geiss said that, while the lease is structured so that increases are greater in future years, neither the library nor the landlord have announced lease figures.