FAQ

Frequently Asked Lyceum Questions...

It is an eclectic amalgamation of activities shoe-horned into a now 100 year old former public bath. At its core the Brooklyn Lyceum is a Gym, Theatre and Cafe. Not necessarily in that order. We see the building as a medieval town square. Market one day, fair the next, public hanging the next.

lyceum [laɪˈsɪəm]
n (now chiefly in the names of buildings)
1. a public building for concerts, lectures, etc.
2. US a cultural organization responsible for presenting concerts, lectures, etc.
3. (Social Science / Education) another word for lycée

That varies based on the answers to the above questions. It ranges from a high of $3000 for the first 4 hours and $300 per hour thereafter down to $35 per hour. Each rate/activity combination carries with it certain requirements and expectations we will be happy to go over with you.

For several reasons. We have several different size rooms. Different times of day and days of week cost different amounts. For example a personal training session at 8am on a Monday would be much less than a party on Saturday night.

As a funky, multi-use, repurposed bathhouse, nothing is standard.
As such we can do everything reasonably well and only a couple of things extremely well.
In order to have the rates we have(low for the size and location) several operating procedures exist.

If you rent a 4 hour block you get the 4 hour block. No more, no less. That should include all setup time as well as time to clean up and exit. We book pretty tightly. If you are not sure how long you will be, book an extra half hour or you might risk having some jazz musicians crash your knitting class.

The building is old and old buldings have their quirks. Here are a couple of ours.

The building is in a continuous renovation process. Each year the bathrooms get a bit better, a bit more heat and air-conditioning exist and a few fewer leaks exist.
Just like the rest of New York City, nothing is completely soundproof. Whether its the subways at the Angelica, someone dragging tables above your lecture room at the 92nd Street Y or someone yelling outside the cheap seats in an old broadway theater... absolute quiet is a fiction.

There is this thing called a recession. It stopped the development next door. Well that and the fact that it is tied up in litigation. When it was in its fantasy permits were filed for a 12 story bulding. That would require a ridiculous number of of piles to be driven. In preparation for 18 months of construction activity and the inevitable damage to a landmark building, the scaffold was put up. Since the next door project failed we are looking into replacing the windows. So, we are not sure when it will come down. Suffice it to say as soon as it comes down the construction will start up again.
UPDATE: Scaffold is down as we cannot ascertain when the development next door will resume. STill working on the old wood frame windows.

Monday thru Friday from 9AM-3PM, Saturday and Sunday from 10AM-5PM or by appointment. Be aware that showing up without an appointment will usually be fine, but on occasion there will be an event going on that precludes access.

The Brooklyn Lyceum is about 10 years old. The building (Public Bath #7) is 100 years old. The original Brooklyn Lyceum (which was precursor to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Children's Museum) originated over 150 years ago.

So many people were making the cafe an office we decided to bridge into something more office like in one room. If you want a place in relative quiet with internate and a simple laser printer... come on down. $10 per day for non-members. $5 per day for affiliate members. Double punches on the cafe frequent purchaser card. Reduced rental rates for meetings and such.

The long forgotten Brooklyn architect Raymond F. Almirall is responsible for Public Bath #7(aka the Brooklyn Lyceum). He is also the architect of (among other things) the Emigrant Savings Bank, Seaview Hospital, Pacific Street Library and the former Binghampton City Hall.