Tens of millions of dollars for a planned Jersey City art museum were withdrawn from the state budget last month. Now there’s a new debate: where to send the money.
The Centre Pompidou, a Paris art museum that had planned on opening its first North American branch in Jersey City, has paused the project after lawmakers pulled funding over financial concerns. And while Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop called the move a reprisal because he ended his support for Tammy Murphy’s gubernatorial campaign, the debate has moved on.
State Sen. Jim Holzapfel (R-Toms River) on Tuesday called for Gov. Phil Murphy to redirect the funding to New Jersey public schools. Holzapfel pointed to the Toms River Regional School District’s lawsuit against the state of New Jersey over the district’s $27 million budget shortfall.
The Republican attacked “pork projects” in the state budget, which Murphy signed late last month.
“Now that the $58 million French arts museum sham has been killed, I am calling for a clear plan to appropriate the money to our public schools. It simply can’t be redirected to some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in unexplained pork projects in the 2025 budget,” Holzapfel said in a statement.
An additional $34 million dedicated to the museum is in danger after last month’s vote.
The proposed art museum has long been controversial. Jersey City mayoral candidate James E. McGreevey said in February that the city couldn’t afford the museum.