N.J. pulls funding for Jersey City French museum project, calling it ‘no longer viable’

A rendering of the planned French museum in Jersey City called Centre Pompidou x Jersey City. (Courtesy of OMA)

State officials have yanked funding for a planned French art museum in the heart of Jersey City after determining the project is no longer viable, according to letters obtained by the New Jersey Monitor.

The state Economic Development Authority sent a letter Saturday to the president of The Centre Pompidou museum in Paris telling him the North American location Pompidou wants to open in Jersey City’s Journal Square section will not receive the tens of millions in aid New Jersey has promised. Lawmakers have reallocated state funds previously set aside for the Jersey City Pompidou outpost, a state official wrote in a separate letter to the head of the Jersey City agency overseeing the project.

“Due to the ongoing impact of COVID and multiple global conflicts on the supply chain, rising costs, an irreconcilable operating gap, and the corresponding financial burdens it will create for New Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature has rescinded financial support, leaving us to determine that this project is unfortunately no longer feasible,” Economic Development Authority chief Tim Sullivan wrote in a Saturday letter to Laurent Le Bon, the Pompidou’s president.

In the other letter, sent Saturday from Michael Greco, deputy executive director of the Department of State, to Jersey City Redevelopment Agency chief Diana Jeffrey, Greco asked the agency to return $6 million the state department has given for the project but has not been spent yet. The $24 million lawmakers had allocated in the 2024 budget and the $18 million the was part of the 2022 budget has been returned to the state’s general fund, the letter says.

“Based on the Legislature’s actions, there is no longer any State support available for this project,” Greco wrote.

The state’s decision to reassign funds meant for the museum, called the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, is not a surprise. The city’s mayor, Steve Fulop, maintains that New Jersey officials were taking funding away from the Pompidou to retaliate against him for retracting his endorsement of first lady Tammy Murphy’s now-scuttled bid for the U.S. Senate .

In a statement Saturday afternoon, Jersey City officials called it “really unfortunate” and said they will continue to discuss with partners abroad to “see if there is a path forward.”

“As we said earlier this year , absolutely nothing changed in this project from what the Governor and First Lady knew initially and what they reference now, and there is plenty of documentation to support our point. The only thing that changed is the politics in New Jersey and the First Lady’s failed candidacy,” said Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, spokeswoman for the mayor.

Fulop is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor next year.

Pompidou officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The Economic Development Authority has acknowledged it had doubts about the financial viability of the Jersey City Pompidou project, citing a $19 million hole in the museum’s operating budget. Jersey City had been hoping for a $2 million annual subsidy for the museum, but that will not happen, Greco’s letter says.

Jersey City has until Aug. 1 to return the $6 million provided by the Department of State, the letter adds.

The Centre Pompidou x Jersey City plan has long been criticized by Republicans , who opposed using state funds for it. As Sullivan and Fulop traded barbs over the funding last month, Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to the state urging the funding to go toward a “more responsible purpose.”

The museum was originally slated to open in early 2024, but that was pushed to as late as 2027. When city officials announced plans for the museum in 2021, they said it would reinvigorate Journal Square and transform it into an arts, entertainment, and tourism hub.

In the letter to Pompidou’s president, Sullivan commends its staff for their collaborative work and says he hopes to continue strengthening the “economic and cultural bond” between France and New Jersey. He added he is disappointed by the outcome.

“While the door on this particular project has now been closed, we are eager to explore possibilities of opening new doors, with our partners in France, in the years to come,” he said.

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