This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [log in to unmask] /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Share the spirit with a gift from Starbucks. Our coffee brewers & espresso machines at special holiday prices. http://www.starbucks.com/shop/subcategory.asp?category_name=Sale/Clearance&ci=274&cookie_test=1 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Institutions Brace for Cuts by the City January 16, 2002 By ROBIN POGREBIN Late last week the city's new budget director, Mark Page, sent a memo to the Department of Cultural Affairs, along with all the other city agencies, asking them for cuts of 25 percent in their building plans over the next four years. This notice, coupled with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's recent warning that Lincoln Center's $1.2 billion redevelopment may have to be put off, has left institutions as internationally renowned as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and as community-focused as the Queens Museum of Art girding for cutbacks. The cultural institutions with the most to lose - that is, those with the highest capital commitments from the city between now and 2005 - are the Met, which has been promised $26.2 million to nearly double its exhibition space, including new areas for education and research; the New York Botanical Garden, which is expecting $31.3 million for various projects, including roof repairs and repaving; the Museum of Modern Art, which is awaiting $30 million to help increase its space and build temporary quarters in Long Island City, Queens; Queens Museum of Art, due for $23.7 million to double its space; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, promised $24 million (and another $8.8 million in 2006 and 2007) for a new downtown site; and the Aquarium in Coney Island, which is expecting $31.4 million for refurbishment of its main hall and other repairs. Now, because of Sept. 11 and the softened economy, all of these projects could be derailed or at least delayed, depending on how far along they are. The mayor is due to announce a complete preliminary budget on Feb. 14, said his spokesman, Edward Skyler. In the memo, Mr. Page, director of the Office of Management and Budget, asked agencies to submit their proposals for cuts in fiscal years 2002 to 2005 by tomorrow to assist in closing the budget gap and reducing the city's debt, "effectively extending your four-year capital program to five years." The agencies are already coping with cuts of up to 15 percent in their expense budgets. "My guess is, when they get to capital, they will focus on what they have to do with transportation and building efforts having to do with the city's survival," said Norma P. Munn, chairwoman of the New York City Arts Coalition, a citywide arts advocacy group. "Since no one wants to go back to the days when they didn't paint the bridges, cultural projects will be at the bottom of the list. And when they get to the bottom of the list, there's going to be nothing left." More than any other recent mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani allocated money for capital projects for arts groups. During his eight years in office, Mr. Giuliani committed $484.7 million from the capital budget to cultural affairs, compared to $223.7 million in Mayor David N. Dinkins's single term and $126.3 million during the last term of Mayor Edward I. Koch. Allocating this money does not necessarily mean awarding it, however, and the strong economy allowed Mr. Giuliani not only to commit more to capital projects, but also to come through on more of his pledges than other mayors had in the past. In 2001, the city's commitment to capital spending on cultural institutions jumped to $162.4 million from $20.9 million the year before. And the city's capital commitment was to increase hugely in 2002 - to $599.7 million, according to the Independent Budget Office, the city's nonpartisan fiscal watchdog agency, which relies for its numbers on the city's Office of Management and Budget. Can the city make good on all these allocations? Mr. Skyler said, "No decisions have been made regarding that." But every indication from the mayor and New York's economic indicators makes it seem unlikely. The day after his inauguration, Mr. Bloomberg said Lincoln Center's redevelopment and projects like it might have to be put off. "It, like everything else, is going to have to be put in line, and we'll see when we add up what's possible what we can afford this year," he said at a news conference on Jan. 2. "I think that most institutions understand that, given the rough economic times where the city doesn't have enough money and fund-raising from private donors for organizations like that is probably harder, some of these things are just going to get postponed." Under Mr. Giuliani, the city agreed to provide Lincoln Center with $240 million over the redevelopment project's 10-year span. Mr. Bloomberg has expressed the hope that when the city's economy improves, financing for capital projects can be resumed. In most capital projects, city money does not make up the bulk of the budget; arts groups know they have to raise most of their money from a combination of other sources, including individuals, foundations and state government. Nevertheless, city money matters a lot, not only financially but also as an important commitment that helps draw other contributors. Organizations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is well into a $650-million capital project to which the city already gave $20.7 million between 1997 and 2001, cannot help but be concerned, even though Met officials say the museum has raised more than $580 million of its goal so far. "We are nervous," said David E. McKinney, president of the Met. "We're working as we speak on a new central kitchen and we're counting on $5 million from the city, and if we don't get that, we've got a problem." The new kitchen will allow the Met to return its current kitchen area to use as a sculpture court and to create new cafeterias for the public and the staff. Nevertheless, Ms. Munn of the New York City Arts Coalition said she suspected there wouldn't be a total shut-off of the spigot, that the mayor might allow some continued financial support for planning and design. "I don't think anyone wants to stop building the cultural infrastructure of the city," Ms. Munn said. "It's a very real asset." Some large capital projects are moving along in the face of the uncertainty from the city. The Museum of Modern Art, for example, plans to open MOMA QNS, its new 160,000- square-foot temporary exhibition and storage space in Long Island City, in June. Its director, Glenn D. Lowry, said the foundations were being poured for the expansion of its Manhattan home on 53rd Street, with structural steel soon to follow, and that $520 million of its $650 million fund-raising goal had been reached. Mr. Lowry said the museum was even likely to increase its goal to $800 million over the next seven years. The Modern has already received $35 million from the city, and another $30 million has been committed over the next four years. Nevertheless, Mr. Lowry said the museum now plans to pull back from a gut renovation and reduce the degree of work in the nonpublic areas. In addition, Mr. Lowry said, the Modern may cut costs in some areas and delay its completion (the renovated museum is due to open in 2005). "We're still in the review process," he said. Construction on the new $115 million home at Columbus Circle for Jazz at Lincoln Center is well under way, though the project is still short $33 million of its fund-raising goal. Of the $25 million pledged by the city, Jazz has so far received $5.7 million. Several arts executives with longtime dealings with the city predicted that projects on which construction hadn't begun would be the main casualties. Said one, "Any cultural institution that doesn't have a hole in the ground or a building partly up is going to find itself out of this budget." The Queens Museum of Art, for example, only just selected an architect, Eric Owen Moss of Los Angeles, to design an expansion that would double its space; preliminary models have been on view at the Architectural League of New York in Manhattan. The bulk of financing for the project, which is being managed by the city's Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Cultural Affairs, comes from the city. "It all looks uphill now, but I'm certain it will move forward," said Carma Fauntleroy, the interim executive director. In this climate, many say the idea of a new Frank Gehry $900 million, 500,000-square-foot Guggenheim Museum rising on the East River in Lower Manhattan seems like a pipe dream. Mr. Gehry was traveling and could not be reached for comment. Apart from the uncertainty of city financing, the Guggenheim is retrenching, having laid off staff members, reduced its number of exhibitions and sought new board members in response to tough economic times. Nevertheless, the museum says it is moving ahead. Laurie Beckelman, the Guggenheim's deputy director for special projects, said the museum had recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the city to build at the downtown site. "It took 16 years to build Frank Lloyd Wright's uptown Guggenheim, and this is long term," Ms. Beckelman said. "We've got time and we're patient," she added. 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