The Brooklyn Museum said it will hold off on laying off about four dozen full- and part-time staff members for another week, as it waits for clarity from the City Council about possible funding, the arts news site Hyperallergic reported.
Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak sent an email to all staff on March 6, announcing a one-week extension, the news site said.
“As part of our ongoing dialogues, this afternoon it was suggested that the City Council might provide additional funds toward our next fiscal year budget (starting July 1),” Pasternak wrote in the email. “We take the potential of more funding seriously and are allowing time to learn more about this possibility.”
Facing a $10 million budget deficit, the Brooklyn Museum was planning on cutting 47 full- and part-time staff and reduce programming as it grapples with a cash flow problem. Since then, museum unions UAW Local 2110 and District Council 37 Local 1502 have called for the layoffs to be reversed and for leadership to explore alternatives, such as furloughs. The cuts were set to take effect on Sunday; now, workers have until March 16 to make their voices heard, Hyperallergic reported.
