Fields promises to fight museum's move to Tweed courthouse

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 27, 2000 by Elaine Misonzhnik

If you haven't hard the news yet, a rather attractive unit of space is about to become available on the 5th Avenue museum mile. Though officials at the Museum of the City o New York put up an enthusiastic front about their proposed move to the Tweed Courthouse downtown, apparently not everyone in the City is as happy about it. "If the mayor and the board of trustees hadn't consulted on the decision with the local counsel and the co unity boards, they probably understood the reaction that that decision was going to get," said Manhattan borough president Virginia Fields.

Fields was furious earlier this week about City Hall's plans to relocate the headquarters of the 5th Avenue museum to the infamous Tweed Courthouse. In an official statement to the press, she said, "I am quite concerned by the Museum of the City of New York's decision to move its headquarters to the Tweed Courthouse, and in particular, by the way in which that decision was made and came to light."

Most of the community leaders were shocked to find out that the museum is planning to relocate, and that the news reached them only through the interference of a reporter added to their anger. "We were appalled about the way this has been handled," said David Givens, chairman of the Community Board 11. "There was no notification that they were even considering it. Common courtesy requests that you at least let people know what is going on in the neighbor-hood."

The Museum's officials, however, declined to respond to the public outrage and offered only a uniform official statement as an explanation of their decision. "The Museum of the City of New York's board of trustees has unanimously approved Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's proposal the relocate the Museum to the restored Tweed Courthouse," the statement read. "It is expected that the transformation will take between 18 and 24 months."

But 18 months is a long time and those opposing the move expressed some hope that it could still be prevented. "Unfortunately, this came at a time when many people are preparing for Christmas, or are away for the holidays, but within the next few weeks we'll be preparing a public protest," said Givens.

Although Fields was less optimistic about her ability to stop the relocation, she believes that something can still be done. "It's anticipated that the move won't take place for another 18 months, and by that time we'll have another mayor, so hopefully something could be worked out."

In the very worst of cases, she would like to see the 5th Avenue building occupied by another museum. "I have not given thought to what is going to happen with the building yet," she admitted. "But if anything, I'd like to see another museum there. I know that the African Museum was looking for space, so maybe they could move in."

But Givens was less willing to part with a cultural institution that has been a part of his community for more than 70 years. "The museum's relocation will create a feeling that there's something wrong with our community," he said, "I am sure that a lot of people would love to move in -- it's a beautiful building, and the City has spent money on it, but our position is that we are opposed to the relocation period. Right now, it's not an option to consider anything else."

Initially, the Courthouse building was supposed to serve as an annex to the existing Museum, but somehow those plans were changed into relocation of the Museum's headquarters. According to all reports, Mayor Giuliani was the mastermind behind the plan. The mayor's office would not return calls.